Cat Power
Bass Player|December 2019
Forty years down the line, the Stray Cats are playing with as much attitude as ever. Silvia Bluejay slips into her polka dot dress for a chat with the great Lee Rocker
Silvia Bluejay
Cat Power

This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the Stray Cats, who are celebrating in style, with a new album— aptly titled 40—and a world tour on which frontman Brian Setzer, bassist Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom have been reminding audiences of the huge power of their amped-up rockabilly brand. We caught up with Rocker at a recent London show for a chat about those early days four decades ago, when the Cats first left New York in 1980 for pastures new in the UK. What did they bring with them?

“We sold pretty much every bit of equipment except my one upright bass, which I brought with me” Rocker reminisces. “Brian brought his 1959 6120 Gretsch guitar, and Jim brought a snare drum in his suitcase. We bought four airline tickets, and one of them was for the bass; you could put it upside down in the seat in a soft case. We got to London without a plan, and pretty quickly realized that we hadn’t really thought it through well! We had to sleep in Hyde Park, and although we made friends, we had no contacts.”

Did they know what awaited them in London, we ask? “What we knew, we pretty much knew from the NME and Melody Maker, the rock weeklies of the day,” he recalls. “We knew the names of the venues, so we knocked on their doors. We looked different enough, and carried around this gear, and although we only had this crappy cassette tape, the band always sounded good. We had a lot of confidence, so people took mercy on us and gave us some gigs. We ran into all sorts of people; Ronnie Lane from the Small Faces took us home, and let us sleep in his house, introduced us to others, and word spread quickly. We weren’t homeless for long.”

This story is from the December 2019 edition of Bass Player.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the December 2019 edition of Bass Player.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM BASS PLAYERView All
Freekbass
Bass Player

Freekbass

The funk master talks us through five career high points.

time-read
1 min  |
Holiday 2021
ASHDOWN RM-800-EVO ll
Bass Player

ASHDOWN RM-800-EVO ll

What a lightweight! Kev Sanders tests the new head from Ashdown

time-read
3 mins  |
Holiday 2021
DUVOISIN Standard 5
Bass Player

DUVOISIN Standard 5

Mike Brooks gives this Swiss-style five a road test…

time-read
3 mins  |
Holiday 2021
I WAS THERE!
Bass Player

I WAS THERE!

A historic moment in bass world – recalled by those who were there to see it

time-read
2 mins  |
Holiday 2021
BAREFACED - One10T Cabinet
Bass Player

BAREFACED - One10T Cabinet

A new Barefaced cab? Kev Sanders feels the quality

time-read
3 mins  |
Holiday 2021
KRIST NOVOSELIC
Bass Player

KRIST NOVOSELIC

It’s 30 years since the release of Nirvana’s era-defining album, Nevermind, and high time that we revisited this 2011 chat with the great bassist turned political activist, Krist Novoselic, a musician who witnessed a truly chaotic period in music history

time-read
10+ mins  |
Holiday 2021
BASS PLAYER AWARDS 2021
Bass Player

BASS PLAYER AWARDS 2021

After a year off thanks to the pesky virus, BP’s annual Lifetime Achievement Awards return—and this time we add a new category. Raise your glass to this year’s winners, Marcus Miller, Gail Ann Dorsey, John Taylor and Charles Berthoud.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Holiday 2021
RUSH TO READ
Bass Player

RUSH TO READ

Rush’s Geddy Lee will release an “epic” memoir in 2022

time-read
2 mins  |
Holiday 2021
STAYING POWER
Bass Player

STAYING POWER

Tal Wilkenfeld’s recent album Love Remains features a five-string in tenor tuning with a capo. Ellen O’Reilly finds out why…

time-read
5 mins  |
Holiday 2021
Bass Player

TONEWOODS EXPLAINED

Do woods really determine tones?

time-read
3 mins  |
Holiday 2021