Levi and the Rockats are a British

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

revival band originally from

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

but currently based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. They are recognised as one of the pioneering

neo-rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blu ...

groups of the 1980s.

History

Levi & the Rockats were founded in 1977 by Levi Dexter, a Teddy Boy from

Southend on Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

. His main influences included Gene Vincent,

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 ...

and

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

, musicians popular among the 1960s British

rocker subculture Rockers, leather boys, Ton-up boys,14 February 1961, ''The Daily Express'' (London) and possibly café racers are members of a biker subculture that originated in the United Kingdom during the 1950s. It was mainly centred on British motorcycles ...

. In December 1979 Levi & the Rockats disbanded and the Rockats continued under that name. Levi Dexter went solo and is still performing rockabilly music and was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall Of Fame. In the 1980s, the Rockats opened for groups like

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of ...

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer o ...

, Thin Lizzy, and

The Pretenders Pretenders are an English–American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Fa ...

. After Levi Dexter left the band, it was re-formed with Dibbs Preston on vocals. This band is notable as one of the first rockabilly groups to incorporate punk rock and new wave influences to appeal to both punks and Teds, influencing later groups like Brian Setzer's Stray Cats and

Dave Alvin David Albert Alvin (born November 11, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. He is a former and founding member of the roots rock band the Blasters. Alvin has recorded and performed as a solo artist since the late 1980s a ...

's The Blasters, while retaining the raw authenticity of pre-

British invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" on b ...

Rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

Awards

The Rockats toured the UK, Japan and US. They also appeared on

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

's TV show in 1979 and were interviewed by

Deborah Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981. Born in ...

. Their most successful single was "

Make that Move Levi and the Rockats are a British rockabilly revival band originally from Essex but currently based in New York City. They are recognised as one of the pioneering neo-rockabilly groups of the 1980s. History Levi & the Rockats were founded in ...

" which charted on the

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

charts in 1984, shortly after the band was signed on with RCA records.

Discography

Studio recordings

*"Room to Rock/All Thru the Nite" (Peer Communications 1979) *"Rockabilly Idol/Note from the South" (Peer Communications 1979) *"Rockabilly Doll" 7" (Kat Tale Records, 1980) *''Make That Move'' EP (RCA, 1983) *''Downtown Saturday Night'' LP (Jimco Records Japan, 1994) *''The Good, the Bad, the Rockin LP (Fury Records, 1997) *''True Hearted Woman'' EP (Downer Records Japan, 2000) *''Rollin' Thunder'' LP (Downer Records Japan, 2001) *''Wild Love'' LP (Blue Leaf Records, 2003) *''Rockin' Together'' LP (Lanark Records, 2013)

Live recordings

*''Live at the Ritz'' LP (Island Records, 1981) *''Live at the Louisiana Hayride'' LP (Posh Boy Records, 1981) *''Raw in Japan'' LP (Jimco Records Japan, 1992) *''The Last Bop - Farewell 1984'' LP (Revel Yell Music Japan, 2003)

Members

*Levi Dexter - lead vocal *Dibbs Preston - lead vocal *

Smutty Smiff (Stephen Dennis Smith) Smutty Smiff (born 5 July 1959 in East London, England), also known as Stephen Dennis Smith, is a British musician, one of the founding members of rockabilly punk band Levi and the Rockats, discovered by Leee Black Childers, tour manager of David ...

- standup bass *Mick Barry - rhythm guitar, vocals *Barry Ryan - lead guitar *Dean Thomas - drummer *Guy Hemmer - rhythm guitar * Danny B.Harvey - lead guitar *Lewis King (

Curt Weiss Curt Weiss (born 10 December 1959 in Brooklyn, New York), is an American writer, television producer, and, under the name Lewis King, musician. His writing has appeared in ''Classic Drummer'' magazine, and as author of the 2017 book ''Stranded i ...

) - drums *Ira Kaye - drums *Steve Clark - drums *Jerry 'Nigs" Nolan - drums

References

{{Authority control Rockabilly music groups Cowpunk musical groups English new wave musical groups Musical groups established in 1977