Stray Cats
Encyclopedia
Stray Cats are an American Rockabilly
band formed in 1980
by guitarist/vocalist Brian Setzer
(Bloodless Pharaohs/Brian Setzer Orchestra), upright bassist Lee Rocker
and Slim Jim Phantom
(drums) in the Long Island
town of Massapequa, New York
. The group had numerous hit singles in the UK
, Australia
and the U.S.
including "Stray Cat Strut
", "Sexy and 17", "Look at That Cadillac," "I Won't Stand in Your Way", "Bring it Back Again", and "Rock This Town
", which the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has listed as one of the 500 most important songs in the history of rock and roll.
artists and other artists from the 1950s, were heavily influenced by Eddie Cochran
, Carl Perkins
, Gene Vincent
and Bill Haley & His Comets
. The Stray Cats quickly developed a large following in the New York music scene playing at CBGB
and Max's Kansas City
as well as venues on Long Island. When the Cats heard a rumor that there was a revival of the 1950s Teddy Boy
youth subculture in England, the band moved to the UK. They then spearheaded the nascent rockabilly revival, by blending the 1950s Sun Studio
sound with modern punk musical elements. In terms of visual style the Stray Cats also blended elements of 1950 rockabilly clothes such as wearing drape jackets, brothel creepers and western shirts with punk clothes such as tight black zipper trousers and modern versions of 1950s hair styles.
In the summer of 1980 the Cats found themselves being courted by the elite of the music world including Virgin Records
, Stiff Records
and Arista Records
. Word quickly spread and soon members of The Rolling Stones
, The Who
and Led Zeppelin
were at their shows. After a gig in London, Stray Cats met producer Dave Edmunds
, well known as a roots rock
enthusiast for his work with Rockpile
and as a solo artist. Edmunds offered to work with the group, and they entered the studio to record their self-titled debut album, Stray Cats
, released in England in 1981 on Arista Records. They had three hits that year with "Runaway Boys", "Rock This Town
", and "Stray Cat Strut
". The UK follow-up to Stray Cats, Gonna Ball
, was not as well-received, providing no hits. Yet the combined sales of their first two albums was enough to convince EMI America to compile the best tracks from the two UK albums and issue an album (Built for Speed
) in the U.S. in 1982. The record went on to sell double platinum in the US and Canada and was the #2 record on the Billboard album charts for 26 weeks.
, while Setzer made guest appearances with stars like Bob Dylan
and Stevie Nicks
and became the concert guitarist for Robert Plant
's Honeydrippers side project. In late 1984, the band added former BMT's guitarist and Long Island native Tommy Byrnes on second guitar and harmony vocals, and after a European and US tour which ended at the New Orleans World's Fair, parted ways. Rocker and Phantom formed a trio called Phantom Rocker & Slick (the "Slick" being former David Bowie
guitarist Earl Slick
) which contained the single "Men Without Shame", guest musicians on this record included both Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones and Nicky Hopkins on the piano. Setzer went on to a solo career, retaining Byrnes and exchanging his rockabilly focus for a more wide-ranging roots rock
/Americana
sound on albums such as 1986's The Knife Feels Like Justice
. In 1986, the Stray Cats reunited in Los Angeles, and recorded the covers
-heavy Rock Therapy. In 1989, they reunited once again for the album Blast Off!, which was accompanied by a tour with US blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan
. No longer with EMI America, they entered the studio with Nile Rodgers
for the record titled Let's Go Faster, issued by Liberation
in 1990. After 1992's Dave Edmunds-produced Choo Choo Hot Fish, and after another covers album, Original Cool, the group called it quits again.
In 2004, the Stray Cats reunited for a month-long tour of Europe. A live album culled from those concerts, Rumble In Brixton, included one new studio track, "Mystery Train Kept A Rollin'." In 2007, they reunited once again for a successful and long awaited US tour with ZZ Top
and The Pretenders
. This was their first North American tour in over 15 years. In the 2000s, the band toured Europe
as part of their Farewell Tour.
In 2008, for the first time in 18 years, the Stray Cats visited Australia
and New Zealand
which included several consecutive sold out shows of their Farewell (Australia) Tour.
