Stray Cat Strut, Stray Cats, 1981
File this under songs that will forever make me smile and snap my fingers. Who doesn't love a little rockabilly swagger? That guitar, yo. Yes, please.
I love everything about this song. I love the narrative. The lyrics are just the coolest. This is one of my most favorite lines ever and life triggers it in my head all the time -- "I'm flat broke but I don't care, I strut right by with my tail in the air." There's this other part where Brian Setzer growls, "Meow, yeah don't cross my path." That's me. The words likely running through my brain but hiding behind my smile.
Ahh, the Stray Cats -- Brian, Lee Rocker, and Slim Jim Phantom pulling off that 50s greasers/cooler than cool vibe with ease in the midst of an otherwise only moderately interesting landscape of the early 1980s. Their look hooked me but the music kept me around. Even to this day, the Stray Cats catalog is timeless music that is fresh and unique despite being in the vein of iconic sounds of the past.
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