Formed in 1981 in Miami, Florida, Cats on Holiday took their name from the inside photo of The Kinks’ 1971 LP “Muswell Hillbillies.” It didn’t take long for the quintet to start lighting up stages across the South Florida club circuit. The original lineup consisted of Ray Harris (bass, vocals), Bobby Goodlett (guitar, vocals), Mark Dieroff (guitar, vocals), Garrison James (drums), and frontman David Pizzuto, a.k.a. Ezra Pike, on lead vocals.

Goodlett had been running Sonic Sound, a successful recording studio in Hialeah, Florida, and produced a few songs for bassist Ray Harris’s previous band, Z-Cars (another Fervor Records signee). Upon the dissolution of Z-Cars, Ray and Ezra joined forces with Bobby, Mark, and Garrison. The Cats quickly discovered they had the unusual and enviable luxury of four accomplished songwriters in the band. The wealth of original material led to intense pressure to gig to pay for studio time, which, in the 1980s, was a daunting financial consideration. The exhaustion of non-stop performances ultimately led to fractures in the group and eventual disbandment. Fortunately, Ray Harris held onto the band’s master tapes. Over 40 years later, the songs were signed to Fervor Records, mixed, and mastered, and have found new life, preserving this great example of South Florida’s vibrant 1980s music scene.