In the ’80s, Rockabilly music was making a welcome comeback. In fact, every so often, ’80s radio sounded like ’50s radio, thanks to Great Songs like “1981-82’s “Rock This Town” by The Stray Cats.

Let’s start with aa FUN FACT: In their early days, Brian Setzer, Leon Drucher, and Jim McDowell rotated the name of their band from The Tom Cats to The Bob Cats and back—in an effort to get more gigs at New York clubs that were reluctant to book the same acts every week.

After moving to The UK to broaden their horizons, they initially found themselves homeless and hungry, so they permanently changed their name to The STRAY Cats.

In 1981, “Rock This Town” was released as a single in The UK, where it climbed to #9 on the charts…but it wasn’t released elsewhere until 1982…and that’s when it really started to Rock the World!

This time, it charted in 8 countries, including back here in the US, where it reached #4 on Rock Chart and #9 on The Hot 100!
Later on, “Rock This Town” was listed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the “500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll”–a definite qualification for “Great Songhood.”

== Mike Cook