Cat Stevens

One day, I decided to check out this website I kept hearing pop up in Rob Burton’s Multicultural Literature class just to see what it was. When the home page for www.catstevens.com came up on my screen I thought about how soothing the scene, of Yusuf Islam having a drink in what looked like the doorway of a café, seemed to be. I especially liked the funny little touch of the cup on the saucer spinning in circles. On that page not only do you see Yusuf and his quiet little corner, but a poster on the wall facing the screen with all the latest news for him. Plus close to the top of the archway there are four words: Sing, Think, Give and Bazaar. When I rested my mouse over “Bazaar” and even tried to click on it all got were the words “Yusuf Islam Bazaar Coming Soon.” I went to try “Think” and “Give” but nothing seemed to happen.

However, when I clicked on “Sing” I was transported to a whole other room. It seemed like any other living room with all the usual things like a couch, TV, tables, and, sine he’s a musician, various instruments scattered about in corners. And yet that is where the similarities end, for every time I would move my mouse I would go over an object and I noticed that something would flash white at me. I found that when I settled over an object different features would show up in white.

The TV had various videos of Yusuf you could view like his BBC interview, several different performances that he’s done over the years such as the one for the Earth Tour in 1976 and the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo in 2006 amongst other things. The newspaper had news of Yusuf like the new and improved (but hopefully not too different) website coming soon, downloads, performances he is scheduled for as well as the fact that he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate. Pictures on the left wall were a way to access the archives and his biography. On the right wall, upon the top of the bookshelf sat a frame that took you into a gallery containing four pictures of Yusuf himself, and the record collection at the bottom of said bookshelf was a discography. The clipboard on the couch was a way to buy An Other Cup in either the UK or the U.S. and the windows were links. These links took you to either the archives, Yusuf’s Myspace page, and various other links to see more about him. In this room there was also a record player. Not a CD player but a record player; one that people now a days rarely ever see anymore. When you move over the icon the word “Audio” shows up and once inside the page you can choose from various songs like The First Cut is the Deepest and I Never Want to be a Star.

And yet what I really hadn’t expected to see was the Japanese style doll next to the TV. If you were to rest your pointer over it, it would have in white letters “Mr Ho-Ho FAQ.” once on this page you can see various questions asked and then below were the answers to some rather different types of questions. One question asked was if Yusuf had become a monk. You’ll have to go to the site to see the answer cause I don’t want to ruin it for you but I thought that kind of question was a little on the different side to say the least. Also in this living room resting on the coffee table is the very same cup and saucer that Yusuf is holding on the Home page and it just so happens that the cup is the way back to the beginning.

I found that the website was a very creative, fun and easy way to learn more about Yusuf Islam who is Cat Stevens. Everything you would want to know is pretty easy to find and yet his site makes it fun to do too. I only hope that his new website is just as interesting and just as easy to navigate around. So look out for the new website and see if it is as good as this one was!