#SLS ~ Let’s Eat

~ King Ben's Grandma

Thanks to Jim Adams, for hosting Song Lyric Sunday. You can find the official rules, and future prompts at Jim’s site. Jim hosts and participates in other music and/or writing themed prompts. Check them out, you might be inspired.

The prompt words this week are – Breakfast, Brunch, Dinner, Lunch, Snack, Supper

My first thought was Breakfast At Tiffany’s, but I figured that would be a popular one. I was actually stuck, and couldn’t think of a song. Usually, several pop into my head and I have to choose. This time I had to do a search.

It was a very fast search, it turns out, cuz as soon as I saw this song, I knew I had to use it. It is a favorite, and it’s by a band I’ve seen in concert. What band? What song? Oh yeah, Stray Cat Strut by Stray Cats, written by Brian Setzer.

The song was released in the US as a single off their Built For Speed album on June 11, 1982. It was released earlier on a different album in UK, since they’d been living in UK and had some success there.

Lead singer and guitarist, Brian Setzer, double bass player Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom began performing in and around New York City in 1979. They heard about about a revival of the Teddy Boy youth subculture in the UK, so they moved there to join it, and mix it up with punk influence.

They enjoyed success playing clubs in the UK, and in 1980 were being approached by record companies. They released their self titled first album in 1981 on Arista Records. They had three hits, including Stray Cat Strut. Their second UK album, Gonna Ball wasn’t as well received, but it and the first album convinced EMI in the US to use the best songs from both, and released Built For Speed. It didn’t chart at first, but Stray Cat Strut eventually peaked at number three in March, 1983.

Which brings us to April 23, 1983, when I saw them perform along with Bow Wow Wow, Modern English, The Ramones, and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers at a show called X-Fest, put together by local radio station 91X. I found this clip on YouTube recently. It’s a news segment about the concert. It’s good for a nostalgic giggle.

Without further blah blah blah… 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
I 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 that
Get a shoe thrown at me from a mean old man
Get my dinner from a garbage can

Don’t go crossing my path

I don’t bother chasing mice around
I slink down the alleyway 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 alleyway 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

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Are you a fan of Stray Cats, or Rockabilly music in general? What song comes to your mind for the prompt words? Let me know in comments, or join the #SLS gang and do a post of your own.

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HUGS!

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16 thoughts on “#SLS ~ Let’s Eat”

  2. That x-fest had some lineup. I would have loved to see Tom Petty. The Ramones, because they toured continuously for twenty-some years, I saw a whole mess of times, but Tom Petty. I always thought he was an underrated musician. If I were playing this week, I would have picked the Clash’s Rudie Can’t Fail because “he’s been drinking brew for breakfast.” I guess I liked the stray cats pretty well. My girlfriend loved them and got her hair cut into a Brian Setzer pompadour, and that I really didn’t like.

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    1. You didn’t like the haircut or her adoration of Brian Setzer? 😉😂
      Tom Petty is/was definitely underrated!
      I was barely 15 years old at that show. I’m glad I saw so many great bands back in the 80s, but older me feels like younger me didn’t really appreciate it.
      Isn’t that always the way though?
      I don’t think I know that Clash song. I’ll have to check it out🎶💃🏼

      Liked by 1 person

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  3. Great choice Angie, as I have always loved this song. I can’t describe what it is that attracts me, but it kind of blends this dark beatnik jazz sound into a rock and roll song and it is great.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. There were so many different styles of music that came out in the 80s. I didn’t know they were popular in UK before here, even though they’re American. I got to learn something new, and that’s always good.
      We really do seem to have similar taste in music🎶💃🏼

      Liked by 1 person

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  5. Good song! I had to do some thinking on this one too. At first I was trying to force a song from Ween’s Chocolate and Cheese album. I got the album stuck in my head because of the title of the album but nothing was really like “Yeah, that’s it.” Then I thought of one that works – If I Had a Million Dollars by the Barenaked Ladies. Lots of food/eating fun in that one!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Swing dance looks like so much fun! I’m adding that to my Bucket List… dance lessons💃🏼. Currently I resemble Elaine from Seinfeld when I dance, but I do it anyway😉
      Music really does evoke memories. And there is so much great music! I’m always looking for something new or different.

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