Lifeline
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June : June.
Single: Two Fine People/A Bad Penny. Left off the forthcoming “Numbers” album and released as a teaser for “Greatest Hits.” Reaches #33 (USA).June : June.
LP: Greatest Hits. The singles from Steve’s Island/A&M catalog are collected, including “Another Saturday Night.” The album reaches #6 in America and becomes one of the best–selling Cat Stevens albums of all time. Not long after this, Steve is swimming in the Pacific at the home of A&M boss Jerry Moss. Caught in a riptide, he feels himself being pulled out to sea. Crying out for help, he promises to work for God. Suddenly swept back to shore, he knows his prayer has been answered and that his quest for contentment will not last much longer.November : November.
LP: Numbers. Recorded in the spring amidst the snowy Laurentian mountains at Le Studio Quebec, Morin Heights, Canada, where he hoped a change of scenery would nourish the muse, the album is subtitled “A Pythagorean Theory Tale” and represents his current infatuation with numerology. An accompanying fantasy storybook, with Steve’s illustrations, tells the story of the “little planet of Polygor.” A planned full–scale book fails to materialize.November : November 30.
The elaborate Majikat Tour opens in Gothenburg, Sweden. Each concert is preceded by an illusionist show, which includes a live tiger and doves. At the end of the three–member magic act, Cat Stevens is brought out “in pieces” and assembled in front of the cheering audience. By the end of the first dress rehearsal, the road crew could do all the tricks, squeezing into tiny boxes and sawing one another in half.December : December.
Cat Stevens’ final “official” concert in his home country, Dec. 20 at the Hammersmith Odeon, London (although no one knows it at the time). -
