After punk swept away the indulgence of Prog and returned Rock to its roots, some people took it all too far. Three young men from suburban America- The Stray Cats- inexplicably regressed to previous lives: those of 50s Rock 'n' Rollers. After moving to London (presumably because you could still get frothy coffee there) in 1980, they signed to Artista and jumped 'n' jived all over the UK hit parade with 'Runaway Boys' (1980), 'Rock This Town' (1981), 'Stray Cat Strut' (1981) and Stray Cats (1981).
They failed to scale such heights with Gonna Ball (1982) while, Stateside, Rant 'n' Rave (1983) yielded the bouncing babies 'Sexy+17' and 'I Won't Stand In Your Way' before expiring at a lowly No.14. They then split. Drummer Slim Jim Phantom (momentarily famous for marrying Britt Ekland) and bassist Lee Rocker joined ex-Bowie sidekick Earl Slick in Phantom, Rocker And Slick. Vocalist and guitarist Brian Setzer made ignored solo albums The Knife Feels Like Justice (1986) and Live Nude Guitars (1988), played Eddie Cochran brilliantly in 1987's Richie Valens biopic La Bamba and helmed the swinging Brian Setzer Orchestra. But the Cats reunions Rock Therapy (1986), Blast Off (1989), Let's Go Faster (1991) and Choo Choo Hot Fish (1992) proved uneventful.