Scruffy the Cat

In the mid-1980s, a back-to-basics roots movement emerged out of all the synth rhythms, Farfisa-organ squirts and electronic dreams, and it grew to encompass bands from The Long Ryders and Replacements to Joshua Tree-era U2. Scruffy the Cat deserves a place in New England’s musical history, and arguably the nation’s, for being among the leading proponents of that bare-bones style.

Taking its cues from early punk, the British Invasion and the spirit of America from the Midwest to Nashville, the group was something its hungry legion of local fans lived for. Guitarist-vocalist Charlie Chesterman (who went on to front a couple of bands and go solo after Scruffy’s demise) and bassist Mac Stanfield migrated to Boston from Iowa, where their band The Law had achieved some notoriety. Joining up with guitarist Stephen Fredette, they formed the core of a band that attracted enough attention to be signed by premier alt-rock label Relativity.

Two LPs and two EPs followed (including 1986’s High Octane Revival, produced by The Neighborhoods‘ David Minehan), earning the band mountains of press adulation and respect from fans around the US. On their 1989 swansong release Moons of Jupiter, Scruffy the Cat even took their sound to the rest of the solar system with an elaborate (and expensive) sci-fi-oriented CD package that was even more fun than a box of Cracker Jacks. The group blew apart in the early-‘90s, but they certainly left a great-looking corpse.

(by Carter Alan)

Carter Alan is a former WBCN deejay now heard of WZLX-FM in Boston. He is the author of Radio Free Boston: The Rise and Fall of WBCN (University Press New England, 2023), The Decibel Diaries: A Journey Through Rock in 50 Concerts (University Press of New England, 2017) and Outside is America: U2 in the U.S. (Lulu.com, 2009).