From the London Underground to Interlochen

Stray Cats to rock the night away Up North

They may be in their 60s, but these cats can still strut their stuff. Lee Rocker, Slim Jim Phantom, and Brian Setzer are again (still?) touring the country, rocking this town and that town, including a show at Interlochen Aug. 11.

“We still have that youthful energy,” maintains Phantom.

The band came together when Long Island school pals James McDonnell and Leon Drucker, aka Slim Jim Phantom and Lee Rocker, teamed up with vocalist and guitarist Brian Setzer. “We were all in the same school. Brian was two years ahead of us,” Phantom recalls.

They all had musical ambitions. Phantom took drum lessons and listened to everything: Carl Perkins, Eddie Cochrane, The Who, The Beatles, the Rolling Stones. He studied rock and jazz players alike. “Charlie Watts, DJ Fontana, Back to Jazz, Papa Jo Jones, Art Blakey. … I could play along with anything,” he says. “I was trying to find my niche.”

The niche came to him as he researched where the music he loved originated. It all seemed to have a common point in ’50s rock and roll, particularly with the album Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps. The band found its groove and began to play and write music associated with rockabilly, performing anywhere they could, including such legendary New York City underground punk clubs as CBGB and Max’s Kansas City.

“We wanted it to happen fast. We wanted to make a record, be around others that got it,” Phantom says. England was already seeing an upturn in interest in the music, with people like Dave Edmunds, The Jets, and The Rockats, and a music press ready for the music to re-emerge.

Going Underground

So the Stray Cats jetted off to London, where they knew…nobody. “We didn’t know anything or anyone. We had no work permit,” Phantom says.

Facing potential deportation, Phantom says the band relied on its wits and work ethic. “We slipped into the underground, the underbelly. We’d knock on doors, show up, talk to people.” He says what saved them was the fact they were well-schooled in music and always ready to rock. “We were very good,” he says without any false modesty.

They began to attract attention from people like Chrissie Hynds (the rock writer turned leader of The Pretenders), Joe Strummer of The Clash, Captain Sensible of the Damned, and Lemmy from Motörhead. The aforementioned Edmunds offered to produce the band. The result was their self-titled debut album. Released in 1981, it peaked at No. 6 on the UK albums chart with three top 40 hits.

A year later, they broke in the U.S., where two of the three UK hits made it to the Top 10: “Stray Cat Strut” went all the way to No. 3, while the rousing “Rock This Town” followed, peaking at No. 9. The latter is actually listed as one of the 500 most important songs in the history of rock and roll music by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Rolling Stones were impressed enough they enlisted the Stray Cats as their opening band for a U.S. tour. That led to interest from U.S. labels. “BMG got us proper work visas, and somewhere to live,” Phantom says.

Over the Years

Fast-forward through the decades, and the band broke up, reconvened, broke up again, regrouped again, etc.

In those intervening years, Setzer’s solo career helped spur the resurgence of another style. The 17-piece Brian Setzer Orchestra was among the high-profile bands in the ’90s swing revival. For their part, Rocker and Phantom remained active as solo artists and teamed up with a number of other players, more often than not in a rockabilly style, including another trio with guitarist Earl Slick. Phantom, Rocker & Slick released two albums in the mid-80s.

Despite the ups and downs of band life, the three continue to revisit their decades-long partnership. Setzer had a health scare last year, battling an auto-immune disease that left him unable to play guitar. Following treatment at the Mayo Clinic, he recovered his ability and returned to the road with the band. “He’s back and better than ever,” says Phantom. “He sounds good.”

And they are still at it, grooving their way through the good times of the music they consider timeless. And audiences still enjoy it. “I think we’re the best at it. We may be … a certain age, but we’re pretty fit and we look good. We take care of ourselves.”

Phantom says that’s especially important as the years go by. He says his devotion to the music means he has to be just as devoted to his health. “I keep it together because I don’t want to be the one that’s not 100 percent. Everyone has that feeling since we were kids.”

Ready to Rock

That drive to excel, play music they love, and be original saw them adopt the look of the ’50s musicians of whom they were enamored, even as they put their own spin on it.

“I knew I had to make something else, we had to come up with something our own. I’ll never be as good as Gregg Bissonette,” he says, referring to the drummer who has played with David Lee Roth, Toto, Ringo Starr, guitarists Andy Summers and Joe Satriani, and a slew of others. “I love and respect other drummers.”

Phantom still favors a minimalist setup, with just a bass drum, snare, and a couple cymbals. He also stands up while he plays, a style favored by drummer Dickie Harrell of The Blue Caps as seen on the album cover. Years later, Phantom discovered Harrell didn’t really play that way, it was just for the cover photo. By then he’d grown used to it.

Today, more than 40 years after the scuffling band started out, the group continues to gain new fans and has become an inspiration to a new generation.

“We’re part of someone’s story,” he says, noting he’s had young people tell him “Stray Cat Strut” was part of their prom. “Kids seek an alternative.”

Phantom ascribes the band’s ongoing success to hard work, talent, and a modicum of luck. “We let it happen. If we try something and it works, let it bloom. We were wise and lucky. I wish I could tell you I’m that smart.”

Catch the Stray Cats at Interlochen on Aug. 11. Tickets at interlochen.org/concerts-and-events.

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