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.
In the summer of 1980 the Cats found themselves being courted by the elite of the music world including Virgin Records, Stiff Records and Arista Records. Word quickly spread and soon members of The Rolling Stones, The Who and Led Zeppelin were at their shows. After a gig in London, Stray Cats met producer Dave Edmunds, well known as a roots rock enthusiast for his work with Rockpile and as a solo artist. Edmunds offered to work with the group, and they entered the studio to record their self-titled debut album, Stray Cats, released in England in 1981 on Arista Records. They had three hits that year with "Runaway Boys", "Rock This Town", and "Stray Cat Strut". The UK follow-up to Stray Cats, Gonna Ball, was not as well-received, providing no hits. Yet the combined sales of their first two albums was enough to convince EMI America to compile the best tracks from the two UK albums and issue an album (Built for Speed) in the U.S. in 1982. The record went on to sell double platinum in the US and Canada and was the #2 record on the Billboard album charts for 26 weeks
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 Dylan and 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 New Orleans World's Fair, parted ways.
Rocker and Phantom formed a trio called Phantom Rocker & Slick (the "Slick" being former David Bowie guitarist Earl Slick) which contained the single "Men Without Shame", guest musicians on this record included both Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones and Nicky Hopkins on the piano. Setzer went on to a solo career, retaining Byrnes and exchanging his rockabilly focus for a more wide-ranging roots rock/Americana sound on albums such as 1986's The Knife Feels Like Justice. In 1986, the Stray Cats reunited in Los Angeles, and recorded the covers-heavy Rock Therapy. In 1989, they reunited once again for the album Blast Off!, which was accompanied by a tour with US blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. No longer with EMI America, they entered the studio with Nile Rodgers for the record titled Let's Go Faster, issued by Liberation in 1990. After 1992's Dave Edmunds-produced Choo Choo Hot Fish, and after another covers album, 1993's Original Cool, the group called it quits again.
In 2004, the Stray Cats reunited for a month-long tour of Europe. A live album culled from those concerts, Rumble In Brixton, included one new studio track, "Mystery Train Kept A Rollin'." In 2007, they reunited once again for a successful and long awaited US tour with ZZ Top and The Pretenders. This was their first North American tour in over 15 years. In the 2000s, the band toured Europe as part of their Farewell Tour, although the band has performed concerts intermittently in the ensuing years.
In 2008, for the first time in 18 years, the Stray Cats visited Australia and New Zealand which included several consecutive sold out shows of their Farewell (Australia) Tour.
In April 2009 the band reunited for a single show to celebrate Brian’s 50th birthday at the Fine Line Music Café in Minneapolis, MN.
Baby Blue Eyes
Stray Cats Lyrics
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Why don't you do right and quit try to fight every time we get this stress
Your sugar daddy and your money well ain't gonna treat you right
You better do something baby whether wrong or right
Oh baby tonight's the night
They say that love is a wonderful game and it happens everyday
Oh why oh why did you pick on me and make things happen this wayYou got stars in one eye and lies in the other. Now which am I gonna believe
You better do something baby whether wrong or right
Oh baby tonight's the night
They say that love is a wonderful game and it happens everyday
Oh why oh why did you pick on me and make things happen this way
You got stars in one eye and lies in the other. Now which am I gonna believe
You better do something baby whether wrong or right
Oh baby tonight's the night
You're baby blue eyes that you promised tonight have got me in a mess
Why don't you do right and quit try to fight every time we get this stress
Your sugar daddy and your money well ain't gonna treat you right
You better do something baby whether wrong or right
Oh baby tonight's the night
In the Stray Cats' 1981 hit song "Baby Blue Eyes", the singer is expressing his frustration with a woman he is involved with. He is taken aback by her sweet, innocent appearance which is juxtaposed with her dishonesty and poor decision-making. The lyrics suggest that they are experiencing difficulties in their relationship and the singer is urging her to change her ways, saying "why don't you do right and quit try to fight every time we get this stress". He also implies that she is involved with a wealthy older man who is not treating her well, and urges her to take some action to make things better.
The song's chorus repeats the line "They say that love is a wonderful game and it happens every day", suggesting that despite the difficulties they are facing, the singer still sees the potential for love and happiness between them. However, he is frustrated by her actions and doesn't know whether to trust her, asking "You got stars in one eye and lies in the other. Now which am I gonna believe?" The song ends with the repeated refrain "Oh baby tonight's the night", implying that something needs to change in their relationship or it will not survive.
Line by Line Meaning
You're baby blue eyes that you promised tonight have got me in a mess
You made me fall for you with those beautiful blue eyes and promises, but now I'm in a complicated situation
Why don't you do right and quit try to fight every time we get this stress
Instead of arguing and making things worse every time we have a problem, why don't you just do the right thing and fix it?
Your sugar daddy and your money well ain't gonna treat you right
Your wealthy older lover and money won't bring you true happiness
You better do something baby whether wrong or right
You need to take action, even if it's not the perfect choice, to solve our problems and make things better
Oh baby tonight's the night
Let's make a change and fix our relationship tonight
They say that love is a wonderful game and it happens everyday
Many people believe love is a beautiful experience and is constantly happening around us
Oh why oh why did you pick on me and make things happen this way
Why did you choose to involve me in your drama and cause things to become complicated between us?
You got stars in one eye and lies in the other. Now which am I gonna believe
You seem to have both good and bad qualities - which side of you should I trust and believe in?
Lyrics © TuneCore Inc., HENRY JEROME MUSIC INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: DAVID PAUL BURLISON, DORSEY W. BURNETTE, DORSEY W., JR. BURNETTE, HENRY JEROOME, JOHNNY BURNETTE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind