MOORHEAD — Forty-five years after the group started, little has changed for Stray Cats. The trio still plays rockabilly inspired by music from the 1950s and ’60s. Singer/guitarist Brian Setzer still wears a blond pompadour, drummer Slim Jim Phantom keeps the beat standing behind a snare drum and a cymbal while Lee Rocker still occasionally plays standing on his upright bass.
Stray Cats hits the stage at Moorhead’s Bluestem Amphitheater on Thursday, Aug. 8, celebrating its 45th anniversary. While the band has spent more of that time broken up than working together, Rocker said it’s just natural for the members to get back together every five years.
“We’re like locusts. Every five years we come out,” Rocker said from his home in southern California as he prepared for the three-week tour. The trio has frequently reunited over the years, and Setzer has also been active with his own Brian Setzer Orchestra, with which he’s won two Grammy Awards.
Setzer has lived in Minneapolis for years, and Phantom also resides in California. The group last toured in 2019 when it released the anniversary album “40,” its first in 25 years. “I’ve always said that we all grew up in the same neighborhood, so there’s an instant feeling between us when we play.
It allows us to be confident and spontaneous. Man, that’s priceless,” Setzer stated in a press release in March announcing the group’s summer tour. The trio formed in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York, in 1979.
Rocker was born Leon Drucker, son of acclaimed clarinetists, Naomi and Stanley Drucker, former principal clarinetist for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra for 48 years. His parents made sure their children all studied an instrument. “That was the rule.
There weren’t many, but that was the hard rule,” Rocker said. He started playing cello at age 7 and by 13 he moved to bass. While he was more attracted to rock, punk and rockabilly, his parents always encouraged him.
Stray Cats were influenced by rock and roll pioneers like Eddie Cochran, Carl Perkins and Gene Vincent as well as the energy of punk music at the time. “The upright bass is really the engine that drives it. It’s a lot of percussion as it's the foundation the rest is built on,” Rocker said, describing the role of the upright bass in rockabilly.
“This is true American music. Like jazz or blues, it’s the sound of America.” The group picked up club dates at notable New York City music spots like CBGB’s and Max’s Kansas City.
After reading a magazine article about a growing rockabilly scene in England, the group bought four one-way plane tickets — one for each member and Rocker’s upright bass — for London in 1980. “We had no connections and no real plans,” Rocker said. Still, they quickly developed a reputation as the three kids with pompadours from New York.
“They were young, good looking guys. They didn’t sound like Duran Duran or any of the other new wave groups,” Chris McKittrick told The Forum. He’s the author of the forthcoming book, “Howling to the Moonlight on a Hot Summer Night: The Tale of the Stray Cats.
” “It was fantastic. The end of punk, the beginning of New Wave. There was super diverse stuff going on, like The Clash.
London was the center of the music world,” he said. And the group was soon a big part of it. Two months after arriving, the group played a show and before going on stage were told all five members of The Rolling Stones were in the crowd.
“We knew something was up when we heard the Rolling Stones were in the front row,” Rocker said. That news added fire to a bidding war among record labels. The trio signed with Arista and hired rockabilly enthusiast Dave Edmunds to produce its self-titled debut.
It came out in early 1981 and included the hits “Rock This Town” and “Stray Cat Strut.” The album did well in England and earned the group a spot opening for the Rolling Stones on its “Tattoo You” tour that year. While the trio’s debut album was never released in the states, the group gained a foothold back home thanks to videos for the singles.
“MTV was integral to us in the United States. It was huge in introducing us to the United States,” Rocker said. “It was like being shot out of a canon.
” EMI America, made a compilation of the group’s first two British releases, called it “Built for Speed” and released it in America in 1982. The group’s first proper American release, “Rant n’ Rave with the Stray Cats,” was released in 1983 and included the hits “(She’s) Sexy + 17” and “I Won’t Stand in Your Way.” The group hit the road extensively behind the album and after the tour ended in 1984, Setzer broke up the band.
“Everyone was burnt out,” Rocker said. The breakup was amicable and a few years later they would reunite and stay active until 1992, with occasional shows and tours between then and the 40th anniversary tour in 2019. Despite the big crowds, media attention and the fans, the biggest thrill for him was when Stray Cats were nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy in 1982 the same year his dad was nominated for his first Grammy.
“That was incredible. That was an amazing experience to have that as part of my life,” Rocker said. He’s looking forward to making his local debut and getting back together with his old friends from the neighborhood.
“I can’t wait to get back. It’s going to be great to get together with the guys,” he said. What: Stray Cats When: 7 p.
m., Thursday, Aug. 8 Where: Bluestem Amphitheater, Moorhead Info: Tickets range from $42 to $125.
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