As a teenager / young adult, I had never heard (or at least registered) this song. In that timeframe, I once visited my older sister and her husband, who at the time had a pretty large collection of cats.

At one point, I stepped away from the group and, on my return, encountered one of these cats just hanging out around the corner from the gathering area. I said to it "what's up, pussycat?" just to acknowledge it. Immediately everyone in the main room, from which they could overhear me, responded "whooooa-oh-oh-oh!"

Without the context of knowing that song, it was very confusing and almost alarming.