Stray Cats – Stray Cat Strut

Looking back it’s kinda hard to believe that a fifties sounding band made a big splash among the big hair synth 1980s. In the seventies yes it would have been not only possible but probable because of a 50’s revival then.

Brian Setzer lead guitarist: ‘I couldn’t relate to prog rock. We never had any wizards in my neighborhood. We had ’58 Chevys and good-looking girls’

Brian came up with Stray Cat Strut back his garage in Long Island when he was 18. He wanted something slower than their other songs. It was about the three members, and the lives they were living. At that point, they were still called the Tomcats, but it became “stray” when they went to London.

They found a counterculture in London that related to the fifties music and style. The original group of people that came to see them included Chrissie Hynde, Joe Strummer, Lemmy and Glen Matlock.

Ronnie Lane from the Faces put them up and Dave Edmunds grabbed them at the Venue and said: “Let me produce you before someone else ruins you.” Dave did indeed produce them.

This song peaked at #3 in the Billboard 100 in 1983.

Stray Cat Strut

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

Black and orange stray cat sittin’ on a fence
Ain’t got enough dough to pay the rent
I’m flat broke, but I don’t care
I strut right by with my tail in the air

Stray cat strut, I’m a (Ladies’ cat)
I’m a feline Casanova (Hey, man, that’s where it’s at)
Get a shoe thrown at me from a mean old man
Get my dinner from a garbage can

Meow
Yeah, don’t cross my path

I don’t bother chasing mice around, oh, no
I slink down the alley looking for a fight
Howling to the moonlight on a hot summer night
Singin’ the blues while the lady cats cry
“Wild stray cat, you’re a real gone guy
I wish I could be as carefree and wild
But I got cat class, and I got cat style”

I don’t bother chasing mice around
I slink down the alley looking for a fight
Howling to the moonlight on a hot summer night
Singin’ the blues while the lady cats cry
“Wild stray cat, you’re a real gone guy
I wish I could be as carefree and wild
But I got cat class, and I got cat style”

Meow

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

22 thoughts on “Stray Cats – Stray Cat Strut”

  2. Good tune. I think the thing about the 80s was a lot of us were open to ANY new music, and new genres (even if “new” was 30 years old!) .. radio helped out with that too by accomodating more range than they do now.

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    1. The range is almost 0 now. It’s been declining with each decade. In the sixties and seventies, you would have this big cross…like Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Elvis, and The Rolling Stones. The eighties had some… Gary US Bonds and others but it declined. I do remember the 80s rock radio…Def Leppard, Thomas Dolby, and The Beatles but that faded out. Now everyone has to have their own box…or label.

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  4. Both The Stray Cats and Brian Setzer have always been loads of fun. They are very underrated musicians, which is a shame. They are all very talented. I’ve seen both The Stray Cats and Brian Setzer and his Orchestra many times.

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  5. I tried to love the Stray Cats, because their look was so cute, and some of their lyrics were too. I even saw them in concert. This song was a fun one. But over all, I just didn’t care for their music. Now that I’ve seen where Brian Setzer has taken his music career, it’s a lot easier to see that their music just simply wasn’t a fit with my taste. They did offer something different back then, which was great.

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    1. The one that resonated with me was Rock This Town…I didn’t care for this one back then. Now I’m more of a fan of his guitar playing and that got me listening to them more…yes it was different for that time.

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      3. That is smooth dude… He is great at that style…just great period. Love that guitar also.

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