Stray Cats (Official Thread)

[rtbuck]

I'll never forget when MTV first came into existence on my cable system in the early 80's & seeing videos such as "Mickey", "She Blinded Me With Science", & "Iran". This new stuff was kind of strange to me & after seeing these videos over & over again they grew on me. The first time I seen the video for "Stray Cat Strut" I loved it. The Stray Cats were a Rockabilly trio featuring guitarist Brian Setzer, Upright Bassist Lee Rocker, & drummer Slim Jim Phantom. I went to my local record shop "Home of the Hits" & came across their first 2 records 'Stray Cats' & 'Gonna Ball'(which were imports from the UK) & picked them up. A kind of best of from those 2 albums were made into 'Built for Speed' & was their first US release. If you don't have it, that first Stray Cats import album is worth checking out. It has the 2 hits "Stray Cat Strut" & "Rock This Town" but there's so much more that didn't make it on 'Built for Speed. "Fishnet Stockings" is an original tune but is full of rockabilly energy from 1958. "Ubangi Stomp" was a cool rockabilly tune originally performed by Warren Smith in the 50's(Alice Cooper even covered a cool rockin' version of it on his Lace & Whiskey album). The Stray Cats however give it a Reggae twist & it sounds great. In the same vein as the Clash the Stray Cats wrote "Storm the Embassy" which is another must hear.









1983 brought us 'Rant & Rave with the Stray Cats' which was another fantastic album which spawned the MTV hit "Sexy + 17". The Stray Cats split up in 1984 (Setzer went his own way & Lee Rocker & Slim Jim Phantom formed another trio with guitarist Earl Slick) but have continued to reunite & make more albums such as 'Choo Choo Hot Fish' & my 2nd favorite Stray Cats release 'Original Cool' which is a great covers album where they perform songs like "Train Kept a Rollin", "Something Else", "Oh Boy", "Stood Up", Let it Rock","I Fought the Law" & "Flying Saucer Rock & Roll"





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[0000]

Re: The Stray Cats

Great, great band

Rock This Town is always a great pump up tune, and I only own Built For Speed, but my favorite is Runaway Boys



I also like Rumble In Brighton a lot

 

[rtbuck]

Re: The Stray Cats

^^^^2 of my favorites too!!!!

 

[Groovy Man]

Re: The Stray Cats



Stray Cats were like a breath of fresh air on the pop scene in the early 80's. I was already getting sick of the polished new wave geeky sounds of the late 70's - early 80's. Stray Cats took everyone back to the day of the guitar, drum and bass and reminded us how simplistic and fun rock used to be. I loved the raw rock sound of The Stray Cats.

Not only that, Brain Setzer is from my neck of the woods, here on Long Island, New York, USA. Setzer is a fabulous talented guitarist, love his solo stuff and I'm also a really a big fan of the Brian Setzer Orchestra.

I only own Built For Speed,

Cool album and a great title-track song...

I'll never forget when MTV first came into existence on my cable system in the early 80's & seeing videos such as "Mickey", "She Blinded Me With Science", & "Iran".

That's why I was turned off right away by MTV, but that's another story.

 

[METALPRIEST]

Re: The Stray Cats



You know what's cool!? Brian Setzer's Orchestra version of Rock This Town!! Great thread...great band!! I played the Cat Club back in April which is owned by Slim Jim and I met him after my show that night...had a beer and rapped. Great guy....great band and alot of fun!

 

[rtbuck]

Re: The Stray Cats

You know what's cool!? Brian Setzer's Orchestra version of Rock This Town!! Great thread...great band!! I played the Cat Club back in April which is owned by Slim Jim and I met him after my show that night...had a beer and rapped. Great guy....great band and alot of fun!

That's awesome meeting Slim Jim MP! Brian Setzer Orchestra is great & that's a killer version of Rock This Town! Brian Setzer Orchestra also did a really cool version of the Stray Cats Rumble in Brighton on their Guitar Slinger album.
He released a couple of pretty cool solo albums titled 'Knife Called Justice' & 'Live Nude Guitars' in the mid 80's.

I also liked the albums from Phantom, Rocker, & Slick which came out in the mid 80's & Lee Rocker put out a decent solo album a few years back titled 'Bullet Proof'.

Slim Jim's album with Lemmy & Danny B was...oh well...humorous for a couple of tunes hearing Lemmy singing Rockabilly but a tough listen once the novelty wears off

 

[Magic]

Re: The Stray Cats

OOOOOOOoooooooooohhhhh! Stray Cat Strut is an awesome song.




I never really got into the Stray Cats that much. This was the era when I was so involved with Foreigner, Journey, Aerosmith, and southern rock, that the sound of the Stray Cats was on the opposite scale.

Now that I am more of a music eclectic, I need to revisit them

 

[Iggy]

Re: The Stray Cats

Rumble in Brixton is a great DVD. I was in a Spanish biker bar years ago,
not much English spoken, but I could see this band was loved there, posters
and rockabilly music everywhere inside. Music, and
styles thereof, is an international language dont'cha think?

 

[Magic]

Re: The Stray Cats




I have to agree, music of any kind is universally accepted. Music is one form of expressive art that is loved all over the world. Not that we all have to like the same music, but atleast we all have music as a common denominator

 

[Sox]

Re: The Stray Cats

Great band Brian really nails that guitar sound but I also like his blues..

Paul Rodgers and Brian Setzer "The Hunter"