Stray Cats

Led by Brian Setzer's giant quiff and twanging guitar riffs, The Stray Cats gave rockabilly a new lease of life when they first stormed on the music scene in the 1980s. Inspired by the honky tonk swagger of Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent and Elvis Presley, the trio formed in New York but moved to the England to kick-start a Teddy Boy revival within a post-punk London and reached Number 6 in the UK with debut album Stray Cats (1986). Their outlandish fashion and strutting attitude made them unlikely stars of MTV, but the singles Rock This Town, Stray Cat Strut and (She's) Sexy were all Top 10 hits in the US, while the album Built For Speed (1982) hit Number 2 as the band went on to tour with The Rolling Stones. They split in 1993 with Setzer going on to success with swing and jive act The Brian Setzer Orchestra, but reunited in 2004 and remain cult heroes to a new generation of blues rock acts such as Kings of Leon, Jack White and Black Keys.