Formed when guitarist Takashi ‘Jam’ Ohashi and bass player Yasuhiro ‘Butch’ Hatae left their successful Tokyo-based band Seiki Matsu to recruit vocalist Joel Ellis, a Cleveland, Ohio native, and drummer Randy Meers, originally from Houston, Texas, out of the remnants of the Los Angeles group Merry Hoax, the short-lived Japanese-American outfit Cats In Boots came together. The American members moved to Tokyo to cut demos, which surfaced as a mini-album that ascended to number 1 on the Japanese indie chart. Momentum from those recordings secured a contract with EMI Records. Produced by Mark Opitz, the raucous and thoroughly enjoyable debut Kicked And Klawed showcased the band’s raw, trashy hard rock, which recalled the work of Mötley Crüe, Aerosmith and Vain, and climbed to number 3 in Japan. Despite strong reviews and considerable MTV airplay, sales proved only moderate elsewhere, and Cats In Boots dissolved after Ellis and the recording contract departed almost simultaneously.
