In 1979, three teenagers — vocalist-guitarist Brian Setzer, drummer Slim Jim Phantom and bassist Lee Rocker — got together in the garage of Rocker’s Long Island family home and started making some noise.
There was never a plan or a goal, they were just looking for something to do in between sifting through records by Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Dead Boys and Sex Pistols and raiding local thrift shops for funky vintage jackets and shoes. The trio began playing bars in Long Island on Thursday nights and the crowds began to swell, doubling week after week. A month or so in, there was a line of people waiting around the block to check out a young band that called themselves Stray Cats and played a mix of music that was fast and loud with elements of Americana, country/western, straightforward rock ‘n’ roll and British punk rock.
Back then, they didn’t know it, but they were creating a special and unique sound. Stray Cats went on to find fame in London in the ‘80s where their style of rockabilly music was already catching on and without knowing it, they were becoming a hit back home in the states with songs such as “Stray Cat Strut,” “Rock This Town” and “Runaway Boys.”
Nearly four decades later, Setzer, Rocker and Slim Jim Phantom stood together in front of about 20,000 fans during the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend back in April, reunited and playing for the first time together as Stray Cats in a decade. This reunion is a short one, however, culminating with two shows on Thursday, Aug. 16 and Friday, Aug. 17 at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa, the same venue where the band played one of its final “Farewell Tour” shows back in 2008. The trio agree that though there are only three shows on the books for 2018, they’ve received an enthusiastic and warm welcome back.
“We did what we’ve always done, which has been an alternative to the mainstream and what gets pushed on everyone musically in such a heavy-handed way,” Rocker said during a recent phone interview. “This is just real rock ‘n’ roll and it’s about having a good time. It’s passion, sweat and energy and at this point, 40 years later, it’s still the three of us. It’s the original band, the original guys. Audiences get that and it’s really an amazing thing.”
GETTING THE GANG BACK TOGETHER
Though it’s certainly something that their fans wanted and pushed for, the three said that they weren’t pressured or hurried out of their decade-long hiatus from playing Stray Cats music together.
“Honestly, it probably started with me calling Jim because I was watching a ball game and we were laughing at some silly play they blew,” Setzer said during a separate phone interview. “It always starts out like a couple of kids talking and by coincidence it turned into seeing if there was any interest in us playing. It really does come down to that, where the conversation goes ‘Do you wanna play? Do you wanna do some shows? Let’s play and see how it feels.’ So far, we’ve only done one, but it felt pretty darn good.”
There’s a natural and noticeable chemistry among the trio and they insist that all the clichés are absolutely true. It is like a marriage, they are like brothers and yes, at times, they even finish each other’s sentences.
“We have this close kind of past, I mean, we go back to when we were 10 years old and we are literally, physically larger than we were when we first met,” Slim Jim Phantom said with a laugh. “I was 3 feet tall when I first met these guys. We’ve really been welcomed back and if nothing else, I love the other two and I love their company and that minute or two before we go on and someone will remember something from back in school and we’ll have a bit of a laugh before we play. No one else would even be remotely interested in what we’ve said, but that’s the connection. I love the other two, I really do, musically and personally. You can’t invent that history and those experiences you’ve had together because of the fate of life. I think all of this time later, that we’ve got most of our marbles, our hair and wits about us, I like doing this, so I’m in.”
THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SWEET SPOT
In the early ’80s Stray Cats came back over from across the pond and landed in Los Angeles, not knowing that they had already several sold out afternoon and evening shows at the Roxy Theatre on the Sunset Strip. KROQ 106.7/FM had been playing “Rock This Town” as an import single even though band was from New York, since its album was initially only available in the U.K.
“We had no idea what was going on and that wouldn’t happen now in the age of information, but we came to L.A. to the Roxy and wound up doing three, four then five days, two shows a day,” Slim Jim Phantom said, noting that he officially moved to L.A. and has lived here since 1982. “Now, if your band is big in a major territory you somehow find out about it, but we came here and we were living at the Sunset Marquis and it just kept getting bigger. I didn’t care if people thought we were an English band. I was living at the Sunset Marquis and hanging out at the Rainbow and everywhere there, really.”
Rocker has also resided in Southern California, living in Laguna Beach, for almost three decades. He now splits his time between Orange County and his residence back in New York where he grew up. Southern California is like a second home to Setzer, who has lived in Minneapolis for years now. And aside from London, Southern California was really only one of the two places that have fully embraced the Stray Cats’ lifestyle, which includes live music, classic cars and motorcycles, pin-up women and retro/vintage fashion.
“Orange County and Southern California is special and has always been ahead of the curve with music and style and they’ve always liked rockabilly there since day one,” Setzer added. “Southern California gets the style, the music, the whole thing. The whole package has always been very attractive there.”
STRAY CATS & OTHER PROJECTS
Stray Cats have had long periods of inactivity throughout their career as the members have embarked on several solo endeavors. Most notably, Setzer has been with the Brian Setzer Orchestra, which just celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. The band has been out on extended global jaunts with its Rockabilly Riot! and this year, BSO celebrates the 15th anniversary of its annual Christmas Rocks! run of holiday-themed shows, which returns to Southern California on Dec. 21 at Fantasy Springs Resort & Casino in Indio and Dec. 22 at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
“I am a lucky dude,” Setzer said after jokingly referring to himself as Santa Setzer. “I’ve kind of always done what I’ve wanted and people say ‘OK, we’ll take that Brian, we’ll give it a shot’.”
Meanwhile Rocker is about to release a new live album titled “The Low Road,” which is expected to drop in October and was recorded at Daryl Hall’s Daryl’s House Club in New York. The record will consist of a couple dozen songs cherry picked to include everything from the hits and covers to some brand new material.
“Every song is something meaningful to me,” Rocker added. “I’ll put it on vinyl as well, which is the first time in I don’t know how long that I’m doing that, but I’m dying to get that 12-inch, 180 gram piece of vinyl in my hand. I think it was a magical night and show and I’m happy we captured it.”
Slim Jim Phantom has played in numerous bands including the Slim Jim’s Phantom Trio and The Head Cat with the late Motörhead bassist and frontman, Lemmy Kilmister. He’s currently working with his band the Jack Tars, which also features Captain Sensible from the Damned, Chris Cheney of The Living End and Mike Peters of The Alarm as well as a rotating cast of players that has included Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan, Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett and actor and musician Fred Armisen. He’s also playing local gigs and heading to Europe to play some shows and rockabilly festivals with his girlfriend Jennie Vee, who plays bass with Eagles of Death Metal.
While there are no concrete plans at the moment for any more shows or a 40th anniversary celebration, the guys said they’d keep in touch. For now, with this particular run of shows, Rocker said it has been a good time to take stock and look back at the last four decades, which has included performing alongside artists such as The Clash and Rolling Stones.
“It’s been a bit retrospective for me, more so than usual,” he said. “I’m always moving forward and thinking about what’s coming next, but this year has been a chance to look back and enjoy that kind of history. Stray Cats and myself individually, I look back and I go, ‘Wow.’ I’ve gotten to do just about everything that I had hoped to do as a kid and I made music with my heroes from the Stones and George Harrison and Ringo, to working with Willie Nelson and I did a stint on Broadway with the ‘Million Dollar Quartet.’ It has been an amazing journey.
“I have to say that after these 10 years, the first show in Las Vegas that we did in April, it was pretty emotional especially for me when we were initially standing there together and then walking out on stage. We really do have something quite profound.”
Stray Cats
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 16 and Friday, Aug. 17
Where: Pacific Amphitheatre, 100 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa
Tickets: $45-$85
Information: 800-745-3000 or Ticketmaster.com
