Stray Cats (album)

Stray Cats is the first studio album by American rockabilly band Stray Cats, first released in the United Kingdom by Arista Records in February 1981. It was produced by the band and Dave Edmunds.

Stray Cats
Studio album by Stray Cats
Released	February 1981
Recorded	1980-1981
Genre	Rockabilly rock and roll
Length	37:11
Label	Arista
Producer	Dave Edmunds Brian Setzer Stray Cats
Stray Cats chronology
Stray Cats (1981) Gonna Ball (1981)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Record Mirror	[2]

The album was successful in Britain, peaking at No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart, and produced the UK Singles Chart top 40 hits "Runaway Boys" (No. 9), "Rock This Town" (No. 9) and "Stray Cat Strut" (No. 11).[3] The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame later listed "Rock This Town" as one of the "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".[4][5]

The fifth track on the album, "Storm the Embassy", was written about the Iran hostage crisis of 1979–80.

The album was only issued in the United States after the success of the band's first American album, 1982's Built for Speed. However, six of the songs from Stray Cats ("Rock This Town", "Stray Cat Strut", "Rumble in Brighton", "Runaway Boys", "Double Talkin' Baby" and "Jeanie, Jeanie, Jeanie") were already included on Built for Speed.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Runaway Boys"	Brian Setzer Slim Jim Phantom	Dave Edmunds	3:03
2.	"Fishnet Stockings"	Setzer	Setzer Stray Cats	2:25
3.	"Ubangi Stomp"	Charles Underwood	Setzer Stray Cats	3:14
4.	"Jeanie, Jeanie, Jeanie"	George Motola Ricky Page	Edmunds	2:21
5.	"Storm the Embassy"	Setzer Phantom	Setzer Stray Cats	4:08
6.	"Rock This Town"	Setzer	Edmunds	3:28
7.	"Rumble in Brighton"	Setzer Phantom	Setzer Stray Cats	3:16
8.	"Stray Cat Strut"	Setzer	Edmunds	3:16
9.	"Crawl Up and Die"	Brian Feli Jim Feli	Edmunds	3:13
10.	"Double Talkin' Baby"	Danny Wolfe	Edmunds	3:05
11.	"My One Desire"	Dorsey Burnette	Edmunds	2:57
12.	"Wild Saxaphone"	Roy Montrell John Marascalco Robert Blackwell	Setzer Stray Cats	3:01

In popular culture

"Rock This Town" was featured in the 2006 video games Guitar Hero II, Cars[6] and Elite Beat Agents.,[7] and in the TV show The Americans (2013).

On the seventh season of Dancing with the Stars, Rocco DiSpirito and Karina Smirnoff danced a foxtrot to "Stray Cat Strut". William Levy and Cheryl Burke also danced a foxtrot to this song on the 14th season of the show.

"Ubangi Stomp" was featured in the 1998 South Korean film The Quiet Family, and in the 2005 Russian film Dead Man's Bluff (Жмурки).

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's sleeve notes.[8]

Stray Cats Brian Setzer – guitar, vocals Slim Jim Phantom – drums Lee Rocker – bass Additional musicians Gary Barnacle – saxophone Production Aldo Bocca – engineering Dave Edmunds – production Hein Hoven – engineering Neil – tape operation Nick – tape operation Brian Setzer – production Stray Cats – production

Design Gavin Cochrane – photography Chalkie Davies – photography Alain de la Mata – photography Chris Gabrin – photography Malcolm Garrett – sleeve design Toshi Yajima – photography

Charts

Chart (1981)	Peak position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[9]	41
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[10]	4
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[11]	2
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[12]	24
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[13]	3
UK Albums (OCC)[14]	6

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ)[15]	Platinum	15,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[16]	Gold	100,000^^
^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. Mawer, Sharon. "Stray Cats – Stray Cats". AllMusic. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
2. Nicholls, Mike (February 21, 1981). "Triff Quiffs". Record Mirror. London. p. 16.
3. "Stray Cats". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
4. https://consequenceofsound.net/2018/01/brian-setzers-stray-cats-to-reunite-for-first-show-in-10-years/
5. "Rocklist.net...Steve Parker...Rock and Roll Hall of Fame". Rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
6. "Cars", IMDb, June 5, 2006, retrieved September 10, 2016
7. "Elite Beat Agents", IMDb, November 6, 2006, retrieved October 11, 2017
8. Stray Cats (sleeve notes). Stray Cats. Arista Records. 1981. STRAY 1.CS1 maint: others (link)
9. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 297. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
10. "Dutchcharts.nl – Stray Cats – Stray Cats" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
11. "Charts.nz – Stray Cats – Stray Cats". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
12. "Norwegiancharts.com – Stray Cats – Stray Cats". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
13. "Swedishcharts.com – Stray Cats – Stray Cats". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
14. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
15. "New Zealand album certifications – Stray Cats – Stray Cats". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
16. "British album certifications – Stray Cats – Stray Cats". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved December 3, 2020. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Stray Cats in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.