Built For Speed (Stray Cats Album)
''Built for Speed'' is a studio album by American rockabilly band Stray Cats, released as the band's first album in the United States in June 1982 by EMI America Records. ''Built for Speed'' is essentially a compilation of 12 tracks taken from the band's first two British album releases: six from ''Stray Cats'' (February 1981) and five from ''Gonna Ball'' (November 1981), plus the title track, "Built for Speed", which had not previously been released in the United Kingdom. It was the most successful record for the band, earning a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America, and with the music videos for songs such as "Rock This Town" and "Stray Cat Strut" reaching MTV regular rotation status. Critical reception Reviewing ''Built for Speed'' for ''The Village Voice'', music critic Robert Christgau said that, despite Brian Setzer's exotic, modernistic guitar touches, "the mild vocals just ain't rockabilly. You know how it is when white boys strive fo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stray Cats
Stray Cats are an American rockabilly band formed in 1979 by guitarist and vocalist Brian Setzer, double bassist Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in the UK, Australia, Canada, and the U.S. including "Stray Cat Strut", " (She's) Sexy + 17", "Look at That Cadillac", "I Won't Stand in Your Way", "Bring It Back Again", and "Rock This Town", which the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has listed as one of the songs that shaped rock and roll. History Formation and move to UK The group, whose style was based upon the sounds of Sun Records artists and other artists from the 1950s, were heavily influenced by Eddie Cochran, Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent, and Bill Haley & His Comets. The Stray Cats quickly developed a large following in the New York music scene playing at CBGB and Max's Kansas City as well as venues on Long Island. When the Cats heard a rumor that there was a revival of the 1950s Teddy Boy ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Brian Setzer
Brian Robert Setzer (born April 10, 1959) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly group Stray Cats, and returned to the music scene in the early 1990s with his swing revival band, the Brian Setzer Orchestra. In 1987, he made a cameo appearance as Eddie Cochran in the film '' La Bamba''. Career Stray Cats Setzer was born April 1959 in Massapequa, New York. He started on the euphonium and played in jazz bands when he was in school. He found a way to hear jazz at the Village Vanguard, though as he got older he became more interested in rock, punk, and rockabilly. He was a member of the Bloodless Pharaohs and the Tomcats, which he began with his brother, Gary. The Tomcats became the Stray Cats when double bassist Lee Rocker and drummer Slim Jim Phantom joined and Gary left the band. In 1980, thinking they might have more success in England than in America, they sold their instruments to pay for ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Singing
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without accompaniment by musical instruments. Singing is often done in an ensemble of musicians, such as a choir. Singers may perform as soloists or accompanied by anything from a single instrument (as in art song or some jazz styles) up to a symphony orchestra or big band. Different singing styles include art music such as opera and Chinese opera, Indian music, Japanese music, and religious music styles such as gospel, traditional music styles, world music, jazz, blues, ghazal, and popular music styles such as pop, rock, and electronic dance music. Singing can be formal or informal, arranged, or improvised. It may be done as a form of religious devotion, as a hobby, as a source of pleasure, comfort, or ritual as part of music education or ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lap Steel Guitar
The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional acoustic guitar, in which the performer's fingertips press the strings against frets, the pitch of a steel guitar is changed by pressing a polished steel bar against plucked strings (from which the name "steel guitar" derives). Though the instrument does not have frets, it displays markers that resemble them. Lap steels may differ markedly from one another in external appearance, depending on whether they are acoustic or electric, but in either case, do not have pedals, distinguishing them from pedal steel guitar. The steel guitar was the first "foreign" musical instrument to gain a foothold in American pop music. It originated in the Hawaiian Islands about 1885, popularized by an Oahu youth named Joseph Kekuku, who became known for playi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strings against frets with the fingers of the opposite hand. A plectrum or individual finger picks may also be used to strike the strings. The sound of the guitar is projected either acoustically, by means of a resonant chamber on the instrument, or amplified by an electronic pickup and an amplifier. The guitar is classified as a chordophone – meaning the sound is produced by a vibrating string stretched between two fixed points. Historically, a guitar was constructed from wood with its strings made of catgut. Steel guitar strings were introduced near the end of the nineteenth century in the United States; nylon strings came in the 1940s. The guitar's ancestors include the gittern, the vihuela, the four- course Renaissance guitar, and the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Eddie Cochran
Ray Edward Cochran (; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. Cochran's songs, such as "Twenty Flight Rock", "Summertime Blues", " C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire in the mid-1950s and early 1960s. He experimented with multitrack recording, distortion techniques, and overdubbing even on his earliest singles. He played the guitar, piano, bass, and drums. His image as a sharply dressed and attractive young man with a rebellious attitude epitomized the stance of the 1950s rocker, and in death he achieved iconic status. Cochran was involved with music from an early age, playing in the school band and teaching himself to play blues guitar. In 1954, he formed a duet with the guitarist Hank Cochran (no relation). When they split the following year, Eddie began a songwriting career with Jerry Capehart. His first success came when he performed the song "Twenty Flight Rock" in the film ''The Girl Can't Help ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mike Chapman
