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.
Wasn't That Good
Stray Cats Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Put your hands over your eyes and please don't peek
You stay here til I find you
And when I find you baby I'll tell you what to do
Wasn't that good
Wasn't that good
Wasn't that good
I love to play games with you
We can play it in my room or over in the park
I'll go turn the lights all out
And when the game is over you know what it's about
Wasn't that good
Wasn't that good
Wasn't that good
I love to play games with you
Here's a little game called hide and go seek
Put your hands over your eyes and please don't peek
You stay here til I find you
And when I find you baby I'll tell you what to do
Baby wasn't that good
Oh honey, wasn't that good
Wasn't that good
I love to play games with you
Wasn't that good
Wasn't that good
Wasn't that good
Oh honey, wasn't that good
Wasn't that good
I love to play games with you
The lyrics of Stray Cats' song "Wasn't That Good" talk about two different games that the singer enjoys playing with his lover. The first game is hide and seek, where the singer asks his lover to hide while he looks for them. Once he finds them, he tells them what to do. The second game is kissing in the dark, where the singer turns off the lights and kisses his lover. The lyrics suggest that the couple is playful and enjoy having fun together.
The lyrics can be interpreted in a few ways. The idea of hiding and seeking can be seen as a metaphor for the couple's relationship - the lover is hiding their true feelings, and the singer is trying to uncover them. Once he does, he expresses his love, and they share a special moment together. The game of kissing in the dark can be interpreted as a physical intimacy game, where the singer and his lover share a romantic, sensual moment together.
Overall, the lyrics of "Wasn't That Good" are upbeat and playful, reflecting the carefree, adventurous spirit of young love.
Line by Line Meaning
Here's a little game called hide and go seek
Let's pretend we're playing hide and seek. You hide and I'll come find you.
Put your hands over your eyes and please don't peek
Close your eyes and don't look until I tell you to.
You stay here til I find you
Remain hidden until I come find you.
And when I find you baby I'll tell you what to do
Once I find you, I'll give you instructions on what to do next.
Wasn't that good
That was a fun game we played together, don't you think?
I love to play games with you
Playing games with you is one of my favorite things to do with you.
Here's another game called kissing in the dark
Let's try another game where we kiss in the dark.
We can play it in my room or over in the park
We can play in the comfort of my room or outside at the park.
I'll go turn the lights all out
I'll turn off all the lights to make it dark for our game.
And when the game is over you know what it's about
Once we finish playing the game, you know what the game is really about.
Baby wasn't that good
That was a great game we played together, don't you agree?
Oh honey, wasn't that good
My dear, that was so much fun, wasn't it?
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: WYNONIE HARRIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Shelly Murray
Love it
Antony James HERBERT
fab
SuryaDas
Stray Cats = Rockabilly Royalty 🐈⬛ 👑
Jiadjo
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
GooD MUSIC .
Mika Kaukonen
Don't care what U think off Me, I Allways Loved this Music. IT IS Allways on My Heart.
Antony James HERBERT
we think ur cool cos this is brilliant music.
Renenda Crew
🧡💚💙
Antony James HERBERT
gotta luv this... fab. memories of vinyl in my bed room. sexy.funky. stray cats rool. my first abnd is a stray cats cover band. card board bass. felt tip tatoos. hanging out at twickenham wimpy trying 2 look tuff. kidz hav no shame. me 2. thanx 4 being setzer phantom and lee. kik started my rok nroll passion. firts album on vinyl of my life. ok. bye.
The Eggplant That Ate Chicago
I wonder how many people realize this is a Wynonie Harris cover.
Antony James HERBERT
not me. but now i do... thnx.