In April 2009 the band reunited for a single show to celebrate Brian’s 50th birthday at the Fine Line Music Café in Minneapolis, MN.
-revival band The Brian Setzer Orchestra
. Rocker continued recording and touring throughout the 1990s and on to today. His albums include Black Cat Bone and Racin' the Devil on Alligator records as well as Bulletproof. In addition to the Stray Cats, Rocker has recorded or performed with Carl Perkins, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Willie Nelson, Leon Russell, Scotty Moore, Keith Richards and numerous others. Slim Jim Phantom plays the drums in another rockabilly band, 13 Cats, as well as the Rock and Roll
band The Head Cat with Lemmy (Motörhead) and Danny B. Harvey (13 Cats, RocKats). He is also an active member of the Love Hope Strength Foundation, a charitable organisation which was co-founded by Mike Peters
of The Alarm
, and which raises funds for cancer units.
The band was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame
on October 15, 2006.
Issued on Arista Records
:
Issued on EMI Records
:
Arabella Eurodisc Distribution.
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
band formed in 1980
1980 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1980.-January–March:*January 1**Cliff Richard is appointed an MBE by Elizabeth II.**The Zorros audition drummer Greg Pedley....
by guitarist/vocalist Brian Setzer
Brian Setzer
Brian Setzer is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He first found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly revival group The Stray Cats, and revitalized his career in the late 1990s with a jazz-oriented big band.-Career:Setzer was born in Massapequa, New York...
(Bloodless Pharaohs/Brian Setzer Orchestra), upright bassist Lee Rocker
Lee Rocker
Lee Rocker is an American rockabilly double bass player. He is the son of the classical clarinetists Stanley Drucker and Naomi Drucker. His sister Roseanne is a country music singer-songwriter...
and Slim Jim Phantom
Slim Jim Phantom
Slim Jim Phantom is the drummer for Stray Cats. Alongside band mates Brian Setzer and Lee Rocker, he spearheaded the neo-rockabilly movement of the early 1980s.-Biography:...
(drums) in the Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
town of Massapequa, New York
Massapequa, New York
Massapequa is a hamlet located in the suburban Nassau County, New York. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a total population of 21,685.Massapequa is located on the South Shore of Long Island....
. The group had numerous hit singles in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
including "Stray Cat Strut
Stray Cat Strut
"Stray Cat Strut" is the eighth track on the Stray Cats' debut album, Stray Cats, released in 1981 in the UK. In the US, the song was first released in 1982 on Built for Speed. The song became a hit in the US, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, over a year after it had reached its...
", "Sexy and 17", "Look at That Cadillac," "I Won't Stand in Your Way", "Bring it Back Again", and "Rock This Town
Rock This Town
"Rock This Town" is a song by the Stray Cats from their UK debut album Stray Cats. Its first U.S. release was on the 1982 album Built for Speed. It peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982, becoming the first of the band's three top ten hits in the U.S...
", which the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has listed as one of the 500 most important songs in the history of rock and roll.
Formation and move to UK
The group, whose style was based upon the sounds of Sun RecordsSun Records
Sun Records is a record label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27, 1952.Founded by Sam Phillips, Sun Records was known for giving notable musicians such as Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash...
artists and other artists from the 1950s, were heavily influenced by Eddie Cochran
Eddie Cochran
Eddie Cochran , was an American rock and roll pioneer who in his brief career had a small but lasting influence on rock music through his guitar playing. Cochran's rockabilly songs, such as "C'mon Everybody", "Somethin' Else", and "Summertime Blues", captured teenage frustration and desire in the...
, Carl Perkins
Carl Perkins
Carl Lee Perkins was an American rockabilly musician who recorded most notably at Sun Records Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, beginning during 1954...
, Gene Vincent
Gene Vincent
Vincent Eugene Craddock , known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rock and roll and rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-A-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly...
and Bill Haley & His Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets was an American rock and roll band that was founded in 1952 and continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band, also known by the names Bill Haley and The Comets and Bill Haley's Comets , was the earliest group of white musicians to bring rock and roll to the attention of...
