Cat Stevens: Majikat: Earth Tour, 1976

Posted by inanglia on 2004-05-27 19:26:25 (2350 views)

Eagle Rock Entertainment DVD Includes Exclusive 35-Minute Interview Featured On DVD Breaks Artist's 28-Year Silence

In February 1976, Cat Stevens performed in Williamsburg, Virginia, as part of his US Majikat Earth tour. The concert was just 18 months before he walked away from the music industry. Cat Stevens: Majikat: Earth Tour 1976, his first ever concert DVD, documents this magical evening and Cat's last performance before leaving the business and changing his name to Yusuf Islam.

The DVD is not only a collection of his greatest hits but also breaks the artist's 28 year silence with a brand new exclusive 35 minute interview explaining why he walked away and what he has been doing since. The exclusive interview answers questions his fans have long been asking.

Cat Stevens Majikat: Earth Tour was an ambitious, unprecedented tour involving live magicians, synchronized film projection and a specially constructed stage. The DVD features 21 performances of Cat's classic hits, including Peace Train, Oh Very Young, Another Saturday Night, and many more.

Bonus features on the DVD include a Wild World outtake from the Majikat tour, If I Laugh from BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test 1971, Maybe You're Right from the BBC In Concert 1971, and Tuesday's Dead from Granada TV, Out Front 1971. The animated short film "Teaser & The Firecat" - narrated by Spike Milligan with a performance of Moonshadow and Father & Son from an original Island promo film are also featured.

Cat Stevens was one of the most successful solo performers of the sixties and seventies racking up over 50 million album sales worldwide. He had a string of 14 Top 40 singles, as well as 7 top 10 albums between 1971 and 1977. He had a string of hit singles in many territories, including 11 in the UK and 12 in the USA, with tracks such as Moonshadow, Another Saturday Night, Lady D'Arbanville, Banapple Gas and Oh Very Young - all of which are included in the DVD.

Many of Cat's songs have also been hits for other artists, including Boyzone with Father & Son, which they took to #2 in the UK chart in the nineties. In addition, 10,000 Maniacs re-recorded Peace Train in 1987, and most recently Sheryl Crow has a hit with her version of The First Cut Is The Deepest.

The DVD release coincides with the US launch of Small Kindness, Yusuf's charity. In April 1999 Yusuf began Small Kindness, a non-profit organization that aims to help those who are victims of war in Kosovo. The organizations began by raising funds to distribute immediate humanitarian to widows and orphans in the war-torn Balkan region.

Recognizing the long-term needs of the region, Small Kindness developed programs to support culture and provide job skills training. Programs focus on computer lessons, sports, scholarships, management and IT training. Recently Small Kindness set up an office in Amman Jordan for the victims of war in Iraq. At the moment 300 Iraqi orphans are sponsored. A technology training program is offered in partnership with Baghdad University.