Here's a discussion question: How old was the mean old man that the Stray Cats mentioned on their 1981 hit "Stray Cat Strut"? On that sidelong rockabilly jam, Brian Setzer sang from the perspective of a "feline casanova" living in alleys and confronting the situations that come with alley cat life: "Get a shoe thrown at me by a mean old man/ Get my dinner from a garbage can." Setzer is now 67 years old, and I wonder if that's older or younger than what he had in mind when he first sang that lyric.
The Stray Cats: They're still around! When the Stray Cats blew up as a staple of early MTV, they were already a nostalgic institution, taking clear musical and sartorial inspiration from '50s rockabilly. The band has broken up and reformed many times over the years, and Setzer and his Brian Setzer Orchestra also had a brief moment as a late-'90s swing-revival hitmaker. These days, the Stray Cats are back out on the road, and they just gave their first late-night TV performance in 36 years.
Musical performances on late-night TV shows are also still around! Last night, the Stray Cats were musical guests on The Tonight Show, and they gave a spirited rendition of their 1981 hit "Rock This Town." They had their original lineup and their stand-up drum kit and everything. I'm very happy to report that they're still a lot of fun to watch and that their hair looked fantastic.
Before last night's Tonight Show, the Stray Cats' last TV performance was in 1990, when they played "Gene And Eddie," their ode to old-school rockabilly stars Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran, on Letterman in 1990. Watch both performances below.
