Brian Robert Setzer is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly group Stray Cats, and returned to the music scene in the early 1990s with his swing revival band, the Brian Setzer Orchestra. In 1987, he made a cameo appearance as Eddie Cochran in the film La Bamba.
Stray Cats are an American rockabilly band formed in 1979 by guitarist and vocalist Brian Setzer, double bassist Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in the UK, Australia, Canada, and the U.S. including "Stray Cat Strut", "(She's) Sexy + 17", "Look at That Cadillac", "I Won't Stand in Your Way", "Bring It Back Again", and "Rock This Town", which the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has listed as one of the songs that shaped rock and roll.
Ray Edward Cochran was an American musician. Cochran's songs, such as "Twenty Flight Rock", "Summertime Blues", "C'mon Everybody" and "Somethin' Else", became generational anthems in the mid-1950s and early 1960s helping set the standards and the pave the way for future rock musicians. He experimented with multitrack recording, distortion techniques, and overdubbing even on his earliest singles. He played guitar, piano, bass, and drums. His persona as a sharply dressed and attractive young man with a rebellious attitude epitomized his status during the 1950s as a rebellious teenage rock and roll musician, and in his early death achieved iconic rockstar status.
Vincent Eugene Craddock, known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rockabilly and rock and roll. His 1956 top ten hit with his backing band the Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-a-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly. His chart career was brief, especially in his home country of the US, where he notched three top 40 hits in 1956 and '57, and never charted in the top 100 again. In the UK, he was a somewhat bigger star, racking up eight top 40 hits from 1956 to 1961.
OU812 is the eighth studio album by American rock band Van Halen. It was released in 1988 and is the band’s second album to feature vocalist Sammy Hagar. Van Halen began work on the album in September 1987 and completed it in April 1988, one month before its release.
James McDonnell, known by the stage name Slim Jim Phantom, is the drummer for Stray Cats. Alongside bandmates Brian Setzer and Lee Rocker, he spearheaded the neo-rockabilly movement of the early 1980s.
The Fine Art of Surfacing is the third album by Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats, released in June 1979. The album peaked at No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart in 1979.
Stray Cats is the first studio album by American rockabilly band Stray Cats, first released in the United Kingdom by Arista Records in February 1981. It was produced by the band and Dave Edmunds.
Rant n' Rave with the Stray Cats is the third studio album by American rockabilly band Stray Cats, released on August 15, 1983 by EMI America. It was produced by Dave Edmunds. The album featured the No. 5 hit "(She's) Sexy + 17", Top 40 hit "I Won't Stand in Your Way" (#35) and "Look At That Cadillac" (#68).
The Hunter is the sixth studio album by American rock band Blondie, released on May 24, 1982, by Chrysalis Records. It was Blondie's last album of new material until 1999's No Exit. It was recorded in December 1981.
Eat to the Beat is the fourth studio album by American rock band Blondie, released on September 28, 1979, by Chrysalis Records. The album was certified Platinum in the United States, where it spent a year on the Billboard 200. Peaking at No. 17, it was one of Billboard's top 10 albums of 1980. It also reached No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart in October 1979 and has been certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
The Best of Blondie is the first greatest hits album by American rock band Blondie. It was released on October 31, 1981, by Chrysalis Records. The album peaked at number four in the United Kingdom and number 30 in the United States, while becoming the band's only number-one album in Australia.
"Twenty Flight Rock" is a song originally performed by Eddie Cochran in the 1956 film comedy The Girl Can't Help It, and released as a single the following year. The song was published in 1957 as written by Ned Fairchild and Eddie Cochran, by American Music Incorporated and Campbell, Connelly and Company. Cochran's contribution was primarily on the music. His version is rockabilly-flavored, but artists of a variety of genres have covered the song.
"Stray Cat Strut" is the third single by American rockabilly band Stray Cats, released April 17, 1981 by Arista Records in the UK, where it peaked at No. 11 on the Singles Chart. It was taken from the band's 1981 debut album, Stray Cats. That same year, as an import, it peaked at No. 78 on the US Disco Top 80 chart.
"Rock This Town" is the second single by American rockabilly band Stray Cats, released January 30, 1981 by Arista Records in the UK, where it peaked at No. 9 on the Singles Chart. It was taken from the band's 1981 debut album, Stray Cats.
The Head Cat is an American rockabilly supergroup formed by vocalist/bassist Lemmy, drummer Slim Jim Phantom and guitarist Danny B. Harvey. Lemmy died in 2015 and as of 2017, former Morbid Angel member David Vincent took Lemmy's place as vocalist and bassist.
"Jeannie Jeannie Jeannie" is a song by Eddie Cochran recorded and released as a single in January 1958 on Liberty Records 55123. It was a minor hit for Cochran and stalled at number 94 on the Billboard charts. "Jeannie, Jeannie, Jeannie" was posthumously released in the United Kingdom in 1961 on the London Records label and rose to number 31. Later versions are most commonly known as "Jeanie, Jeanie, Jeanie". The song was first written as "Johnny, Johnny, Johnny" for The Georgettes, but they never recorded it.
"Runaway Boys" is the debut single by American rockabilly band Stray Cats, released November 21, 1980 by Arista Records in the UK, where it peaked at No. 9 on the Singles Chart. Its biggest success was in Finland, where it reached number one. The song was later included on the band's 1981 self-titled debut album.
Blast Off! is an album by the American rockabilly revivalist band Stray Cats, released in 1989. It marked a reunion of the band, after three years of solo endeavors; the band's previous album, 1986's Rock Therapy, was produced to fulfill a record contract.
Native Sons is the debut album by American band the Long Ryders, released in October 1984 by record label Frontier. The album and the single "I Had a Dream" reached number 1 and 4 on the UK Indie Chart, respectively. Musically, the album fuses 1960s style garage rock and folk rock with country rock. Rolling Stone's David Fricke described Native Sons as an album "where Nashville, ’77 London and the mid-Sixties Sunset Strip converge in songs of pioneer aspiration and outlaw bonding." Native Sons features former Byrds member Gene Clark guesting on the track "Ivory Tower".
