Christopher McKittrick has written books on ZZ Top's Billy F. Gibbons, The Rolling Stones, and Tom Petty. Originally from Long Island, his latest book takes a look at a band that came from his hometown area - The Stray Cats.
While New Wave pop music was dominating the charts in the early 1980s, one band made up of a trio of throwback-loving musicians from the suburbs of Massapequa, Long Island—guitarist/singer Brian Setzer, drummer Slim Jim Phantom, and bassist Lee Rocker—returned rockabilly to the pop charts as the Stray Cats, releasing such infectious Top 10 singles “Rock This Town,” “Stray Cat Strut,” and “(She’s) Sexy + 17.” Over forty years and many classic studio and live albums later, the Stray Cats still epitomize the spirit of the founding fathers of rock and roll—a coolness that never goes out of style.
Howling to the Moonlight on a Hot Summer Night: The Tale of the Stray Cats tells the full story of the band’s history and catalog as musicians. It not only celebrates the Cats as one of the most successful rock revival groups, but follows their exploits in the years when MTV was still new and the long-lived popularity they still enjoy in rockabilly culture across the globe from Massapequa to Memphis and beyond. New Jersey Stage reached out to the author to learn more.
Looking at your list of publications, you've written books on three members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and now tackle The Stray Cats. What was it that interested you in the group? Was it the Long Island angle?
The Stray Cats and Brian Setzer are part of the culture of Long Island, where I grew up, since they are one of the bigger bands to emerge from the local rock scene during its 1970s heyday. But what really interested me in writing about them was the “how?” question -- how did three guys from Long Island, of all places, manage to chart numerous hits on the pop chart playing a style of music created in Memphis twenty-five years earlier? And then become stars in the UK first before having hits in the United States? Logically, it shouldn’t have worked out as well as it did. But here we are, over 40 years later, and Stray Cats are still the first name in rockabilly. I wanted to explore how that all came together, even after the group’s numerous lengthy periods of inactivity.
The band may have started long before your time, but I thought you nailed it with the description of the band bringing rockabilly to the mainstream in the era of New Wave. I was a kid when the Stray Cats released their debut album, but I remember how they had several hits right out of the gate. They definitely got a nice bounce from music videos and the launch of MTV.
What did you learn about the period when they first went national? Was this just another case of "everything old is new again" to bring rockabilly music to the mainstream? Or was the timing of the band with their unique sound and the introduction of music videos just perfect?
What I found most fascinating was the timeline for the band to reach national prominence. Stray Cats fever had already come and gone in the UK and Europe -- their second UK album was much less successful on the UK charts than their explosive debut -- even before they made a name for themselves in their native country. In fact, they initially grew slowly in popularity when their music was only available as imported records -- this was long before you could download music, kids! -- in the United States. Several influential rock radio DJs, like Jimmy “The Saint” Christopher on KNAC out in Southern California, who I also interviewed for the book, were early supporters of the band. But their first American single, “Stray Cat Strut,” failed to make much impact the first two times the song was put out. It wasn't until the band's videos began appearing on MTV that their popularity really exploded and “Stray Cat Strut” finally became a chart hit. However, MTV shouldn’t get all the credit because the channel wasn’t available in most of the country at that time. It took a solid year of promotion, radio and video airplay, and touring for the Stray Cats to break big. It certainly didn’t hurt that the band consisted of three good-looking young musicians at a time when MTV was filled with other pretty faces, but the fact that they also didn’t sound like anything else on pop or rock radio at the time was a huge advantage. Their music certainly wasn’t going to be confused with Men at Work or The Human League!
The Stray Cats may not be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but in 2004 the chief curator of the museum named “Rock This Town” as one of the 500 songs that shaped rock and roll. What was so special about that track and the debut album?
“Rock This Town” was the band's second single in both the UK and the US but was released a year apart in those countries-- 1981 and 1982, respectively. Curiously, it reached No. 9 on the pop charts on both sides of the Atlantic. As for its staying power, perhaps more than any other Stray Cats song it succinctly highlights the band’s remarkable ability to merge the great rockabilly sound with a style that was still contemporary to the 1980s. The fact that the song is also so danceable no matter how it’s played -- like when Setzer has performed it with the Brian Setzer Orchestra, or when Rocker sings the lead while playing it with his solo band -- showcases just how fun it is. Rock and roll seemed to generally become much more “serious” from the late 1960s through the 1970s and it occasionally takes a band like Stray Cats and a song as catchy as “Rock This Town” to remind all of us that rock and roll became popular in the 1950s in the first place because it was fun to listen and dance to.
As for the band's debut American debut album, Built for Speed -- which was a compilation of songs from their first two UK albums -- it became a big hit in the United States and sat at No. 2 on the Billboard album chart for an astounding 15 weeks. It probably would’ve hit No. 1, but Men at Work’s Business as Usual and Michael Jackson’s Thriller had a stranglehold on the top spot for that entire period! Between the MTV airplay, the strong radio support, and wild live shows, the band built an enthusiastic audience and reignited the appreciation for rockabilly-inspired rock music.
