New wave opened the doors to the 1960s revival, which in turn opened the doors to the 1950s revival. Brian Setzers Stray Cats were the champions of the latter genre.
Setzer had started in New York with the Bloodless Pharaohs (authors of a self-titled anthem), but soon left them to move to London, where rockabilly became the fashion of the early 1980s. With humor, nostalgia, and the flair of a showman, Setzer recreated postwar atmospheresranging from doo-wop to Elvis Presley, from honky-tonk to dance halls, from the light orchestras of Tin Pan Alley to swing big bands.
The songs on Stray Cats (Arista, 1981) and Gonna Ball (Arista, 1981), later summarized on Built For Speed (EMI, 1982), are charming period vignettes played at breakneck speed, ennobled by the guitarist-leaders finessecapable of Chuck Berrystyle duck walks as well as jazz solosand driven by Lee Rockers slapping bass. The Stray Cats triumphed above all in their celebrations of teenage wildness, expressed through swinging rockabilly numbers like Rock This Town and Fishnet Stockings, which resurrected the ghosts of the first cursed rockers. Runaway Boys, an anthem to street hooligans, instead betrayed the nervousness of punk rock. Their most baroque reconstruction was the street ballad Stray Cat Strut, which could have come straight out of a 1950s musical. Built For Speed left Memphis for Nashville, offering a breezy, sparkling country-blues, while Rumble In Brighton hurled an angry street chronicle over a martial, almost surf rhythm. With the Stray Cats, the rockabilly revival, which had begun as a cult phenomenon, became an international fashion. In their most epileptic contortions, the rebellious spirit of Cochran and Vincent was reborn.
Rant 'n' Rave (EMI, 1983) closed the groups rapid parabola, as well as the fleeting rockabilly phenomenon, with the feverish Sexy And 17 and many repetitions (Something's Rock With My Radio is practically a remake of Rock This Town). Setzers new interests were pushing him toward doo-wop (I Wont Stand In Your Way) and country-blues (18 Miles From Memphis).
For contractual reasons, they had to release the cover album Rock Therapy (EMI, 1986), containing Im A Rocker besides many covers.
Setzer then tried, with The Knife Feels Like Justice (EMI, 1986), the path of a proletarian singer-songwriter in the Mellencamp vein, backed by a good pop sensibility, a more lyrical than revivalist approach, and attention to social themes. Overall, seriousness did Setzer no favors; he found the right stride only in the rock and roll of Radiation Ranch, while stumbling in the country-rock of the title track and of Barbwire Fence.
Live Nude Guitars (EMI, 1988) sank into the quicksand of AOR, saved once again only by the autobiographical Rockabilly.
The Stray Cats reunited to record Blast Off (EMI, 1989), another disappointing record (Blast Off is as noisy as Southern boogie), followed years later by Choo Choo Hot Fish (JRS, 1992), lowering themselves to being a cover band fit for suburban bars.
More promising is Setzers latest creation, the Brian Setzer Orchestra, a true orchestra (five saxophonists, four trumpeters, four trombonists, piano, bass, drums, and guitar) that attempts to fuse the rockabilly combo of the 1950s with the swing big band of the 1940s. The tradition, at its core, is that of rhythm-and-blues singers like Wynonie Harris, Amos Milburn, and Clarence Gatemouth Brown. It was the 1994 album (for Hollywood) that fulfilled this ambition and launched the swing craze worldwide.
Setzer, trained in the school of the great early rock-and-roll guitarists (Scotty Moore from Presleys trio, James Burton from Ricky Nelsons trio, Cliff Gallup from Gene Vincents trio, and so on), has now become a skilled disciple of Freddie Green (Count Basies guitarist). The record is packed with classics from the 1940s and 1950s and even offers a perfect imitation of Frank Sinatra in September Skies. The Brian Setzer Orchestra is an eccentric paradox that makes rationality envious.
The Brian Setzer Orchestra of Guitar Slinger (Interscope, 1996) is more rock-and-roll (Hoodoo Voodoo Doll, Ghost Radio) and less big band (The Man With The Magic Touch). It includes seven original tracks instead of just two on the first album.
Dirty Boogie (Interscope, 1998) contains
This Cat's On A Hot Tin Roof,
The Dirty Boogie ,
This Old House,
Let's Live it Up,
and
Sleepwalk.
Brian Setzer's Vavoom (Interscope, 2000) offers
another dose of big-band arrangements and swinging themes, but not a bit of inspiration.
Thankfully, Brian Setzer returned to his rockabilly roots and to the classic
guitar-bass-drums format with a trio named '68 Comeback Special and the album
Ignition (Surfdog, 2001). It is, yet again, a fantastic ride through
the 1950s, with the rhythm section following the epyleptic moves of the singer
and the guitar screeching like car tires in
Ignition, Hell Bent , Hot Rod Girl,
Who Would Love This Car But Me
(which are mostly, and appropriately, car songs).
To cap the set in an epic way, Setzer delivers one of his best guitar solos in
Johnny Kool.
