Episode Details

Slim Jim Phantom is the Stray Cats’ drummer, host of “Slim Jim’s Rockabilly Raveup” on Little Steven’s Underground Garage and a cool-cat storyteller. He takes us through the Stray Cats’ formation, with bassist and elementary school classmate Lee Rocker and singer-guitarist Brian Setzer, and their early days as a “rockabilly bar band” playing New York clubs like CBGB before they relocated to London. The band had recorded two British albums by the time a U.S. label released the compilation Built for Speed, which, powered by the hit singles “Rock This Town” and “Stray Cat Strut,” turned the Stray Cats into unlikely early ’80s stars. Why did the band split after the follow-up album—and reunite after solo projects? What’s happening with the Stray Cats now? And who is on Phantom’s rockabilly Mount Rushmore?