Stray Cats

With their towering pompadours, inked skin, and leather attire, the Stray Cats projected the image of a rockabilly outfit plucked directly from central casting. Guitarist and vocalist Brian Setzer, bassist Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom—three Long Island outsiders—deliberately cultivated that look while striving to sustain the spirit of classic rock & roll amid the dominance of punk and new wave. Success arrived only after considerable effort and a transatlantic journey, yet it exceeded every expectation once it materialized. During the opening years of the 1980s the trio ranked among rock & roll’s most prominent acts, generating Top Ten singles such as “Rock This Town,” “Stray Cat Strut,” and “(She’s) Sexy + 17” through heavy rotation on the recently launched MTV, whose viewers responded to the band’s vintage visual energy. Their decline proved nearly as rapid as their ascent; by the close of the decade internal fractures had dissolved the group, though the Stray Cats left a lasting mark by ushering rockabilly into the commercial mainstream and establishing a template that later acts would follow for decades.

Brian Setzer assembled the Stray Cats in Massapequa, New York, in 1979. Earlier he had performed rockabilly material in a group called the Tom Cats alongside his brother Gary on drums and bassist Bob Beecher, yet he soon left that lineup to team with former schoolmates Leon Drucker, now performing as Lee Rocker, and James McDonnell, now known as Slim Jim Phantom. Local audiences on Long Island showed little interest in their 1950s-inspired appearance and repertoire, prompting the trio to relocate to England in summer 1980, where a parallel rockabilly resurgence was gaining traction.

Following a London performance the Stray Cats encountered producer Dave Edmunds, already respected for his roots-rock work with Rockpile and his solo recordings. Edmunds proposed a collaboration, and the band entered the studio to cut its self-titled debut, issued by Arista in Britain in 1981. Immediate popularity followed, yielding consecutive hits that year—“Runaway Boys,” “Rock This Town,” and “Stray Cat Strut.” The subsequent album Gonna Ball drew cooler responses, and the resulting criticism led the Stray Cats to attempt a return to the United States.

They signed with EMI America and issued their American debut, Built for Speed, in 1982; the collection drew together standout tracks from the two British releases. Extensive MTV exposure during the freewheeling new-wave period propelled both “Rock This Town” and “Stray Cat Strut” into the U.S. Top Ten more than a year after their British peaks. Built for Speed consequently became an unexpected commercial triumph, positioning the Stray Cats as exemplars of retro fashion. Their next American release, Rant n’ Rave with the Stray Cats, arrived in 1983 and delivered another Top Ten single in “(She’s) Sexy + 17,” plus a modest Top 40 showing for the doo-wop-styled ballad “I Won’t Stand in Your Way.”

Tensions surfaced as each member navigated sudden fame differently: Phantom wed actress Britt Ekland, previously linked to Rod Stewart, while Setzer appeared alongside Bob Dylan and Stevie Nicks and served as lead guitarist for Robert Plant’s Honeydrippers project. In late 1984 Setzer disbanded the group amid considerable acrimony. Rocker and Phantom promptly joined guitarist Earl Slick to record as Phantom, Rocker & Slick, whereas Setzer paused before issuing his solo roots-rock debut, The Knife Feels Like Justice.

By 1986 relations had improved sufficiently for the trio to reconvene in Los Angeles and produce the covers-oriented Rock Therapy, which sold modestly. Each member then resumed separate endeavors, none of which achieved strong commercial results. Another reunion occurred in 1989 with the album Blast Off, supported by a tour alongside Stevie Ray Vaughan. No longer on EMI, the band next worked with Nile Rodgers on the underwhelming Let’s Go Faster, released by Liberation in 1990. The 1992 Dave Edmunds-produced Choo Choo Hot Fish likewise received limited notice; after one further covers collection, Original Cool, the group disbanded once more. Setzer subsequently led the 1990s swing revival through his Brian Setzer Orchestra, which blended classic big-band swing and jump blues with original material.

Occasional reunions took place throughout the 2000s, focused exclusively on live performances rather than new recordings. The band remained largely inactive during most of the 2010s before resurfacing late in the decade with 40, its first collection of original songs in twenty-seven years. Selections from the accompanying tour were later assembled as the 2020 live album Rocked This Town: From LA to London.