. The Stray Cats quickly developed a large following in the New York music scene playing at CBGB
CBGB
CBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the...
and Max's Kansas City
Max's Kansas City
Max's Kansas City was a nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South, in New York City, which was a gathering spot for musicians, poets, artists and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s.-Origin of name:...
as well as venues on Long Island. When the Cats heard a rumor that there was a revival of the 1950s Teddy Boy
Teddy Boy
The British Teddy Boy subculture is typified by young men wearing clothes that were partly inspired by the styles worn by dandies in the Edwardian period, styles which Savile Row tailors had attempted to re-introduce in Britain after World War II...
youth subculture in England, the band moved to the UK. They then spearheaded the nascent rockabilly revival, by blending the 1950s Sun Studio
Sun Studio
Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label business...
sound with modern punk musical elements. In terms of visual style the Stray Cats also blended elements of 1950 rockabilly clothes such as wearing drape jackets, brothel creepers and western shirts with punk clothes such as tight black zipper trousers and modern versions of 1950s hair styles.
In the summer of 1980 the Cats found themselves being courted by the elite of the music world including Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
, Stiff Records
Stiff Records
Stiff Records is a record label created in London in 1976, by entrepreneurs Dave Robinson and Andrew Jakeman , and active until 1985. It was reactivated in 2007....
and Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
. Word quickly spread and soon members of The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
and Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
were at their shows. After a gig in London, Stray Cats met producer Dave Edmunds
Dave Edmunds
David 'Dave' Edmunds is a Welsh singer, guitarist and record producer. Although he is primarily associated with Pub rock and New Wave, and had numerous hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, his natural leaning has always been towards 1950s style rock and roll.-Early bands:As a teenager Edmunds first...
, well known as a roots rock
Roots rock
Roots rock is a term now used to describe rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid sub-genres from the later 1960s including country rock and Southern rock, which have been seen as responses to the...
enthusiast for his work with Rockpile
Rockpile
Rockpile were a British rock and roll group of the late 1970s and early 1980s, noted for their strong rockabilly and power pop influences, and as a foundational influence on new wave...
and as a solo artist. Edmunds offered to work with the group, and they entered the studio to record their self-titled debut album, Stray Cats
Stray Cats (album)
Stray Cats is the first album from the rockabilly band Stray Cats. It was released in the UK and was very successful, with hits such as "Runaway Boys," "Stray Cat Strut," and "Rock This Town."...
, released in England in 1981 on Arista Records. They had three hits that year with "Runaway Boys", "Rock This Town
Rock This Town
"Rock This Town" is a song by the Stray Cats from their UK debut album Stray Cats. Its first U.S. release was on the 1982 album Built for Speed. It peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982, becoming the first of the band's three top ten hits in the U.S...
", and "Stray Cat Strut
Stray Cat Strut
"Stray Cat Strut" is the eighth track on the Stray Cats' debut album, Stray Cats, released in 1981 in the UK. In the US, the song was first released in 1982 on Built for Speed. The song became a hit in the US, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, over a year after it had reached its...
". The UK follow-up to Stray Cats, Gonna Ball
Gonna Ball
Gonna Ball is the second album from the rockabilly band Stray Cats. It was released only in England in 1981 and was not as successful as Stray Cats. Five of the songs from it, including "Baby Blue Eyes" and "Little Miss Prissy," were issued on the band's first American album Built for Speed.-Track...
, was not as well-received, providing no hits. Yet the combined sales of their first two albums was enough to convince EMI America to compile the best tracks from the two UK albums and issue an album (Built for Speed
Built for Speed
Built for Speed is the first American album from the rockabilly band Stray Cats. It was the most successful record for the band, with the videos for songs such as "Rock This Town" and "Stray Cat Strut" reaching MTV regular rotation status. This album is a compilation of 12 songs taken from the...
) in the U.S. in 1982. The record went on to sell double platinum in the US and Canada and was the #2 record on the Billboard album charts for 26 weeks.
Breakup and reunions
Musical and personal conflicts began to emerge in the ways that the individual members handled their new-found success; Phantom married actress Britt EklandBritt Ekland
Britt-Marie Ekland is a Swedish actress and singer, and a long time resident of the United Kingdom. She is best known for her roles as a Bond girl in The Man with the Golden Gun, and in the British cult horror film The Wicker Man, as well as her marriage to actor Peter Sellers, and her...
