A little bit of trickery helped keep the Stray Cats on the scene, and it's quite comical the way they went about it.
The band was formed in 1979 by New Yorker's Brian Setzer, Lee Rocker (AKA Leon Drucker), and Slim Jim Phantom (AKA James McDonnell). Engrossed in the end of disco, the rise of punk, and synth pop on the horizon, the Stray Cats took a different approach, ignoring them all. They would focus their sound on the roackbility style of 50's rock, keeping the spirit of rock alive, while also continuing to shape the genre, specifically through their massive hit, Rock This Town.
Though they were building a steady following around their local area, the boys found themselves facing a challenge with club owners who didn't want to promote repeat acts. To get around this, the three would change their name from show to show to trick owners into booking them for consecutive nights. These included names like The Tomcats, The Teds, Bryan And The Tom Cats, and so on. The would continue to use a cats moniker in their names, a somewhat inside way of allowing fans to know it was them, while duping various owners around town to keep hiring them.
When the boys heard of the teddy boy revival building in England, they did the unimaginable. They packed up, and moved to the UK. Perhaps as a result of that scene, or from their own doing, the Stray Cats contributed heavily to the scene, even going so far as to base their looks on the era their music mimicked, dawning drape jackets, brothel creepers, and western shirts, while mixing in elements of punk to keep them heavily rooted in the late 70's / early 80's.
It was during this time that they garnered the attention of labels, Virgin, Stiff, and Arista, the latter which they would ultimately sign with. However, it was when word spread and groups such as Rolling Stones, Who, and Led Zeppelin began attending their shows that it attracted the attention of producer Dave Edmunds. Edmunds would offer the Cats an opportunity to work with him, and record their first studio album.
The self-titled debut was released in February, 1981, peaking at number six on the UK charts. Additionally, it produced two top ten hits, Runaway Boys, and Rock This Town, both peaking at number nine, and the number eleven hit, Stray Cat Strut. Rock This Town would also go on to be noted by The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame as one of the five hundred songs that shaped rock and roll.
Despite its success, Stray Cats (the album), would not see a US release until after the 1982 compilation, Built For Speed was released. However, we'll dive into that one a bit further down the road. First, we pause here to fire up their debut, and have a listen.
Firing it up, I'm immediately greeted to the sounds of my childhood. Mind you, not the 80's pop music that filled my cassettes. Instead, I'm talking about that jukebox malt shop memories that my mom used to play while we all cleaned the house on the weekend.
It's perhaps with this appreciation that I found myself bobbing my head to both the first and second tracks, Runaway Boys, and Fishnet Stockings. To say I was fully all in would be an understatement. Further, I found myself excited to hear more.
Things kind of settled down, and even shifted into punk elements with songs like, Storm The Embassy. Admittedly, these weren't my favorite songs among the bunch. Instead, I gravitated more to the likes of Rock This Town, Rumble In Brighton, and Stray Cat Strut, as well as the first two album openers noted above. There were a handful of other decent tracks scattered in there, but the one thing I noticed was that a lot of it sounded the same. So really, it came down to picking the better of the lot.
Overall, I enjoyed playing through it, and it poised me to want to hear more. That's a good thing, considering I already own their entire discography.
As for the Cats, they immediately released their sophomore album, Gonna Ball, also in 1981. Though you'll see that post tomorrow, I'll be diving right into it.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS September 13, 1980 |
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS September 13, 1986 |