Overview

Candace Reckinger and Michael Patterson

The Adventures of MC Skat Kat and the Stray Mob is a 1991 album by MC Skat Kat. The album came about as the result of Paula Abdul's successful "Opposites Attract" video of 1990, which was directed by Michael Patterson and Candace Reckinger.

The character of MC Skat Kat was created by Paula Abdul and Michael Patterson. As a child, Abdul idolized Gene Kelly and Patterson got the idea for Skat Kat from the Gene Kelly movie Anchors Aweigh, in which Kelly's character dances with Jerry, the mouse from the Tom and Jerry cartoon series. Abdul loved the movie as a child. Patterson would originally play small gigs dressed in full cat attire, though soon after become a studio musician.

Derrick "Delite" Stevens

MC Skat Kat was performed by The Wild Pair duo of Bruce DeShazer and Marv Gunn on "Opposites Attract". MC Skat Kat's rap was written by Romany Malco and performed by Derrick “Delite” Stevens, although Malco is often mistakenly credited for being the voice of the first rap, a story perpetuated by Abdul herself.

Derrick Stevens also provided vocals for the character in the Adventures of MC Skat Kat album. The songs on the album were written and produced by The College Boyz which included Stevens and Malco, Squeak, B. Selector and DJ Cue.

The Stray Mob consists of fictional characters Fatz, Taboo, Micetro, Leo, Katleen, and Silk, the first three of whom appeared in the "Opposites Attract" music video. Abdul's lone vocal appearance can be heard in the track "I Ain’t No Kitty."

Two music videos for the album were directed by Patterson and Reckinger, only one of which was officially released.

Image from the "Skat Strut" music video.

The only single from the album, "Skat Strut", samples Earth Wind & Fire's 1981 hit "Let's Groove", with Abdul making an appearance in the video. It reached number 96 on the Billboard Hot 100 but fared better overseas, peaking at numbers 9 and 31 on the Norwegian and Swedish charts, respectively.

Despite the popularity of the “Skat Strut” music video (as it became one of the most requested on MTV), the song only reached number 96 on the Billboard Hot 100. The vocal style and length of the songs in the music video differed from those from the album versions. The music video was released on September 10th, 1991.

MC Skat Kat promoted the album by performing the single “Skat Strut” on Paula Abdul’s Under My Spell world tour in 1992-1993. The song was performed after “Opposites Attract.”

The College Boyz

Another single from the album, "Big Time", was given its own video with revised music. The song was labeled as "Big Time (Animation Mix)" on the Captive Sampler. The video, directed by Patterson and Candace Reckinger, was completed in January 1992 and appears on Patterson + Reckinger's Vimeo channel. The original animation was done by Chris Bailey, Tom Sito and Eric Goldberg, who at the time was the lead animator of the Genie character in Disney's Aladdin feature film.

According to producer John Kafka, nobody was sure what to do with MC Skat Kat after the videos were finished. Virgin Music and Universal Pictures talked of a live-action/animation hybrid feature film, but nothing ever materialized. Over the years, Abdul had even pitched the idea of a live-action/animation show starring Skat Kat to FOX for Saturday morning but nothing ever materialized.

MC Skat Kat in "Yakety Yak"

MC Skat Kat also appeared in "Yakety Yak - Take it Back", an all-star Public Service Announcement produced by the Take It Back Foundation in 1991. The music video featured appearances by celebrities including Pat Benatar, Natalie Cole, Charlie Daniels, Lita Ford, Quincy Jones, B.B. King, Queen Latifah, Kenny Loggins, Randy Newman, Tone Loc, Ozzy Osbourne, Brenda Russell, Barry White, Stevie Wonder and a special appearance by Bugs Bunny in an updated version of "Yakety Yak" retooled with a message about recycling.

"Yakety Yak" premiered on MTV on April 10, 1991 (National Recycling Day), appeared as a trailer at AMC movie theaters, and was distributed on VHS and CD. It was later shown occasionally on Sesame Street during the early 1990’s, although no Sesame Street characters were present. The video also appeared once on Nickelodeon in 1995.

MC Skat Kat appeared in American Dad! Season 13 episode 6 "Kiss Kiss Cam Cam", on February 29, 2016. He mentions being out of a job, obviously meant to poke fun at his absence from media and pop culture. He sings "Opposites Attract" with Stan, who is trying to prove that opposites do attract.