, while Setzer made guest appearances with stars like Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and Stevie Nicks
Stevie Nicks
Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums...
and became the concert guitarist for Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
's Honeydrippers side project. In late 1984, the band added former BMT's guitarist and Long Island native Tommy Byrnes on second guitar and harmony vocals, and after a European and US tour which ended at the New Orleans World's Fair, parted ways. Rocker and Phantom formed a trio called Phantom Rocker & Slick (the "Slick" being former David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
guitarist Earl Slick
Earl Slick
Earl Slick is a guitarist best known for his collaborations with David Bowie, Jim Diamond and Robert Smith, although he has also worked with other artists , John Waite, and even released some solo recordings.In the early 1970s, Earl Slick gained his...
) which contained the single "Men Without Shame", guest musicians on this record included both Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones and Nicky Hopkins on the piano. Setzer went on to a solo career, retaining Byrnes and exchanging his rockabilly focus for a more wide-ranging roots rock
Roots rock
Roots rock is a term now used to describe rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid sub-genres from the later 1960s including country rock and Southern rock, which have been seen as responses to the...
/Americana
Americana (music)
Americana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles...
sound on albums such as 1986's The Knife Feels Like Justice
The Knife Feels Like Justice
The Knife Feels Like Justice was released in 1986 by Brian Setzer on the EMI America record label. The album was not promoted well by the label, possibly because Setzer had progressed from playing rockabilly music to the more adult-oriented and more topical rock-roots sound, as several of his...
. In 1986, the Stray Cats reunited in Los Angeles, and recorded the covers
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
-heavy Rock Therapy. In 1989, they reunited once again for the album Blast Off!, which was accompanied by a tour with US blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stephen Ray "Stevie Ray" Vaughan was an American electric blues guitarist and singer. He was the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan and frontman for Double Trouble, a band that included bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton. Born in Dallas, Vaughan moved to Austin at the age of 17 and...
. No longer with EMI America, they entered the studio with Nile Rodgers
Nile Rodgers
Nile Gregory Rodgers is an American musician, producer, composer, arranger, and guitarist.-Biography:...
for the record titled Let's Go Faster, issued by Liberation
Liberation Records
Liberation Records is a Southern California record company. It was formed by 16-year-old David Taba in 1994. The label notably discovered and released the debut album of Home Grown and, in 1994, released the classic Punk Sucks compilation...
in 1990. After 1992's Dave Edmunds-produced Choo Choo Hot Fish, and after another covers album, Original Cool, the group called it quits again.
In 2004, the Stray Cats reunited for a month-long tour of Europe. A live album culled from those concerts, Rumble In Brixton, included one new studio track, "Mystery Train Kept A Rollin'." In 2007, they reunited once again for a successful and long awaited US tour with ZZ Top
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...
and The Pretenders
The Pretenders
The Pretenders are an English rock band formed in Hereford, England in March 1978. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde , James Honeyman-Scott , Pete Farndon , and Martin Chambers...
. This was their first North American tour in over 15 years. In the 2000s, the band toured Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
as part of their Farewell Tour.
In 2008, for the first time in 18 years, the Stray Cats visited Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
which included several consecutive sold out shows of their Farewell (Australia) Tour.
In April 2009 the band reunited for a single show to celebrate Brian’s 50th birthday at the Fine Line Music Café in Minneapolis, MN.
Band members' follow-up careers
The Stray Cats have reunited periodically for live performances. Setzer is still part of his 1990s swingSwing (dance)
"Swing dance" is a group of dances that developed with the swing style of jazz music in the 1920s-1950s, although the earliest of these dances predate swing jazz music. The best known of these dances is the Lindy Hop, a popular partner dance that originated in Harlem and is still danced today...
-revival band The Brian Setzer Orchestra
The Brian Setzer Orchestra
The Brian Setzer Orchestra is a swing and jump blues band formed in 1990 by Stray Cats frontman Brian Setzer. The group had success covering Louis Prima's "Jump Jive an' Wail", which appeared on Prima's 1957 album The Wildest!...
