Bounce Magazine 76

FEATURE
FEBRUARY 2019 FEBRUARY | ISSUE 2019 #76 | ISSUE | YUSELF #76 / CAT STEVENS
YUSUF / CAT STEVENS
In May 2019, Yuself / Cat Stevens is set to reissue
‘Back To Earth’ in various formats
In 1978, after having sold millions
of records and become one of the
biggest international artists of the
1970s, Cat Stevens decided to step
out of the rock star spotlight and
walk away.
That year, he was to release
his final album under that
name.
While Stevens’ legions of
fans were saddened by
the news, along with the
musicians who had played
with him on record and
stage, the singer himself
was exhilarated by the
prospect of moving on.
“It was like going back to
my original nature,” he reflected at the time.
“Back to wide-eyed childhood again.”
The appropriately-titled Back To Earth was his
parting gift: an album that saw the Londonborn
singer saying farewell to his fans, while
obliquely explaining his decision to quit in
songs such as ‘Last Love Song’ and ‘Just
Another Night’.
In 2019 Back To Earth is to be reissued in
various formats on Cat-O-Log Records/
BMG, including a deluxe boxset featuring
the original album (remastered at Abbey
Road), along with demos, unreleased tracks,
and material from UNICEF’s 1979 Year Of
The Child concert, the singer’s last live
performance as Cat Stevens. The release
marks the first in a series of reissues and
expanded editions that will cover Yusuf / Cat
Stevens’ entire recording career, spanning a
remarkable five decades.
Upon its original release, Back To Earth
received rave reviews.
Cat Stevens had been thinking
long and hard for some time
about quitting his music
career. Aside from general
disillusionment with fame,
the singer had experienced
a spiritual epiphany after
being caught in a rip current
and nearly drowning when
swimming in the Pacific Ocean
three years earlier. Crying to
the heavens, “If you save me,
I’ll work for you,” he was rescued by a gentle
wave which carried him back to the shore.
What he calls his “gradual awakening”
and decision to become a Muslim in 1977,
changing his name to Yusuf Islam, was
sparked by his brother gifting the singer a
copy of the Quran for his 27th birthday. “I had
discovered a new way to view the universe,”
he explained back then. “Like a kid who had
travelled by spiritual rocket to an exciting new
world.”
For further information see
www.catstevens.com
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