Matt The Cat

Matt The Cat spent the better part of the 00s howlin’ nightly to a national audience over XM Satellite Radio’s 50s on 5 channel. On weeknights, “The Night Prowl Show with Matt The Cat” took radio listeners prowling around the back alleys of early rock & roll and rhythm & blues. Matt interviewed and profiled such rock n’ roll legends as Lloyd Price, Aaron Neville, Big Jay McNeely, Dale Hawkins, Earl “Speedo” Carroll of The Cadillacs, Earl Lewis of the Channels, Pookie Hudson of The Spaniels, Sonny Burgess, Johnny Maestro and rockabilly guitar king James Burton. Matt’s focus on doo wop, R&B, rockabilly and early rock n’ roll pleased an audience looking for not only the hits, but also the b-sides and lesser known, but equally important records.

Matt The Cat has spent the last 33 years in radio, beginning at the tender age of 13, hosting an Oldies radio show on the little 710 watt community radio station WBMT in Boxford, MA. He attended Emerson College in Boston, where he hosted a weekly classic soul music show on WERS called “The Soul Bucket.” It was there he interviewed the legendary Peter Wolf of the J. Geils Band. Others included Barrence Whitfiled, Bernie Worell, Walter “Wolfman” Washington, Luther Guitar Jr. Johnson, and Otis Clay.

Matt The Cat arrived at XM Satellite just before the historic launch of the nation’s first satellite radio company in June of 2001. Matt’s “Night Prowl Show” was the only live, national call-in request show of its kind to focus on the hits, as well as, the deep tracks that so many early rock n’ roll fans longed for. In 2002, Matt The Cat began hosting a weekly R&B show called “Harlem.” He featured the “soul that came before rock n’ roll” and focused on post WWII rhythm & Blues: the music that shaped rock n’ roll. Music historian and singer/songwriter Billy Vera often appeared on the show to offer insight on such topics as West Coast doo wop and R&B. Other topics often included were vocal groups with bird names and the history of iconic record labels. Matt added Music Director of the 50s channel to his duties in 2004 and he continued to host “Harlem” and “The Night Prowl Show” until October of 2008.

Matt The Cat currently hosts a weekly syndicated rhythm and blues show called the “Juke In The Back,” which airs on both public and commercial radio stations nationally.  “Juke In The Back” has been serving up 1940s and ’50s R&B since 2010.