. Rocker continued recording and touring throughout the 1990s and on to today. His albums include Black Cat Bone and Racin' the Devil on Alligator records as well as Bulletproof. In addition to the Stray Cats, Rocker has recorded or performed with Carl Perkins, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Willie Nelson, Leon Russell, Scotty Moore, Keith Richards and numerous others. Slim Jim Phantom plays the drums in another rockabilly band, 13 Cats, as well as the Rock and Roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
band The Head Cat with Lemmy (Motörhead) and Danny B. Harvey (13 Cats, RocKats). He is also an active member of the Love Hope Strength Foundation, a charitable organisation which was co-founded by Mike Peters
Mike Peters (musician)
Mike Peters is a Welsh musician, best known as the lead singer of The Alarm. He currently lives in Dyserth, North Wales with his family. After The Alarm split up in 1991, Peters wrote and released solo work, which he has been releasing under the name "The Alarm" since 2000...
of The Alarm
The Alarm
The Alarm are an alternative rock band that emerged from North Wales in the late 1970s. They started as a mod band and stayed together for over ten years. As a rock band, they displayed marked influences from Welsh language and culture...
, and which raises funds for cancer units.
The band was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame
Long Island Music Hall of Fame
The Long Island Music Hall of Fame is an organization whose office is located in Port Jefferson, New York. It was incorporated in July 2005 under the New York State Board of Regents as a non profit organization and holds a provisional charter to operate as a museum in the state of New York...
on October 15, 2006.
Albums
- Stray CatsStray Cats (album)Stray Cats is the first album from the rockabilly band Stray Cats. It was released in the UK and was very successful, with hits such as "Runaway Boys," "Stray Cat Strut," and "Rock This Town."...
(1981) (UK only) - UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
#6 - Gonna BallGonna BallGonna Ball is the second album from the rockabilly band Stray Cats. It was released only in England in 1981 and was not as successful as Stray Cats. Five of the songs from it, including "Baby Blue Eyes" and "Little Miss Prissy," were issued on the band's first American album Built for Speed.-Track...
(1981) (UK only) - UK #48 - Built for SpeedBuilt for SpeedBuilt for Speed is the first American album from the rockabilly band Stray Cats. It was the most successful record for the band, with the videos for songs such as "Rock This Town" and "Stray Cat Strut" reaching MTV regular rotation status. This album is a compilation of 12 songs taken from the...
(1982) (American debut - 11 songs extracted from first two UK albums plus the title track, which had not been available in the UK.) - US #2 - Rant N' Rave with the Stray CatsRant N' Rave With The Stray CatsRant 'N Rave with the Stray Cats is the third album from the rockabilly band Stray Cats, released in 1983 . The album features the #5 hit " Sexy + 17" and Top 40 hit "I Won't Stand in Your Way." The album was never released on CD in the U.S however it is still available through online stores.-Track...
(1983) - US # 14/ UK #51 - Sixteen CandlesSixteen Candles (song)"16 Candles" is a 1958 song performed by The Crests and written by Luther Dixon and Allyson R. Khent.-Tracklisting:7" Vinyl# "16 Candles"# "Beside You"Single originally released in 1958 on Coed Records # 506-Chart performance:...
(1984) - Performed the title track for the movie soundtrack - Rock Therapy (1986)- US #122
- Blast Off! (1989) - US # 111/ UK #58
- Let's Go Faster! (1990)
- Best of the Stray Cats: Rock This Town (1990)
- Choo Choo Hot Fish (1992)
- Original Cool (1993)
- The Best of Stray Cats (1998)
- Forever Gold (2002), St. Clair EntertainmentSt. Clair Entertainment GroupThe St. Clair Entertainment Group is a discount distributor of music and entertainment CDs and DVDs, with its corporate head office located in Woodland Hills, California. It was founded in 1985 as a distributor of music special products in Canada...
; re-released 2007, Rock-A-Billy. - Rumble in Brixton (2004)
- Alley Cat Rumble Live at The Roxy (2006)
UK singles
7" vinyl singles with catalogue numbersIssued on Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
:
- 1980 "Runaway Boys" / "My One Desire" - SCAT 1 - UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
#9 - 1981 "Rock This TownRock This Town"Rock This Town" is a song by the Stray Cats from their UK debut album Stray Cats. Its first U.S. release was on the 1982 album Built for Speed. It peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982, becoming the first of the band's three top ten hits in the U.S...