The band was inducted into the first Long Island Music Hall of Fame Class back in 2006. Were you able to trace the band's early shows before they released their debut album? Was there a significant amount of time playing shows in the local area?
In the late 1970s, Setzer was playing guitar in a Roxy Music-inspired New Wave band named the Bloodless Pharaohs that played extensively in the Northeast club scene -- long-gone places like CBGB and Max’s Kansas City in New York, the Hot Club in Philadelphia, and My Father’s Place on Long Island. But he was moonlighting in a rockabilly band, then mostly known as the Tom Cats that eventually included Phantom and Rocker. They typically played what they called “old man bars” on Long Island. However, there are a small number of references to this hot-shot rockabilly band in the independent press at the time, like the East Village Eye and the Island Ear. While they had a sizeable local following at the time, they discovered that classic rockabilly had a stronger fan base in the UK and decided to take a chance in London -- which led to their eventual success. They were all barely out of high school at the time, so making that move was even more impressive in hindsight.
How do you think the Stray Cats are remembered? As an act that brought back rockabilly? As one of the early hitmakers in music videos? Or a band that proved good music is good in any era - even if it's a genre long thought of as dead?
Even forty years after their initial burst of fame, the Stray Cats are still the most widely known band that plays rockabilly. I often use the Bob Marley comparison -- if you ask one hundred music fans to name a reggae artist, most will say "Bob Marley." If you ask one hundred music fans to name a rockabilly band, you'll get a similar result with "Stray Cats." Even though the Stray Cats have spent more time apart than together during those years, their influence is still gigantic in hot rod, 1950s throwback, and rockabilly culture across the planet. Much like how bands like the Rolling Stones introduced many audiences to American blues, Stray Cats taught countless people who Carl Perkins, Eddie Cochran, and Gene Vincent are. Rockabilly still has a strong following among its adherents, and Stray Cats are a very important part of that. Plus, as you noted, they created fun music that has persisted through the decades. From Dancing with the Stars to the Guitar Hero games to the soundtrack of Stranger Things -- the music of the Stray Cats really hasn’t dropped out of pop culture even all these years later.
Tell me about some of the people you interviewed for the book. How long did you work on this project?
Though I've been a fan of the band for decades and already had soaked up a significant amount of knowledge about them, most of the work on the book took place over 18 months. During that time I was able to speak to numerous individuals who played significant roles during the band's history, including Jim Mazza, the executive who signed Stray Cats to their first American record deal, Hein Hoven, an associate with the band in their early years who helped produce their first two albums, and Chris Carr, who worked for the band’s first press agency in London. But I was particularly excited to speak with Tommy Byrnes, a guitarist who was very briefly the “fourth Stray Cat,” joining the original trio as a second guitarist and background vocalist a few months before their initial breakup at the end of 1984. Byrnes later worked with Setzer on his first two solo albums, but he went on to even greater fame by joining Billy Joel’s band. Byrnes has been playing with Joel for over 30 years, including through the entirety of Joel’s recently concluded decade-long residency at Madison Square Garden. I assume Byrnes gets asked most often about his work with Joel, so it was fantastic to get his insight since he was once a Stray Cat - even for a brief time!
Finally, tell me a little about yourself. You said you are currently living in Manahawkin, when did you move there?
I am originally from Long Island and graduated from Hofstra University, so I didn’t go too far from home at first. However, I’ve moved around a bit since then, spending time in Queens and Los Angeles before moving to Cherry Hill, New Jersey during the pandemic. My wife and I bought a home in Manahawkin earlier this year -- we love the area, and Cherry Hill was just too far from the ocean for this Long Island native!
Were you always interested in writing about music or was this something that just sort of evolved for you?
Most of my initial professional writing experience focused on film -- I was the U.S. Editor of Creative Screenwriting for several years, and I've also worked for PEOPLE and other publications and websites in the entertainment space. But I've always been enthusiastic about music and had wanted to write a book about the Rolling Stones and their long connection to New York City. Getting that published has led to more work on classic rock books from interesting angles, which have all been a joy to write.
Any plans (or are you already working on) for future works?
I am finally getting back to my film roots with my next book -- a biography of actress Vera Miles, best known for her work with Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho, The Wrong Man) and John Ford (The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance), among dozens of other films and television shows. Her career has been overlooked and I hope my book on her will help people rediscover her extraordinary work as an actress. She also has a connection to New Jersey -- she was Miss Kansas in the 1948 Miss America competition, coming in fourth place during the pageant in Atlantic City. The Atlantic City Free Public Library was incredibly helpful in assisting me in finding documentation about the 1948 pageant, which appears in the book. That book should be out in Spring 2025.
The Stray Cats will perform at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City on Friday, August 16, 2024. Click here for tickets.
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