Writer: Cat Stevens
Producer: Paul Samwell-Smith
Recorded: March 1971 at Morgan Studios, London
Released: August 1971
| Players: | Cat Stevens — vocals, guitar, keyboards Alun Davies — guitar Larry Steele — bass Rick Wakeman — piano Harvey Burns — drums |
| Album: | Teaser And The Firecat (A&M, 1972) |
The first single from Cat Stevens's Teaser And The Firecat album, “Moonshadow” preceded its release and reached Number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Stevens says the song was written during “a kind of solitary holiday in Spain, in a town which didn't have much electricity. So there weren't many streetlights. I'd gone out that night, and it was a very bright moon, and it was literally the first time I'd discovered that the moon casts a shadow. I'd been a city dweller to that point, and I'd never really noticed it before.”
Stevens was born Steven Demetre Georgiou in London to a Greek Cypriot restaurant owner father and a Swedish mother.
He developed an interest in entertaining while growing up above the family shop, which was in London's theater district.
Stevens began playing folk music in London's Carnaby Street scene and by the mid-'60s had adopted his stage name. He put out his first record in 1966.
Following a near-fatal bout of tuberculosis in 1968, Stevens began working with former Yardbird Paul Samwell-Smith, who would produce most of his albums.
Stevens was responsible for the distinctive, cartoon-like cover art that graced Teaser And The Firecat and several of his other albums.
Stevens also produced a short animated video that featured the characters depicted on the cover.
Teaser reached Number Two on the Billboard 200 and Number Three on the U.K. chart. It's been certified gold.
