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Stray Cats

A little something about Stray Cats
Popular music rediscovered its roots in the mid '70s, turning its back on the grandeur and pomp of '60s psychadelia and early '70s album rock. Punk captured the energy and vitality that had brought rock to people's attention in the '50s, John Travolta traded in his butterfly collars for denim and leather in "Grease," and the B-52s discovered that a combination of senseless lyrics and beehive hairdos could still sell records. It was in this climate that New Yorker Brian Setzer put together rockabilly band the Stray Cats, along with drummer 'Slim' Jim 'Phantom' McDonnell and bass player Lee 'Rocker' Drucker. The prospects in the US for a '50s throwback band, however, did not inspire confidence, so the trio packed up and went to London in 1980. It was there that the three Americans found an audience receptive to their live shows, and a record deal that led to their self titled debut album, released less than a year after their arrival to the UK. The Stray Cats scored a pair of top ten hits in the UK, and the exposure there led to a gig opening for the Rolling Stones and chart success here in their native land with their number 3 hit "Stray Cat Strut." The '50s rockabilly revival was relatively short lived - even by pop music standards - and by 1984 the group had hung it up, having been replaced on the charts by bands immitating '50s and '60s motown. The trio did get together several years later for some studio work, and Brian Setzer is currently back at it with the Brian Setzer Orchestra, giving a fuller, big band sound to his '50s style tunes.

Lyrics shown below : "Rock this town", "Stray Cat Strut".

Rock this Town

Well, My baby and me went out late Saturday nightI had my hair piled high and my baby just looked so rightWell, pick you up at ten, gotta have you home at twoMama don't know what I catched off of youBut that's all right cause we're looking as cool as can be         Well, we found a little place that really didn't lood half badI had a whisky on the rocks And change of a dollar for the jukeboxWell, I put the cold rock into that canBut all they played was disco, manCome on, baby, baby, let's get out of here right away         We're gonna rock this townRock it inside outWe're gonna rock this townMake' em scream and shoutLet's rock, rock, rock, man, rockWe're gonna rock till you popWe're gonna rock till you dropWe're gonna rock this townRock it inside out         Well, we're having a ball just 'a bopping on the big dance floorWell, there's a real square cat, he looks a 1974Well, he looked at me once, he looked at me twiceLook at me again and there's gonna be fightWe're gonna rock this townWe're gonna rip this place apart         We're gonna rock this townRock it inside outWe're gonna rock this townMake' em scream and shoutLet's rock, rock, rock, man, rockWe're gonna rock till you popWe're gonna rock till you dropWe're gonna rock this townRock this place apart

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Stray Cat Strut from the album "Stray Cats" (1981)

Black and orange stray cats sitting on a fence
Ain't got enough dough to pay the rent
I'm flat broke but I don't care
I strut right by with my tail in the air

Stray cat strut I'm a ladys' cat
A feline cassa nova hey man that's sad
Get a shoe thrown at me from a mean old man
Get my dinner from a garbage can

Yeah, don't cross my path

I don't bother chasing mice around
I slink down the alley, looking for a fight
Howlin' to the moonlight on a hot summer night

Singin' the blues while the lady cats cry
"Wild stray cat you're a real gone guy"
I wish I could be as carefree and wild
But I got cat class, and I got cat style