Stray Cats

Stray Cats, the band that put Rockabilly music back on the record charts in the early-'80s, scored several big hits on both sides of the Atlantic thanks to a striking visual 1950’s style brought “up to date” with exaggerated pompadours and colorful tattoos, as well as genuine musical chops that evoked the best players of rockabilly's original heyday. The music had a rhythm that was rock solid yet loose, the singer could croon or shout and the guitar playing demanded respect. It was elegant yet hard, jazzy yet completely rocking. Their music and style were like nothing happening in pop culture at that time. Formed by guitarist/vocalist Brian Setzer, upright bass player Lee Rocker and drummer Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, NY, in 1979, the trio shared a love for Rockabilly music and after banging around New York and Philadelphia for a few months, in the summer of 1980, they were persuaded by a mutual friend to hop a plane to London where a rockabilly revival movement was just beginning to emerge.