Cat Scratch Fever is a real condition: it's an infectious disease caused by a cat scratch that usually affects young children. Nugent, however, changes the meaning to make it much more lustful, with the "cats" being women. The song is about sex and his rampant desire for it, or put more succinctly by Nugent, it's "about pussy."
Nugent explained the origin of this song in an interview with Ultimate Classic Rock: "I had seen a medical journal back in 1975, I opened it up and at the top, it said, 'cat scratch fever.' I'd never heard of that before. What's that? So later on, that lick was cataloged in my memory bank. I went, 'Cat Scratch Fever!' and I had fun with the lyrics."
Nugent sang lead on this one - something he didn't do early in his career. Cat Scratch Fever was Nugent's third album, and featured vocal contributions from Derek St. Holmes, who also sang on Nugent's first album before being replaced by Meat Loaf for the second: Free For All. St. Holmes left for good after this album, as Nugent realized singing the songs himself was the best way to command the most attention.
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