Stray Cats Star Cat T-Shirt
– The Stray Cats Star Cat T-Shirt features the iconic Stray Cats cat logo in front of a blue star and surrounded by white stars.
– Once in a while, an image comes along that represents a timeless logo in rock history. This Stray Cats Star Cat T-Shirt image features one of ’em.
– This Stray Cats Star Cat T-Shirt is made in a soft black cotton with a slim fit for a perfect wear out for any place.
– Wear this Stray Cats Star Cat T-Shirt out and show your love for Stray Cats!
If you liked this Stray Cats Star Cat T-Shirt, check out the Stray Cats Three Cats Baseball Tee !
Stray Cats
The group, whose style was based upon the sounds of Sun Records artists and other artists from the 1950s, were heavily influenced by Eddie Cochran, Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent, and Bill Haley & His Comets. The Stray Cats quickly developed a large following in the New York music scene playing at CBGB and Max’s Kansas City as well as venues on Long Island. When the Cats heard a rumor that there was a revival of the 1950s Teddy Boy youth subculture in England, the band moved to the UK.
They then spearheaded the nascent rockabilly revival, by blending the 1950s Sun Studio sound with modern punk musical elements. In terms of visual style, the Stray Cats also blended elements of 1950 rockabilly clothes, such as wearing drape jackets, brothel creepers, and western shirts with punk clothes, such as tight black zipper trousers and modern versions of 1950s hair styles.
The band first appeared in the middle of 1979 performing under a number of names including the Tomcats, the Teds, and Bryan and the Tom Cats. According to Brian Setzer, the band changed names to fool club owners (who wouldn’t hire the same band for consecutive nights), but kept the “Cats” moniker in their various names so the audience would know they were the same band. Setzer joined up with Phantom, and they soon added Phantom’s schoolmate and friend, Lee Rocker. The three later realized they were from the same neighborhood and enjoyed punk and rockabilly music. Since 1983, they have used only “Stray Cats” as their name.
The band name “Stray Cats” had already earlier appeared in the 1973 rock ‘n’ roll film That’ll Be the Day and its 1974 sequel Stardust. They also went to many concerts and enjoyed the punk scene. They met the Clash and they used to see Siouxsie and the Banshees, and also Charlie Harper and the UK Subs.
Musical and personal conflicts began to emerge in the ways that the individual members handled their new-found success; Phantom married actress Britt Ekland, while Setzer made guest appearances with stars like Bob Dylanand Stevie Nicks and became the concert guitarist for Robert Plant’s Honeydrippers side project. In late 1984, the band added former BMT’s guitarist and Long Island native Tommy Byrnes on second guitar and harmony vocals, and after a European and US tour which ended at the 1984 Louisiana World Expedition, parted ways.
The decision to end the band was Setzer’s, and it left the other members aggrieved. In an interview, Setzer pleaded restlessness as his motivation: “It’s just that I didn’t get that great feeling anymore … I had five good years of that, but then I got bored with it. In the last year I stopped getting that feeling, that great kick that twisted in my gut.” Reflecting in 2012, Setzer said “it was silly to break up the Stray Cats at the peak of our success”
The Stray Cats have reunited periodically for live performances. Setzer is still part of his 1990s swing-revival band The Brian Setzer Orchestra. Setzer also worked as executive producer on Drake Bell’s rockabilly revival album Ready Steady Go! Rocker continued recording and touring throughout the 1990s and on to today. His albums include Black Cat Bone and Racin’ the Devil on Alligator Records, as well as Bulletproof. The band would eventually be inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame on October 15, 2006.
