Purr Division—‘Unknown Whiskers.’
Cats on the covers of your favorite music—what’s not to like?
On those odd occasions when I finish reading the funnies and have nothing more practical to do, I like to ponder those big meaningful questions of life like what happens to all those sites and pages that grab their fifteen minutes and then disappear just as quickly (or are lost in the mix) as the next distraction claims its time?
Way back in 2011, musician, designer, record label CEO, and seller of vintage posters Alfra Martini seemed to be everywhere when her blog The Kitten Covers made (literally) international headlines.
Martini’s blog was a simple idea that came to her in a “fever dream.” It was also, apparently, inspired by that famous painting of dogs playing poker around a green baize table. Her idea was to recreate classic album covers with cute little furry felines. Martini’s first attempt was the cover of a David Bowie album which (understandably) impressed her boyfriend and everyone else who saw it. A meme was born, shall we say, and those first album covers were shared far and wide. Then there came the media coverage and even an interview or two.
But then what?
Martini continued making her covers with cats but all that fame and frenzy (and maybe I’m wrong here) seemed to slowly ebb away—or maybe I stopped paying attention. Which is a shame, as some of Martini’s best Kitten Covers came after the big-fifteen minute fame bubble of 2011. Maybe a lack of interest or a lack of time led Martini to stop making her kitty covers in 2016—or maybe she’s having a sabbatical away from such creative fun, I dunno. Whichever, here are some of the choice Kitten Covers you may have missed.
The K-52s.
Meowerhead—‘Ace of Spayeds.’
The Jesus and Meowy Chain—‘Psycho Catty.’
KWA—‘Straight Outta Cat Town.’
Mew York Dolls.
The Rameownes.
Furry Nilsson.
Mewrhythmics.
Meowissey.
Public Kitteny—‘It Takes a Nation of Kittens to Hold Us Back.’
Furgazi.
Led Kitten—‘Houses of the Meowy.’
The Meowers of Invention.
Kitty Pop.
‘Some Kittens.’
‘Kittengenic.’
Kit Cave and the Bad Siameeds.
The Mewges.
Bob Meowley and the Wailers.
Funkatelic—‘Kitten Brain.’
Meowvin Gaye.
Grace Meownes—‘Slave to the Kitten.’
David Meowie—‘Young Amerikittens.’
Pet Shop Boys—‘Catually.’
Fleetwood Cat—‘Groomers.’
Roxy Kittens.
Meowing Heads—‘Moar Songs About Buildings and Catfood.’
Katti Smith.
Outkats.
‘Kittens of Choice.’
Kitten Beefheart and His Meowgic Band—‘Trout Mask Replicat.’
Smewmon and Catfunkel—‘Bridge Over Spoiled Milk.’
Squeeeeen—‘Squeeeeen II.’
The Kittens.
‘Kitten Fantasy.’
Via Kitten Covers.
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Metal albums with googly eyes
60s and 70s Asian album covers
Famous album covers rendered in Lego
After ‘Sgt. Pepper’s’: A gallery of Peter Blake’s pop art album covers
Great Hipgnosis album covers you probably weren’t aware of
These are probably the worst album covers ever created