Brian Setzer

I fell in love with rock via rockabilly band The Stray Cats. You can hear more about this moment in my personal musical journey when I kicked out the jams for my 50th.

The cassette I owned was titled Built for Speed and it came out in 1982. It had the songs I'd hear on 680 CFTR, Rock This Town and Stray Cat Srut, but I listeneed to the whole thing. I loved it.

I just listened to a podcast about the swing revival of the late 90s, peaking with the film Swingers, and they suggested swing died when The Gap started selling khakis set to Louis Prima's Jump, Jive an' Wail.

If you're of a certain age, as I am, you definitely remember this ad. The Brian Setzer Orchestra covered the song on their 1998 album The Dirty Boogie. It was a hit, and won Grammy awards.

I still listen to The Stray Cats occasionally, but I never did get into The Brian Setzer Orchestra. But Brian is still top of mind to a point where I actually referenced him Monday night when chatting with HIGHTEENS.

Rev It Up & Go.