Michael Donald Chapman (born 13 April 1947) is an Australian-American record producer and songwriter who was a major force in the British pop music industry in the 1970s. He created a string of hit singles for artists including The Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Smokie, Mud and Racey with business partner Nicky Chinn, creating a sound that became identified with the "Chinnichap" brand. He later produced breakthrough albums for Blondie and The Knack. Chapman received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2014 Australia Day Honours. Early career Chapman was born in Queensland, Australia, and was educated at the Anglican Church Grammar School. He emigrated to Britain where he became a member of the Downliners Sect and then in 1968 joined the group Tangerine Peel. They released an album in 1969 and had several near-hit singles between 1967 and 1970. In 1970 he met Nicky Chinn while working as a waiter at a London nightclub, Tramp. The pair struck up a song-writing partnership, and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Johnny Burnette
John Joseph Burnette (March 25, 1934 – August 14, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter of rockabilly and pop music. In 1952, Johnny and his brother, Dorsey Burnette, and their mutual friend Paul Burlison formed the band that became known as the Rock and Roll Trio. His career was cut short on August 14, 1964, when he was killed in a boat crash at age 30. He is the father of 1980s rockabilly singer Rocky Burnette. Early life Johnny Burnette was born to Willie May and Dorsey Burnett Sr. in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. (The "e" at the end of his name was added later.) Johnny grew up with his parents and Dorsey Jr. in a public housing project in the Lauderdale Courts area of Memphis, which from 1948 until 1954 was also the home of Gladys and Vernon Presley and their son, Elvis. Johnny attended Blessed Sacrament School, and after graduating from eighth grade he went to Catholic High School, in Memphis. (Early press reports, dating back to 1956, stated erroneously t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Paul Burlison
Paul Burlison (February 4, 1929 – September 27, 2003) was an American pioneer rockabilly guitarist and a founding member of The Rock and Roll Trio. Burlison was born in Brownsville, Tennessee, where he was exposed to music at an early age. After a stint in the United States Military, Burlison teamed up with Johnny and Dorsey Burnette to form The Rock and Roll Trio. The band released several singles, but failed to attain chart success. Paul is sometimes credited with being the first guitarist to intentionally record with a distorted electric guitar on the 1956 recordings, "Lonesome Train on a Lonesome Track" and "Honey Hush." The Trio disbanded in the fall of 1957 and Burlison moved back to Tennessee to start a family. There he started his own electrical subcontracting business which he ran faithfully for twenty years, taking a break when the Trio reunited in the early 1980s. He released his only solo album in 1997, which received positive reviews. Burlison remained active i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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George Motola
George Louis Motola (November 15, 1919 – February 15, 1991) was an American record producer, songwriter and sound engineer from the 1950s until his death. Early life and career Motola, whose last name is often misspelled as Mottola, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, one of five brothers and three sisters born to parents who had migrated to the USA from Italy. He started his business career as a used car dealer, but soon found out that music was his real interest. By the mid-1950s he was working as a producer at Modern Records in Los Angeles, where he supervised acts like Jesse Belvin, Young Jessie and Jimmy Beasley. His most famous composition is " Goodnight My Love", which was originally recorded by Jesse Belvin in 1956 (# 7 R&B). Subsequent versions by the McGuire Sisters (1957), Ray Peterson (1959), The Fleetwoods (1963), Ben E. King (1966), Paul Anka (1969), The Four Seasons (1963), and Paula Abdul (1991), all made the Billboard Top 100. Paul Anka reached no. 27 on ''Bill ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jeannie Jeannie Jeannie
"Jeannie Jeannie Jeannie" is a song by Eddie Cochran recorded and released as a single in January 1958 on Liberty Records 55123. It was a minor hit for Cochran and stalled at number 94 on the Billboard charts. "Jeannie, Jeannie, Jeannie" was posthumously released in the United Kingdom in 1961 on the London Records label and rose to number 31. Later versions are most commonly known as "Jeanie, Jeanie, Jeanie". The song was first written as "Johnny, Johnny, Johnny" for The Georgettes, but they never recorded it. Personnel * Eddie Cochran: vocal, guitar * Conny 'Guybo' Smith: electric bass * Earl Palmer: drums * (possibly) Ray Johnson: piano Chart performance Stray Cats version The Stray Cats recorded a version of "Jeanie Jeanie Jeanie" which was released on their first UK album Stray Cats in 1981. The song was also released on their debut US album '' Built for Speed''. The song was often featured in their live shows and several live versions are available. The Stray Cats' v ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lee Rocker
Lee Rocker (born Leon Drucker, August 3, 1961) is an American musician. He is a member of the rockabilly revival band Stray Cats. He is the son of the classical clarinetists Stanley Drucker, the late former principal clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and Naomi Drucker. As a child, he played the cello and later learned bass guitar. Biography Personal life Lee Rocker was born Leon Drucker in Massapequa, Long Island, New York, in 1961. He is the son of classical clarinetists Stanley and Naomi Drucker. Stanley Drucker was the principal clarinetist for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and played with Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland. His sister Roseanne is a country music singer-songwriter. At age 12, Rocker picked up the electric bass but quickly developed a preference for playing the double bass as his instrument of choice. He credits records by Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins for his new inclination "The slap bass on those records blew me away!" Rocker's ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |