The Polecats are an English

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 formed at the end of the 1970s.

Career

The band formed in 1977 in north London. The original line-up was Tim Worman (a.k.a. Tim Polecat, vocalist), Martin "Boz" Boorer (guitarist and vocalist), Phil Bloomberg (bassist), and Chris Hawkes (drummer) who originally played under the name "Cult Heroes". Finding difficulty persuading promoters to book them on the rockabilly circuit with a name sounding "too

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

", they adopted Hawkes' suggested band name, the Polecats. Hawkes was later replaced by Neil Rooney, who was subsequently replaced by John Buck. The Polecats played rockabilly with a "punk sense of anarchy and helped revive the genre for a new generation in the early '80s." The band were first signed by the fledgling British rockabilly record label

Nervous Records Nervous Records is a UK rockabilly music independent record label. It was formed in 1979 by Roy Williams, a DJ on the UK rock'n'roll scene. Nervous Records is credited by many as the leading record label behind the emergence of the British neo ...

, and recorded their first single "Rockabilly Guy" at guitarist Alan Warner's "Lane Studios" in 1979. Formerly with the "Foundations" band, Warner toured and recorded with the Polecats for about a year. In 1980, the band signed to

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

, and released their most successful LP, ''Polecats Are Go!'' They had UK chart success with the

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 ...

cover "

John, I'm Only Dancing "John, I'm Only Dancing" is a song by English musician David Bowie, originally released as a non-album single on 1 September 1972. A glam rock and R&B number, the lyrics describe a situation in which the narrator informs his lover not to ...

", a reworking of "Rockabilly Guy", and another cover version of the

T-Rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosaurus'' live ...

(

Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted int ...

) song " Jeepster". In 1983, they hit the charts in the United States with their song "Make a Circuit with Me". John Buck replaced Neil Rooney in 1982 playing drums. Two of their songs were on the soundtrack to the 1986 film ''

Joey Joey may refer to: People *Joey (name) Animals * Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial * Joey, a Blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets Film and television * ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horace ...

''. Boz Boorer left the group to work as a guitarist, musical director and co-songwriter with

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...

, but led a Polecats reunion in 1989, which produced a live album and a new studio set. Tim Polecat moved to Los Angeles, California and formed the band 13 Cats, with drummer Slim Jim of the

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 ...

, stand-up bassist

Smutty Smiff 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 ...

of the Rockats, and guitarist Danny B. Harvey of the Swing Cats. Musically, Tim Polecat also continues to work as a film composer and solo singer-songwriter. In November 2006, frontman

Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician and radio presenter. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp, he became a figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Following P ...

of the British band

Pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material * ...

, along with bassist

Steve Mackey Stephen Patrick Mackey (born 10 November 1966) is an English musician and record producer best known as the bass guitarist for the alternative rock band Pulp, which he joined in 1989. As a record producer, he has produced songs and albums by M ...

, released the compilation album ''The Trip'', which featured tracks by artists as varied as the Fall,

Gene Pitney Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Pitney charted 16 top-40 hits in the United States, four in the top ten. In the United Kingdom, he had 22 top-40 hit singles, inclu ...

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

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, Dion,

Sonny Bono Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono (; February 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and politician who came to fame in partnership with his second wife Cher as the popular singing duo Sonny & Cher. A member of the Republica ...

plus the Polecats cover of David Bowie's "John, I'm Only Dancing". In the Disney Pixar film ''

WALL-E ''WALL-E'' (stylized with an interpunct as ''WALL·E'') is a 2008 American computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed and co-written by Andrew Stanton, pro ...

'', advertisers used the Polecats' 1983 hit song "Make a Circuit with Me" in their television trailers for the film. In 2010, the U.S. broadcaster TBS used "Make a Circuit with Me" in two episodes of the TV series '' Glory Daze''.

Personnel

*Tim 'Polecat' Worman – lead vocals, guitar * Martin 'Boz' Boorer – vocals, lead guitar, saxophone, piano *Chris Hawkes/Neil Rooney/John Buck – drums *Phil Bloomberg –

slap bass Slapping and popping are ways to produce percussive sounds on a stringed instrument. It is primarily used on the double bass or bass guitar. Slapping on bass guitar involves using the edge of one's knuckle, where it is particularly bony, to ...

Discography

Albums

*''Polecats Are Go!'' (1981) – Mercury *''Live in Hamburg 1981'' – Maybee Crayzee *''Cult Heroes'' (1984) –

*''Live and Rockin (1989) – Link *''The Polecats Won't Die'' (1989) – Vinyl Japan *''Virtual Rockabilly: Tim Polecat'' (1994) –

*''The Polecats Won't Die'' (1996) – Jappin' & Rockin' *''Nine'' (1997) – Jappin' & Rockin' *''Pink Noise'' (1999) – Rock-It *''The Best of the Polecats'' (2000) –

Cleopatra Records Cleopatra Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1992 by Brian Perera. The record label has since grown into a family of labels, including Hypnotic Records, Purple Pyramid Records, Dea ...

*''Rockabilly Guys: The Best of the Polecats'' (2001) – Raucous Records *''Between the Polecats: Boz Boorer'' (2001) – Raucous Records UK *''Polecats Are Go!'' (2004 reissue with bonus tracks) – Anagram Records *''The Best of the Polecats'' (with bonus track "Desire") (2005) –

*''Not Nervous! Rare 1980 Demos Remastered'' (2006) – NV Records *''Rockabilly Cats'' (2008) –

EPs

*''John, I'm Only Dancing'' – Mercury *''Jeepster'' – Mercury *''Make a Circuit with Me'' (1983) – Mercury US *''Live in Hamburg'' – NV Records

Singles

*"Rockabilly Guy" (1979),

*" John I'm Only Dancing" / "Big Green Car" (1981),

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

– UK No. 35 *"Rockabilly Guy" (1981), Mercury – UK No. 35 *" Jeepster" / "Marie Celeste" (1981), Mercury – UK No. 53 *"Make a Circuit with Me" (1983), Mercury – UK No. 76

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polecats, The Musical groups established in 1977 Musical groups from London English new wave musical groups British rock and roll music groups Rockabilly music groups Mercury Records artists