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.
Good Rockin' Tonight
Stray Cats Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
there's good rockin' tonight.
Well, I heard the news
There's good rockin' tonight.
I'm gonna hold my baby
as tight as I can.
Tonight she'll know
I heard the news,
there's good rockin' tonight.
I say, well, meet me in a hurry
behind the barn,
Don't you be afraid, darling,
I'll do you no harm
I want you to bring
along my rockin' shoes,
'Cause tonight I'm gonna rock away
all my blues.
I heard the news,
there's good rockin' tonight.
Well, we're gonna rock. We're gonna rock.
Let's rock. Come on and rock.
We're gonna rock all our blues away.
Have you heard the news?
Everybody's rockin' tonight.
Have you heard the news?
Everybody's rockin' tonight.
I'm gonna hold my baby
as tight as I can,
Well, tonight she'll know
I'm a mighty, mighty man.
I heard the news,
There's good rockin' tonight.
Well, we're gonna rock, rock, rock,
Come on and rock, rock, rock,
Well, rock, rock, rock, rock,
Let's rock, rock, rock, rock,
We're gonna rock all our blues away.
The song "Good Rockin’ Tonight" by the Stray Cats is a cover of a song by Roy Brown that was released in 1947. The lyrics depict the excitement and anticipation surrounding a night of rock and roll. The song’s opening lines express the singer's awareness of the upcoming night's events, conveying the sense of excitement surrounding the event. The lyrics express the desire to hold a loved one close in preparation for the night of rock and roll. The song concludes with a chorus that encourages everyone to rock and roll away their blues.
The singer of the song is excited about the upcoming night of rock and intends to do a lot of dancing coupled with some romantic time with his significant one. The lines "I'm gonna hold my baby as tight as I can. Tonight she'll know I'm a mighty, mighty man" displays his desire to show the world his prowess and independence, while at the same time proving his love and trustworthiness to his significant other. The desire to escape one's troubles through music is emphasized through phrases such as "rock away all my blues." The refrain "let's rock" is a call to arms for everyone to seize the frivolity of the moment and let loose.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, I heard the news
I received some information
there's good rockin' tonight.
There's going to be some great music tonight
I'm gonna hold my baby
I'm going to embrace my significant other
as tight as I can.
I'll hold them as close as physically possible
Tonight she'll know
During this evening, she'll understand
I'm a mighty, mighty man.
I am powerful and strong
I heard the news,
I received some information
there's good rockin' tonight.
There's going to be some great music tonight
I say, well, meet me in a hurry
I suggest we meet quickly
behind the barn,
At the back of the barn
Don't you be afraid, darling,
Don't worry, my love
I'll do you no harm
I will not cause any injury
I want you to bring
Please bring
along my rockin' shoes,
Please get my special shoes for dancing
'Cause tonight I'm gonna rock away
I plan to dance energetically
all my blues.
To dispel all of my sadness
I heard the news,
I received some information
there's good rockin' tonight.
There's going to be some great music tonight
Well, we're gonna rock. We're gonna rock.
We will dance and dance
Let's rock. Come on and rock.
Join me and let's dance
We're gonna rock all our blues away.
We will dance until we are happy
Have you heard the news?
Did you hear the information?
Everybody's rockin' tonight.
Everyone is dancing tonight
Have you heard the news?
Did you hear the information?
Everybody's rockin' tonight.
Everyone is dancing tonight
I'm gonna hold my baby
I'm going to embrace my significant other
as tight as I can,
I'll hold them as close as physically possible
Well, tonight she'll know
During this evening, she'll understand
I'm a mighty, mighty man.
I am powerful and strong
I heard the news,
I received some information
There's good rockin' tonight.
There's going to be some great music tonight
Well, we're gonna rock, rock, rock,
We will dance repeatedly
Come on and rock, rock, rock,
Join me and dance repeatedly
Well, rock, rock, rock, rock,
Dance repeatedly and energetically
Let's rock, rock, rock, rock,
Join me and dance repeatedly and energetically
We're gonna rock all our blues away.
We will dance until we are happy
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Roy Brown
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
l wil
Billy Zoom is one of the greatest guitarist that most people have never heard of. What a shame
NewMusicNetworks
flyingburritobro68 lol If you can tolerate the lame chick singer. Pretty sure most people didn't really care about X. No offense. Billy is decent though.
NewMusicNetworks
Sawdust Caesar <----Trailer/Ghetto Trash Crack head LOSER projecting his worthless welfare existence onto a video thread, more like. Ha Ha Ha. case closed
Sawdust Caesar
@NewMusicNetworks WTF? Somebody be doing too much meth! Damn troll. lol
frank livingston
"Greatest?" Thats a stretch
flyingburritobro68
NewMusicNetworks 😂 Your taste is different than mine and most. X was and is a great band.
Cheetah Thunders.
legends. as for billy, he is always about nonchalance. it's either this, or standing static with a maniacal grin... it's a good schtick.
Aaron Cutchin
I love X and Billy Zoom's guitar work, but that's the greatest rockabilly and swing guitarist of all time playing next to him.
oldphoque
That is a great story. I had a simmilar experience when I saw the plimsouls, way back! As the band`s life was winding down, they were playing small clubs and bars for maybe 150 people. Girls were still flashing them. A big guy next to me, probably 350+ lifted his shirt and did a jiggle. The bass player and I both had the look of horror as we exchanged shrugs and nods. We were both laughing uncontrolably and he stopped playing for about 5 seconds. I wonder if he remembers that moment? I can`t.
theGorn68
Billy Zoom is always the coolest guy in the room.