Levi and the Rockats were really the progenitors of the late 70’s early 80’s Rockabilly revival in the New York. The Stray Cats who would later eclipse them worldwide were from Massapequa, NY (birthplace of Jerry Seinfeld) and came on the scene shortly thereafter. The Rockats were known for their high-energy shows and for having the fastest release in recording history. The “Rockats: Live At The Ritz” was recorded, mixed, pressed and put in record shops within a week of the show. Here’s a clip from the Merv Griffen Show in 1979 featuring the Rockats doing “All Through The Night.” Notice that Merv initially gets their name wrong and pay special attention to the bass player Smutty Smith because that’s where the story continues. So here’s how it goes the Stray Cats started coming down from Massapequa to the city for gigs. Smutty gave the Stray Cats their first rockabilly haircuts and from then on it was a pure competition. As the Stray Cats began to pull ahead in popularity Levi Dexter advised the Stray Cats to go to London where there was supposedly a huge Teddy Boy scene. Clearly he was taking the piss, otherwise the Rockats would have stayed in the UK. Brian Setzer, Slim Jim Phantom and Lee Rocker promptly purchased one way tickets, packed up and left for London arriving in the cold rain of winter with just their instruments, a couple changes of clothes and nowhere to stay. There were only a handful of Rockabilly fans and the scene so “gloriously” defined by Levi was non-existent. What faced the penniless Stray Cats was starvation and desperate anonymity. They squatted in run down buildings and busked for change on the streets for food. Things got worse and worse until they eventually booked a club gig in Camden (Slim Jim will correct me if I’m wrong.) Nonetheless on that fortuitous evening just as the Stray Cats took the stage Mick Jagger and Keith Richards walked into the club and were blown away. The Stones became the Cat’s biggest fans and the rest is history. The press latched on and a career was made, everywhere except the United States. It took another year or two and a couple of records until Gary Gersh who was a lowly scout at Capitol Records signed them for a paltry amount. Capitol combined the tracks from the ex-US albums into a single record called Rock This Town, and the Stray Cats returned home as Kings of all Cats. Here’s my favourite Stray Cats video, “Runaway Boys.” Enjoy!