MC Skat Kat is an animated cat character who appeared with Paula Abdul in the video for her song "

Opposites Attract "Opposites Attract" is a song by American singer Paula Abdul from her debut album, ''Forever Your Girl'' (1988). It was written and produced by Oliver Leiber. Vocals on the song, in addition to Abdul, were provided by Bruce DeShazer and Marv Gun ...

" in 1989.

History

MC Skat Kat was created by Michael Patterson and performed by the Wild Pair duo of Bruce DeShazer and Marv Gunn on "Opposites Attract". MC Skat Kat's rap was written and performed by Derrick Stevens, although

Romany Malco Romany relates or may refer to: *The Romani people or Romany people, also known as Gypsies *Romani language or Romany language, the language of the Romani people *"Romany", the pseudonym of a broadcaster and writer of Romani descent, George Bramwel ...

, who did the majority of the writing for the M.C. Skat Kat & the Stray Mob album, is often mistakenly credited for being the voice of the rap on Opposites Attract, a story perpetuated by Abdul herself. Derrick Stevens also provided vocals for the character in the MC Skat Kat solo album. Patterson got the idea for Skat Kat from the Gene Kelly movie ''

Anchors Aweigh "Anchors Aweigh" is the fight song of the United States Naval Academy and unofficial march song of the United States Navy. It was composed in 1906 by Charles A. Zimmermann with lyrics by Alfred Hart Miles. When he composed "Anchors Aweigh", Zim ...

'', in which Kelly's character dances with Jerry, the mouse from the ''

Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...

'' franchise. Patterson would originally play small gigs dressed in full cat attire, though soon after become a studio musician with the character becoming fully animated by members of the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

and

Warner Bros. animation Warner Bros. Animation Inc. is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a flagship of Warner Bros. Discovery. As the successor to Warner Bros. Cartoons, which was active from 19 ...

team, working outside the studios between major projects, under the direction of Chris Bailey. The character released the album '' The Adventures of MC Skat Kat and the Stray Mob'' in 1991 on Kings Records. Paula Abdul made an appearance in the music video of the only single " Skat Strut". The single peaked at No. 80 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in late October 1991, and stayed on the chart for four weeks. "Skat Strut" reached No. 11 on the New Zealand Pop Singles chart, No. 9 on the Norwegian Pop Singles chart, No. 28 on the Dutch Pop Singles chart, No. 31 on the Swedish Pop Singles chart and No. 64 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. MC Skat Kat also featured in " Yakety Yak, Take It Back", an all-star public service music video produced by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

in 1991 for the Take It Back Foundation. The music video featured appearances by numerous celebrities, along with

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring role ...

Melba Moore Beatrice Melba Hill or Beatrice Melba Smith (sources differ) (born October 29, 1945), known by her stage name Melba Moore, is an American singer and actress. Biography Early life and education Moore was born Beatrice Melba Hill or Beatrice Melba ...

as both herself, and the voice of Tibi the Take it Back Butterfly, and

Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B. Active as a session musician from ...

as both himself, and the voice of

Yakety Yak "Yakety Yak" is a song written, produced, and arranged by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller for the Coasters and released on Atco Records in 1958, spending seven weeks as #1 on the R&B charts and a week as number one on the Top 100 pop list. ...

, for a new version of the song "

" with a message about recycling. MC Skat Kat later appeared in '' American Dad!'' season 13's sixth episode "Kiss Kiss Cam Cam", on February 29, 2016. MC Skat Kat makes a cameo appearance alongside Paula Abdul in '' Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers''.

''The Adventures of MC Skat Kat and the Stray Mob''

''The Adventures of MC Skat Kat and the Stray Mob'' is a 1991 album from MC Skat Kat. The album came about as the result of Paula Abdul's successful "

" video of 1990, which was directed by Michael Patterson and Candace Reckinger. The Stray Mob consists of cartoon characters Fatz, Taboo, Micetro, Leo, Katleen, and Silk, the first three of whom appeared in the "Opposites Attract" music video. Two music videos for the album were directed by Patterson and Reckinger, only one of which was released. The only single from the album, "Skat Strut", samples

Earth Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million ...

's 1981 hit "

Let's Groove "Let's Groove" is a song by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released as the first single from their eleventh studio album, ''Raise!'' (1981). It is written by Maurice White and Wayne Vaughn, and produced by White. The song was a commercial succ ...

", with Abdul making a brief appearance in the video. Unlike the "Opposites Attract" video, the animation on the "Skat Strut" music video used

digital ink and paint Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until computer animation. Pr ...

. It only reached number 80 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 but fared better overseas, peaking at numbers 9 and 31 on the Norwegian and Swedish charts, respectively. The vocal style and length in the music video differed from those from the album version.

Reception

The album was poorly received and it failed to chart. In 1999, ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' deemed it the "least essential" album of the 1990s, calling it "a product of clueless committee thinking and

Milli Vanilli Milli Vanilli were a German-French R&B duo from Munich. The group was founded by Frank Farian in 1988 and consisted of Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. Their debut album, ''All or Nothing'' in Europe, reconfigured as ''Girl You Know It's True'' in ...

-style studio hackwork at its most cynical", and concluding that "never has a mass-produced album been demanded by so few."

Track listing

# "Big Time" – 3:53 # "I Ain't No Kitty" – 4:37 # "No Dogs Allowed" – 5:28 # "Gotta Get Up" – 4:00 # "Kat in the Casino" – 4:36 # "On the Prowl" – 4:06 # "Skat Strut" – 3:41 # "Kat Stories" – 4:02 # "So Sweet So Young" – 3:47 # "I Go Crazy" – 3:21 # "New Kat Swing" – 4:03 # "Skat Kat's Theme" – 4:39

Discography

Albums

* '' The Adventures of MC Skat Kat and the Stray Mob'' (1991)

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mc Skat Kat Fictional cats Fictional characters introduced in 1989 Male characters in animation Fictional rappers Paula Abdul Fictional characters invented for recorded music