" / "Can't Hurry Love" - SCAT 2 - UK #9 - 1981 "Stray Cat StrutStray Cat Strut"Stray Cat Strut" is the eighth track on the Stray Cats' debut album, Stray Cats, released in 1981 in the UK. In the US, the song was first released in 1982 on Built for Speed. The song became a hit in the US, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, over a year after it had reached its...
" / "Drink That Bottle Down" (Recorded Live) SCAT 3 - UK #11 - 1981 "You Don't Believe Me" / "Cross That Bridge" - SCAT 4 - UK #57
- 1981 "Little Miss Prissy" / "Sweet Love On My Mind" (Live) & "Something Else" (Live) - SCAT 5
- 1983 "(She's) Sexy + 17(She's) Sexy + 17" Sexy + 17" is a 1983 song by the Stray Cats, released as the lead single from the album, Rant N' Rave with the Stray Cats. The song was their second-highest charting single, reaching #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It also reached #2 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for 1 week,...
" / "Lookin' Better Every Beer" - SCAT 6 - UK #29 - 1983 "Rebels Rule" / "Looking Out My Backdoor" - SCAT 7
Issued on EMI Records
EMI Records
EMI Records is the flagship record label founded by the EMI company in 1972 and launched in January 1973 as the successor to its Columbia label. The EMI label was launched worldwide...
:
- 1989 "Bring It Back Again" / "Runaway Boys" (Live) - MTS 62 - UK #64
- 1989 "Gina" / "Two Of A Kind" - MTS 67
U.S. singles
Issued on EMI America RecordsEMI America Records
EMI America Records was started in 1978 by EMI as a second US label next to Capitol Records. It absorbed Liberty Records in 1984. In the late 1980s EMI America was consolidated with Manhattan Records to form EMI Manhattan Records, which later became known simply as EMI in 1990, then part of EMI...
- 1982 "Rock This TownRock This Town"Rock This Town" is a song by the Stray Cats from their UK debut album Stray Cats. Its first U.S. release was on the 1982 album Built for Speed. It peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982, becoming the first of the band's three top ten hits in the U.S...
" / "You Can't Hurry Love" - B-8132 - #9 US - 1982 "Stray Cat StrutStray Cat Strut"Stray Cat Strut" is the eighth track on the Stray Cats' debut album, Stray Cats, released in 1981 in the UK. In the US, the song was first released in 1982 on Built for Speed. The song became a hit in the US, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, over a year after it had reached its...
" / "You Don't Believe Me" - B-8122 - #3 US - 1983 "(She's) Sexy + 17(She's) Sexy + 17" Sexy + 17" is a 1983 song by the Stray Cats, released as the lead single from the album, Rant N' Rave with the Stray Cats. The song was their second-highest charting single, reaching #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It also reached #2 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for 1 week,...
" / "Lookin' Better Every Beer" - B-8168 - #5 US - 1983 "I Won't Stand In Your Way" / "I Won't Stand In Your Way" (A Cappella Version) - B-8185 - #35 US
- 1984 "Look At That Cadillac" / "Lucky Charm" - B-8194- # 68 US
French singles
Issued on Arista RecordsArabella Eurodisc Distribution.
- 1981 "Little Miss Prissy" / "Cross That Bridge" - #103812 or AE 130
Current members
- Brian SetzerBrian SetzerBrian Setzer is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He first found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly revival group The Stray Cats, and revitalized his career in the late 1990s with a jazz-oriented big band.-Career:Setzer was born in Massapequa, New York...
-vocals, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, percussion - Lee RockerLee RockerLee Rocker is an American rockabilly double bass player. He is the son of the classical clarinetists Stanley Drucker and Naomi Drucker. His sister Roseanne is a country music singer-songwriter...
- slap bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
, acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, backing vocals - Slim Jim PhantomSlim Jim PhantomSlim Jim Phantom is the drummer for Stray Cats. Alongside band mates Brian Setzer and Lee Rocker, he spearheaded the neo-rockabilly movement of the early 1980s.-Biography:...
-drums, percussion