JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS by David Cutler

Since their untimely end, music journalists have observed countless times that the "kitten grunge" movement of the early 1990s began and ended with Josie and the Pussycats, but it bears repeating here. While their breakout album Please Deliver's unexpected success filled American malls with flannel shirts and fuzzy cat ears (somewhat counter to the spirit of the music), kitten grunge never regained its momentum after the 1994 suicide of frontwoman Josie Jones.

In the following years bassist and co-songwriter Valerie Smith slipped into obscurity after a number of failed projects which garnered some critical attention but were largely ignored by the record-buying public. For her part, Melody Valentine traded three cord grunge sounds for radio hooks and her already apparent pop sensibilities, forming the Mew Fighters, one of the more successful acts of the latter half of the decade.

Josie is survived by fiance Alan Mayberry and cat Francis Bean.

-David