2nd from the left, Shahbal Shabpareh in the middle and
Sharam Shabpareh on the right. The group was originally formed in 1966 in
Tehran,
Iran as a rock band with members
Hassan Shamaizadeh,
Shahram Solati,
Farhad Mehrad, Shahbal Shabpareh. In the 1990s, the band was relaunched in
Los Angeles as a
pop group. While the band members and singers changed frequently over the next three decades, Shahbal Shabpareh has consistently remained the group's main musician, producer and manager.
Ebi, one of the most popular Persian singers, was part of the group Black Cats from 1967 to 1979 before starting his solo career.
Hassan Shamaizadeh, who played the
saxophone for the band, also ended up being a very popular solo singer as well a song writer for many popular artists such as
Googoosh. From 1992 to 1999,
Pyruz and
David were the members, who were very popular. From 1999 to 2004,
Kamran and
Hooman were also very successful members, who ended up separating and starting their own very popular group called
"Kamran & Hooman."
Kamyar & Hakim Rachek on bass were the main members from 2004 to 2008. Kamyar Ahmadzadeh, who was influenced by
Stevie Wonder, also became successful on his own. This iteration of the band was known as
Black Cats Next Level with the album "Scream of the Cats" with the mega hits such as : Jooneh Khodet, Majnoon, Leila. Over the years they have had at least 43 members. == Style ==