   the  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 the uk, australia, canada and the u.s. including "stray cat strut", "(she's) sexy + 17", "look at that cadillac," "i won't stand in your way", "bring it back again", and "rock this town", which the rock and roll hall of fame has listed as one of the 500 most important songs in the history of rock and roll. ==history== ===formation and move to uk=== the group, whose style was based upon the sounds of sun records artists and other artists from the 1950s, were heavily influenced by eddie cochran, carl perkins, gene vincent and bill haley & his comets. the stray cats quickly developed a large following in the new york music scene playing at cbgb and max's kansas city as well as venues on long island. when the cats heard a rumor that there was a revival of the 1950s teddy boy youth subculture in england, the band moved to the uk. they then spearheaded the nascent rockabilly revival, by blending the 1950s sun studio sound with modern punk musical elements. in terms of visual style, the stray cats also blended elements of 1950 rockabilly clothes, such as wearing drape jackets, brothel creepers and western shirts with punk clothes, such as tight black zipper trousers and modern versions of 1950s hair styles. thumb|right|200px|the band playing in gijon. the band first appeared in the middle of 1979 performing under a number of names including the tomcats, the teds, and bryan and the tom cats. in 1982 they joined the rolling stones' us-tour as an opening act called "the stray cats". since 1983 they have used only "stray cats" as their name. th
American_expatriates_in_the_United_Kingdom Musical_groups_established_in_1980 Oyster_Bay_(town),_New_York People_from_Massapequa,_New_York Rock_music_groups_from_New_York Rockabilly_music_groups