Brian Setzer


Biography


This singer/guitarist from Long Island began performing rockabilly in 1978 with his first band the Bloodless Pharoahs. They were mainly a new wave/punk group, but when Brian started closing shows with '50s rockabilly songs, people freaked out. Inspired, Brian devoted himself to preserving the style and soul of late rockers Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent (the latter he would portray in the movie La Bamba). He began to dress the part, wearing gold pleated pants, a sharkskin jacket & putting his hair in a big, slick pompadour. He started playing solo side gigs to make extra cash and people were loving it. In 1979 he met drummer Slim Jim Phantom (Jim McDonnell) and bassist Lee Rocker (Leon Drucker). The band they started was the Tom Cats (soon changed to the Stray Cats). Within a few years they became a staple on the fledgling video-music channel MTV and banged out several top-ten hits. The main appeal of the Stray Cats to me was the fact that they were a counterbalance of all the banal synth-pop-crap bands of the early MTV era. After the mid-eighties, rockabilly dropped out of the scene once again as bad hair bands took over. The Stray Cats broke up and regrouped several times from 1985 to 1993 to moderate success, mostly overseas in Japan as American record companies became increasingly indifferent towards rockabilly. The Japanese though, of all people, are crazy for it. In the meantime, Brian took this opportunity to start his solo career. After several albums which failed to make a dent, Brian hit on a winning combination: rockabilly & big band swing. With the first album, The Brian Setzer Orchestra and its follow-up Guitar Slinger, Brian Setzer is breathing new life into a dying musical genre.



Mr. Brian Setzer


The Stray Cat


He really can Rock This Town


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