Alleycat Scratch: The Band That Bit Like Panther Before It Was Cool
What do bands like Steel Panther and Alleycat Scratch have in common? Steel Panther is known primarily for two key aspects: their hair/glam musical style and their notorious lyrics. But the real question is: can anyone truly match them in that regard?
Masters of Vulgarity and Comedy
No one has managed to package and deliver vulgarity and comedy in their lyrics as well as they have. This is also the main thing that sets Steel Panther apart from their famous hair/glam predecessors. While bands from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s sang about sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll in a more disguised form and expressed themselves using stylistic figures, Steel Panther decided to strip the story down completely and say everything as directly as possible.
— Want more news and stories from Junkyard as it happens? Follow us on WhatsApp or Telegram.—
It’s the 21st century, and a different time brings a different sensibility. However, there were hints of that uniquely vulgar/comedic style before their emergence. As mentioned, it was more camouflaged and subtle, but there were also examples where Michael Starr and Satchel could even feel a bit envious. One such example is the band Alleycat Scratch.
A Brief History of the Alleycat Scratch
Before we continue with the story, let’s first take a moment to refresh our memory about the Alleycat Scratch. Here is everything you need to know about this sleaze rock band.
- Formed: San Francisko, California 1989. Later moved to Hollywood.
- Sounds Like: Dark sleaze hard rock with blues influences and punk rock edge.
- Releases: Deadboys In Trash City (1989), Last Call (2009)
- Most notable line-up: Eddie Robison (vocals), Devin Lovelace (guitar), Robbin Black (drums) and Bobby Dias (bass)
- Greatest Hits: Take A Bite (Outta Me), Stilletto Strut, Roses On My Grave, Trash City, Cats Got Your Toungue
- The Vibe: Alleycat Scratch were one of the kings of the underground scene in Hollywood in the early 90s alongside bands such are Glamour Punks, Swingin’ Thing, Blackboard Jungle etc. Although their music was a bit of punky, with their darker style and a bit more slaezier and grittier approach, they were not considered as the part of the bubbleglam punk scene, although they were at the border lines of it.
- Legacy: The band never gained any bigger success due the industry’s decision to force grunge. Shortly after the release of their debut album, Alleycat Scratch bowed out with a – handshake and a “scratch pad” behind the Rock ‘N’ Roll Danny’s on Sunset Blvd.
The Controversial Song
But wait a minute! What does Steel Panther have to do with the underground Hollywood heroes Alleycat Scratch? Besides the fact that both animals belong to the same family, at first glance—absolutely nothing. That is, until Alleycat Scratch – Love Song appears on your little screens.
On the screens, considering that it’s a song that isn’t on the original release of the album Deadboys In Trash City from 1993, but is included as a bonus track on all subsequent reissues as well as on streaming services as track number 11.
Sleazin’ and teasin’, booze, drugs, living on the street in the gutter, hey kitty kitty, come here baby and hold mz sticky sweet – one might say it’s the usual and expected theme that goes trough the band’s debut album Deadboys In Trash City, as well as for most of the bands of that era and scene. Camouflaged and wrapped in a thin foil of stylistic figures (not very interesting, to be honest). However, the foil is too thing so it cracks and the mask completely falls off in the song ‘Love Song,’ where vulgarity reaches its maximum level – you guessed it, the Steel Panther level!
From Crazy Lyrics To Porn Soudntrack
This level of vulgarity in the lyrics is not present anywhere else on the album, nor in the band’s subsequent releases, and is quite rare even among their competition at the time (with some exceptions). The song ‘Love Song’ was so dirty that it even ended up as a soundtrack in a porn film. Alleycat Scratch frontman Eddie Robinson spoke about this in the Hollywood Dreams podcast in June 2023.
“That song existed before I joined the band, and I was told, you have to sing this song. I was like, oh, shit. You know, it was way less serious than the music I was doing (Eddie is referring to his previous band Resurrection Mary), so I had to really kind of climb a hill to get to where I could do that with a semi-straight face. The worst part of it was my family came to one of our shows, and for the encore, we did a “Love Song”, and my mom was out there”, explained Eddie when he was asked about the song by the hosts of the show, Santy Trixx and David Melicant.
He also added: “But that song was also featured in a pornographic video movie, Back Door to the City of Sin, and we were the opening montage with the credits rolling over it, and it was us playing live doing that song. My family. I’ve got to find that original soundtrack for that”.
A Hidden Gem in the Glam Metal Scene
Can it be said that the song “Love Song” directly influenced Steel Panther? Of course not, but it certainly stands as a rare exception from that era that could easily be found on any Steel Panther album. You can even imagine Michael Starr singing the lyrics of this tune.
All in all, in the past, songs like this would immediately end up in porn films and be cut out from the original album release, while today, we welcome them and sing them with open arms at concerts. Times have changed—the alleycat used to scratch, but now it bites like a Panther.
And of course, if you don’t believe what’s being said here, just take a listen to the song itself.
Listen to the full album
