"Alley Cat"
Single by Bent Fabric
from the album Alley Cat
B-side	"Markin' Time"
Released	1962
Genre	Pop
Length	2:24
Label	Metronome (Denmark) Atco (US/Canada) Columbia (other countries)
Songwriter(s)	Bent Fabric
Bent Fabric singles chronology
"Alley Cat" (1962) "Chicken Feed" (1963)

"Alley Cat", also known as "Alleycat" and "The Alley Cat," is a popular instrumental song made most famous by the Danish pianist and composer Bent Fabric, released in 1962.^[1] Fabric (born Bent Fabricius-Bjerre) wrote the tune under the pseudonym Frank Björn. The song has notably been the main theme of most Mexican ice cream trucks for an undefined amount of time.

History

The song was originally released in November, 1961, under the Danish title "Omkring et flygel," which means "Around a Piano."^[2] In 1962, the Bent Fabric composition reached number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 2 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.^[1] In Australia, it went to number 2 and in Germany it went to number 49. It also won a Grammy Award for Best Rock & Roll Recording during the 5th Grammy Awards. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. Siw Malmkvist recorded the song in Swedish, "Våran katt", in Danish, "Vores kat" and in German, "Schwarzer Kater Stanislaus" (1962).

Critical reception

The song received generally positive reviews. Matt Dennis of the Windsor Star said it had an "infectious, toe-tapping tempo."^[3]

Chart history

Notable recordings

Popular culture

The song has appeared in numerous films, including:

• The 1989 film Shag, starring Phoebe Cates and Bridget Fonda
• The 1994 film Cabin Boy, starring Chris Elliott and Andy Richter
• The 1999 film Just Looking, starring Ryan Merriman
• The 2000 film Duets, starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis
• The 2004 film Imaginary Heroes, starring Sigourney Weaver and Emile Hirsch.^[11]
• It was also used in multiple episodes of Get a Life, such as "Zoo Animals on Wheels."^[12]
• The song appeared in two episodes of Family Guy.^[13][14]
• In "The Wedding Affair," the fifteenth episode of Season 1 of Mad About You, Paul and Jamie Buchman (Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt respectively) make an uninspiring attempt at dancing to the instrumental with forearms and hands somewhat extended forward and fingers pointed downward to mimic a cat's paws and listlessly saying "meow" at the end of the refrains.^[15]
• It is also frequently used by ice cream trucks in the US.^{[citation needed]}