ONE COOL 'CAT' DENMARK'S BENT FABRIC FINDS NEW LIFE FOR HIS OLD SONG WITH 'JUKEBOX'.

Byline: Fred Shuster Music Writer

Eighty-one-year-old Danish pianist Bent Fabric - whose sole, Grammy-winning hit happened 44 years ago - has re-emerged with a new high-tech twist on an old sound that's currently in use on a major TV commercial.

The keyboardist has been rediscovered by a new generation of younger artists, musicians and remixers. And the title track of his new disc, ``Jukebox - the Album,'' due in stores Tuesday, is zooming up the charts thanks to its use in an eye-popping TV spot for Cingular/iTunes that uses the song both as its theme and concept.

``There are so many ways for music to be heard these days,'' Fabric says. ``It's exciting to be able to explore all those new possibilities.''

Recorded in Fabric's hometown of Copenhagen, ``Jukebox'' (Hidden Beach Recordings) includes an array of delightful originals, with contributions from top Scandinavian mixers and musicians. The disc also highlights an inspired new version of ``Alley Cat,'' Fabric's signature tune that first came out in Denmark in 1961 and became a worldwide hit one year later, selling more than 1 million copies and reaching the Top 40 in the U.S., Europe and Australia.

The simple fox trot won the Grammy for best rock and roll record of 1962, beating Sam Cooke, the Drifters and Mary Wells, and even inspired a dance craze (Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser did the Alley Cat on an episode of ``Mad About You'').

It's the sort of tune you've heard a thousand times but probably can't name. In fact, ``Alley Cat,'' like ``Chopsticks,'' is so simple anyone can play it - although some needed help. Along with all those copies of the iconic single, the song sold more than 500,000 copies of sheet music.

``I had no idea it was anything special when I wrote it,'' Fabric said the other day from his home in Denmark. ``I was doodling on the piano and it just happened. Then they wanted to use it for a TV program I was hosting.''

Fabric was a bandleader and soloist with a fondness for such American jazz greats as Teddy Wilson and Fats Waller when a Danish television station asked him to host a weekly variety series called ``Around the Piano,'' which became one of the most popular TV shows in Denmark. Fabric - who had made some of the country's first jazz recordings - played the part of cool cat, hosting the show from the piano, sporting a turtleneck sweater, with a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. Critics dubbed him ``the Danish Perry Como.''

He wrote ``Alley Cat'' for the show - and it changed not only his life but his name. Released in the U.S. on Atlantic's Atco imprint in 1962, label execs decided success was assured - if Fabric dropped the double-barreled surname (Fabricius-Bjerre).

``The company said I needed to change my name,'' Fabric said. ``They thought my original name was just too difficult for Americans to pronounce. When we came up with the shortened version, it just took off. It gave radio DJs a built-in joke. They had a lot of fun with it.''

Atlantic went on to release six Bent Fabric albums over the next four years, but nothing - not even the disturbingly cheerful ``Happy Puppy'' - had the impact of that first feline hit. Fabric remained in Denmark, where he has enjoyed a successful career in the 44 years since the single hit the Top 10 in the U.S., performing and composing music in the jazz, pop and classical genres for appreciative European audiences.

On the new album, ``Alley Cat'' gets a decidedly modern spin by remixers Hit & Run. And the popular title track, ``Jukebox,'' receives a throbbing, virtuoso remix from Ralphi Rosario as a bonus track.

``They've given me a real creative boost,'' Fabric said. ``It's not just that they've updated my sound - they've given it a whole new dimension.''

For his part, Rosario, who just finished a Kelly Clarkson remix and is about to embark on a musical project with Paris Hilton, said he had heard ``Jukebox'' on the Cingular/iTunes ad before he was asked to twiddle the knobs for a remake.

``I thought it would be a really good idea to turn it around a bit,'' he said from his Chicago studio. ``What I do is more like a reinterpretation. I add all kinds of stuff - keyboards, vocals, bass - but in this case I kept the vocals intact. It's a very catchy tune, and these days you don't have too many songs with great riffs that stick in your head from the first time you hear it. The days when a song really sticks around for a while are gone.

``I like longevity.''

Fred Shuster, [phone]

fred.shuster(at)dailynews.com

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