Cat Stevens: “Lovely City” (1968)
Another trendy single from Deram’s newest pop star, this time with a little social sting to it.
Kronomyth 2.3: The unexpected visitor who dropped in for tea.
The latest single from fast-fading British pop sensation Cat Stevens was a vaguely psychedelic affair featuring some neat production effects that takes aim at the superficiality of a happy society. Lovely City looks forward to Cat’s developing social conscience, although it’s nothing to get too ruffled about. (Cough.) The B side is Image of Hell, where apparently they play a lot of Englebert Humperdinck records (which sounds about right). Both songs were arranged by Lew Warburton, who would go on to work with The Kinks on Arthur. It’s tempting to connect the dots between Cat’s early social commentaries and his later albums, but honestly they’re worlds removed from each other musically.
Original 7-inch single version
A1. Lovely City (When Do You Laugh?) (Cat Stevens) (2:38)*
B1. Image of Hell (Cat Stevens) (3:02)
*Released as “Lovely Cities” in several countries.
The Players
Lew Warburton (musical director). A1 produced by Noel Walker and Cat Stevens, B1 produced by Noel Walker.
The Plastic
Released on 7-inch single on February 23, 1968 in the UK and the Netherlands (Deram, DM 178) and Belgium (Deram, DM.28) with regional picture sleeve.
