February 6, 1999:

MISSING IN ACTION - As many of you may have noticed, who have seen Hepcat live recently, saxophonist Raul Talavara and Alex Desert haven't been playing with the group. Well, Raul Talavara has officially left the group. We're not sure of the specifics, except that he is gone from the group and no replacement, if there will even be one, has been anncounced. We wish the best of luck to Raul wherever he may end up! However, Alex Desert has NOT left the band, but is only taking a break from the group to work on his "Becker" TV show, but he'll certainly be back...

A TASTE OF HEPCAT - Thanks to Steve Roth of Colorado, for informing us that Hepcat's "I Can't Wait" song can be heard on a new Heineken beer commercial. Some people are crying that Hepcat are sell-outs, however, in our opinion this couldn't be farther from the truth. For a lesser known musical group like Hepcat to have one of their songs appear on a commercial for a major brand, this could be just the thing that could give them an even wider audience. So, congratulations to them and look out for the commercial for yourself. Steve also let us know that "Becker" has been in the top-20 in Neilsen ratings for quite a while now. You can see the show for yourself every Monday at 9:30 pm Eastern/Pacific on CBS.

GROOVIN' - Rolling Stone online is reporting that Hepcat is slated to record with reggae legend Eddy Grant on a cover of the Rascals' "Groovin'". The song is tentatively part of a new disc in the Red Hot series, called "Red Hot & Rude". However, Eddy Grant has said he didn't know anything of the project, so it might be Let's Go Bowling and former General Public singer Dave Wakeling on that same song. The Red Hot foundation provides money for the prevention of AIDS, and has released many albums in the past few years featuring classic collaborations of all types of music.. Eddy Grant is most famous for his 1980's hit "Electric Avenue" and he also owns his own record company, Ice Records, in Barbados. Other proposed collaborations for "Red Hot & Rude", might include Ernest Ranglin and Metro Sylee on Millie Small's "My Boy Lollypop", Pato Banton and Ranking Roger on a dub version of the O'Kaysions' "Girl Watcher" and Mephiskapheles doing Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell On You", possibly with Deborah Harry. The album is scheduled to be released in June on Gypsy Records and more concrete information should follow soon.

HEPCAT IN ACTION - Thanks to Jhon Russell of Australia, we have our first set of photos in the "pictures" section. The excellent photos were taken on January 4th of this year's Warped Tour in Gold Coast, Australia. To accompany these photos, Paul Williams, also from Australia, has written a great review of Hepcat's performance at this show, as well as their January 2nd performance in Noosa, Australia, including mention of another up-and-coming ska band, Area 7. You can read the review by clicking HERE! We really appreciate both of them taking the time to send us this information, so make sure you check it all out! Coming soom to the pictures section, are Rudith's Hepcat photos from Spain, so watch for them as well.

AROUND THE WORLD - Good news for east coast USA fans of Hepcat, because they are scheduled to play some select dates at the end of March and early April there. This goes along with the already full list of dates they have planned from late February through late March all throughout Europe. For the complete itineary, be sure to check out the "tour" dates section. We also want everyone to know that we update the "tour" dates page often (at least a few times a month), so be sure to check back every now and then, because we don't send out mailings to let everyone know that they've been updated everytime we update.

January 5, 1999:

RIGHT IN TIME -The people at Time magazine have ranked Hepcat's "Right On Time" album as the 7th best album for 1998. The December 21, 1998 article had the following to say about Hepcat: "This nine-member band, based in LA, plays old-school ska with sweet vocals and warm, gentle horns. The songs, many of them genial ballads and jazzy instrumentals, breeze by, carefree but never insubstantial. This is an album that makes you dream of the Caribbean, or of dancing under starlight, or perhaps both." It's quite an accomplishment but us fans have realized their greatness all along. Thanks to James Z and Podo for this news story!

AND THE NOMINEES ARE... -Hepcat has been nominated for a total of three Bammies, for BAM magazine's California Music Awards ceremony. They were nominated as part of the statewide nominations for "Outstanding Punk/Ska Album" for "Right On Time" and as part of the Southern California nominations for "Outstanding Independent Album" and "Outstanding Ska Artist." The 22nd annual Bammies awards will be held on March 13th, at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Franciso, California. Congratulations and good luck! For more information visit Music Universe's Bammies site.

REAL HEPCAT - Since our last update, we purchased the import CD single of "No Worries", which was about $13! Because it's hard to find, we've decided to put up some RealAudio sound clips for each of the four tracks from the single, to give people a listen.

 Three of the four tracks are live recordings from April 1998 in Portland, Oregon. To listen to the sound clips click the picture at the left. Hopefully Hellcat Records will come to their senses and release it to a wider market, because it is such a great CD.

'TIS THE SEASON - The lyrical battle continues as to who is the best deejay on the ska scene today. Dr. Ring-Ding & The Senior Allstars have recently released "No Reason For Season" on the Moon Records label to show that there's no reason to argue because according to Dr. Ring-Ding, he is the best. The battle began with the Stubborn Allstars' "Open Season", to which Hepcat came back with with "Open Season...Is Closed", which was followed by King Django's "Hepcat Season," and now Dr. Ring-Ding's single. The single "No Reason For Season" with the flip side "Your Sympathy" is available at most good music stores so check for it, or you can find info on ordering it straight from the MoonSka Records website.

 Everyone has their own opinion as to who is the best deejay in this battle, but one thing is for sure, it definitely ensures that the music stays fresh and creative. The lyrical saga continues...

November 22, 1998:

EVERLASTING SOUND! - The music world lost one of its finest this week when the great Roland Alphonso left our world, at the age of 67.

 If you've never heard of him, then you need to stop everything else and purchase a Skatalites album or two! Roland Alphonso played tenor saxophone for over 50 years, and had worked with everyone from The Wailers, The Maytals, The Skatalites (of course) to Jump With Joey.

 To read more about the incredible history of Roland Alphonso, click the picture at the left! His music and genius will be tremendously missed!

IT'S NO GENERIC INTERVIEW - Thanks to Jared McGrath, editor of Generic magazine, an entertainment zine based out of Ohio, we are able to present an excellent interview with Kincaid Smith, trumpet player for Hepcat. The interview gives a rare look into one of the unsung members of the group, and is not just your average interview. You can order the latest issue, #9 of Generic magazine (which features this interview as well as many other articles), or any other issue, by sending $2 per issue to:

Generic Magazine
P.O. Box 3214
Cuyahoga Falls, OH  44223

 To accompany the Kincaid Smith interview, there are several great exclusive live pictures of Hepcat, taken by Jared himself. You can read the interview portion of the zine in the "press" section or by clicking the picture of the front cover, at the right. It's definitely worth ordering a copy of the zine for yourself!

NO WORRIES NOW! - Hepcat has a new single out for their latest album, "Right On Time", however, you'll only be able to order it from import stores. The single, released on Hellcat Records, is for the song "No Worries" and the CD version of the single, distributed by Digipak, features four songs, three of which were recorded live on April 8th, 1998 at the Schnitzer Auditorium in Portland, Oregon. The tracklisting is as follows:

Nigel (live)
No Worries (album version)
Positive (live)
The Secret (live)

October 16, 1998:

September 16, 1998:

August 17, 1998:

August 3, 1998:

July 23, 1998: