« Back to Top Level | Cat Stevens

Cat Stevens - Izitso (1977)

Track listing:
  1. Old Schoolyard 2:45
  2. Life 4:56
  3. Killin' Time 3:31
  4. Kypros 3:10
  5. Bonfire 4:08
  6. I Never Wanted To Be A Star 3:05
  7. Crazy 3:33
  8. Sweet Jamaica 3:30
  9. Was Dog A Doughnut 4:17
  10. Child For A Day 4:25

Notes


Cat Stevens bounced back from the lackluster Numbers with an album of pop/rock songs that brought his usual rhythmic folk-rock into contemporary style with the Muscle Shoals rhythm section, a snappy Dave Kershenbaum production, and lots of synthesizers. Most of the songs were unusually lightweight, but the autobiographical "(I Never Wanted) To Be a Star" explored Stevens' ambivalence about being in the music business, an attitude that would find him dropping out and finding religion after one more album. In the meantime, Izitso produced a final Top 40 hit in "(Remember the Days of The) Old Schoolyard" and a singles-chart entry in the instrumental "Was Dog a Doughnut," as a result of which it returned Stevens's name to the Top Ten LPs list and gave him a ninth straight gold album, his last.