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.
The swing revival, also called retro swing and neo-swing, was a renewed interest in swing music and Lindy Hop dance, beginning around 1989 and reaching a peak from the early/mid to late 1990s. The music was generally rooted in the big bands of the swing era of the 1930s and 1940s, but it was also greatly influenced by rockabilly, boogie-woogie, the jump blues of artists such as Louis Prima and Louis Jordan, and the theatrics of Cab Calloway. Many neo-swing bands practiced contemporary fusions of swing, jazz, and jump blues with rock, punk rock, ska, and ska punk music or had roots in punk, ska, ska punk, and alternative rock music.
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.
Rant n' Rave with the Stray Cats is the third studio album by American rockabilly revivalist band Stray Cats, released in 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 Dirty Boogie is the third album from the swing band the Brian Setzer Orchestra. The album is considered as the breakthrough for the band, with their first single being a cover of Louis Prima's "Jump Jive an' Wail", which Prima had made popular in 1956 and included in his album The Wildest!. The release of the single came along after a Gap advertising campaign that featured Prima's original recording of the song. Each helped to propel the larger swing revival throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s. Seven of the album's tracks are covers of songs written and originally made popular between 1952 and 1962.
Lee Rocker is an American musician. He is a member of the rockabilly revival band Stray Cats.
George Gee is a Chinese American swing big band leader. Born in New York City, he grew up with a fascination in the big band music of the 1930s and 1940s. In 1980, he founded the retro 17-piece George Gee Swing Orchestra. He performed with this orchestra at the 1995 Asian Pacific American Heritage Festival in New York City.
Surfdog Records is a record label, music publishing company, merchandising company, and marketing company based in Encinitas, California. Its roster includes artists of the rock, punk, swing, rockabilly, reggae, lounge, and alternative genres. It has released over 150 albums, including recordings by Stray Cats, Brian Setzer & The Brian Setzer Orchestra, Eric Clapton, Slightly Stoopid, Dan Hicks, Butthole Surfers, Glen Campbell, Joss Stone, Dave Stewart, Richard Cheese, Gary Hoey, and Sprung Monkey.
"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.
The Wildest! is an album by Louis Prima, first released in 1956. It features singer Keely Smith with saxophonist Sam Butera and the Witnesses. It is considered an innovative mixture of early rock and roll, jump blues and jazz as well as eccentric humor.
Leon René was an American music composer of pop, R&B and rock and roll songs and a record producer in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. He sometimes used the songwriting pseudonym Jimmy Thomas or Jimmie Thomas. He also established several record labels.
Vavoom! is the fourth studio album by the swing band The Brian Setzer Orchestra. It was released in 2000 on Interscope Records.
The Jive Aces are a six-piece UK-based, swing band that was formed in 1989. They were Britain's Got Talent semi-finalists in 2012. They have released 11 albums, as well as compilations, EPs and singles and have performed at numerous music festivals.
Jumpin' East of Java is the first live album from the American swing revival band The Brian Setzer Orchestra, released on 2001 in Japan only. This recording was also issued as the second disc of The Ultimate Collection. It was recorded at Akasaka Blitz, Tokyo, Japan.
The Ultimate Collection is a 2-CD live album from the American swing revival band The Brian Setzer Orchestra, released in 2004.
"Rock-A-Beatin' Boogie" is a 1952 song composed by Bill Haley and first recorded by the Esquire Boys in 1952. Bill Haley and the Comets recorded the song in 1955 for Decca. The song was featured in the 1956 movie Rock Around the Clock.
"Jump, Jive an' Wail" is a 1956 jazz swing song by Louis Prima. It first appeared on his album The Wildest! and became one of his signature songs.
Rockin' Rudolph is the third Christmas album by The Brian Setzer Orchestra, released on October 16, 2015, through Surfdog Records. Produced by Peter Collins, it is the band's first Christmas album in ten years.
Bernard John Dresel Jr. is an American studio drummer and percussionist. He has been with multi-Grammy award-winning artists and recordings; most notably having performed and recorded extensively with The Brian Setzer Orchestra and Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band. The BBB Featuring Bernie Dresel has been performing since 2014 in numerous, prominent venues in Los Angeles and has recorded two notable CDs. He has recorded on numerous television shows and close to 60 movie soundtracks to include The Simpsons, Family Guy, King of the Hill, The Sopranos, Incredibles 2, The Bourne Supremacy, Cars 2, Up, Super 8, The Mask and Elf.
