"Tommy the Cat" is a song by the funk metal

Funk metal

Funk metal is a subgenre of funk rock that fuses elements of heavy metal and funk. Allmusic has claimed that "funk metal evolved in the mid-'80s when alternative bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Faith No More, Infectious Grooves, Mordred and Fishbone began playing the hybrid with a stronger...

 band Primus

Primus (band)

Primus is an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, currently composed of bassist/vocalist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry "Ler" LaLonde and drummer Jay Lane. Primus originally formed in 1984 with Claypool and guitarist Todd Huth, later joined by Lane, though the latter two departed...

, first released in 1989 on their live first album, Suck on This

Suck on This

-Personnel:Primus*Les Claypool – bass guitar, vocals*Larry "Ler" LaLonde – guitars*Tim "Herb" Alexander – drumsProduction*Bob Cock – producer*Howard Johnston – editing*Tim "Soya" Leroy – stage*Lauren Miller – sound...

. The studio version was released on their third album, Sailing the Seas of Cheese

Sailing the Seas of Cheese

-Personnel:Primus*Les Claypool – electric bass, string bass, six-string fretless bass, clarinet, vocals*Larry LaLonde – electric guitar, six-string banjo*Tim "Herb" Alexander – drums, water jugProduction*Chris Bellman – mastering...

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The song contains spoken word portions, as the voice of Tommy the Cat, interspersed with the singing of Les Claypool

Les Claypool

Leslie Edward "Les" Claypool is an American musician and writer, best known as the lead vocalist and bassist in the band Primus. Claypool's playing style on the electric bass mixes tapping, flamenco-like strumming, whammy bar bends and slapping.Claypool has also self produced and engineered his...

. In their live performances Claypool does both parts himself, but the version appearing on Sailing the Seas of Cheese singer Tom Waits

Tom Waits

Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...

 provided the voice of Tommy the Cat. The song shows a complex slapping bass line by Les Claypool. It was chosen by DigitalDreamDoor.com as the fifth greatest rock performance ever.

Primus released "Tommy the Cat" following their first major label single, "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver

Jerry Was a Race Car Driver

"Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" is the first single of Primus's 1991 album Sailing the Seas of Cheese. The song tells the stories of two characters, Jerry, an ill-fated race car driver who collides with a telephone pole while driving intoxicated and Captain Pierce, a retired fireman.-Composition and...

". In concert, Claypool started introducing all of their other songs by saying "This next song is not Tommy the Cat", apparently due to the popularity the song had gained after a video was released and played on MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

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The song was briefly featured in the 1991 film Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey during the 'Battle of the Bands' portion of the movie, where Primus was shown performing it.

The song is about Thomas O'Malley, the rascal alley cat from the Walt Disney movie The Aristocats

The Aristocats

The Aristocats is a 1970 American animated feature produced and released by Walt Disney Productions in 1970 and stars Eva Gabor and Phil Harris, with Roddy Maude-Roxby as Edgar the butler, the villain of the story...