"Memories of a teenage cat" is 20 ! Not teenage anymore...

I still recall that day of March 1989. The sloppy street is still clear in my mind, the grey atmosphere and the palpable melancholy are still coming to my memory from time to time. Ironically, that historic recording session took place in a part of Brussels named... St Gilles !

The AWAKEN project was already more than 1 year old, and several tapes of rough recordings were bashfully circulating here and there, but there was an obvious lack of a real studio recording at the time. Studios were quite expensive and unlike the 2000s and the profusion of VST studios, it was slightly rare to have good electronic material to record a proper song without having a comfortable income then.

Vincent, leader of the band Big Troble (without "u", please), offered me the opportunity of putting a song on tape for an affordable cost, which I still thank him for in 2009. He turned down my request to record "Electric Time", due to the complicated programming of the drummachine, and we both chose an rhythmically-friendlier tune that I just finished writing, "Memories Of A Teenage Cat".

In January of that year 1989, I sat on a tramway that had a long way crossing the "darkest" places of Brussels, where people hardly choose to live for fun. Overflowed by a melancholic feeling, words came quickly and soon the poem was on paper. Back home, I sat on the piano and in a few hours, if not less, "Memories Of A Teenage Cat" was born. Teenage yet still a baby, I naively wanted to make it a "Summer slow". It never was, but instead, to my big surprise, that little tune became many AWAKEN's fans' favourite, until recently. It took "Cà Phê And Pizza" and "Beppu Nights" to steal its crown.

Back to the recording session, I should make clear that, even if my role into AWAKEN is (was ?) mainly playing keyboards, most of the synthesizers and rhythms were played (almost improvised) by Vincent. I only played some additional keys (including the solo in the middle) and did the whole vocal thing. I'm still pleased by Vincent's arrangement (he was guested in further versions too, where he switched to an accordion), and by the quick way he put every idea together... and played in real-time !

By the way, musicians who are interested in the gear we used, I can only quote Peter Gabriel to reply: "I don't remember". Sorry.

Later in AWAKEN's life, new versions have been put on tapes and CD, with better skills and preparation, and even a cover was recorded by SOUSBOCK. But to tell the truth, that very first studio take is still my favourite. It carries the mood of the eighties at their ending, the sound of that unique era and the first steps of an already teenage cat... at his birth.

You can listen to this precious 1989 version here, along with a 2001 new take:

http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/17443

And our friend Tamu wrote a story around the poem of the teenage cat (in Vietnamese):

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-QDJ4PCYyc6k19_1URVNqYx9x9Am5MqY-?cq=1

The "Tales Of Acid Ice Cream" version is on the CD (1996), a bit hard to get but have a look here to try: http://home.scarlet.be/~ping9712/awaken-shop-engl.htm

And the take on the "Numb" demo tape (1993) is unavailable at all. Bah...

Gilles Snowcat, March 2009