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Dutch pop group sing about Mississippi

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 10/04/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Pussycat were a pop group (four men, three women) from the Netherlands whose music was (for the most part) mainstream seventies pop, mainly recorded in English. They wrote most of their own material but they also recorded a few covers including It's the same old song (Four Tops). They recorded a well-balanced mix of up-tempo and slower songs.



Their claim to fame is a country-styled up-tempo pop song that they wrote about the American heartland - Greenville, Mississippi to be exact. They released the song in the UK, where Dutch pop singers had no previous record of success, and took it all the way to the top of the charts, knocking Dancing queen (Abba) off the top. It sat there for four weeks, eventually being replaced by another classic (If you leave me now - Chicago). The song was covered in America by Barbara Fairchild, a country singer who learned about Pussycat's song on a visit to Europe. Her version became a minor hit on the country charts but deserved to do much better.



Pussycat never repeated the success of Mississippi in the UK, though the follow-up, Smile, made the top thirty. Other songs that I particularly like include Georgie, If you ever come to Amsterdam and Mexicali lane.



Pussycat are not essential to a collection of seventies music but there is more to their music than Mississippi."