"Rock This Town" is the second single by American

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 ...

band

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 t ...

, released January 30, 1981 by

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

in the UK, where it peaked at No. 9 on the Singles Chart. It was taken from the band's 1981 debut album, ''

''. Its first US release, by

EMI America EMI America Records was started in 1978 by EMI as a second US label next to Capitol Records. It absorbed Liberty Records in 1984. In the late 1980s, EMI America was consolidated with Manhattan Records to form EMI Manhattan Records, which later ...

, was on the June 1982 album '' Built for Speed''. Released as a single on August 31, 1982, it debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for the week of September 18, 1982, and peaked at No. 9. "Rock This Town" was listed by the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

as one of the "

500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and ...

". It was featured in the ''

Cars A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

'' video game.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

1981 singles 1982 singles Stray Cats songs Songs written by Brian Setzer 1981 songs EMI America Records singles Arista Records singles Music videos directed by Julien Temple {{1980s-rock-song-stub