From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Wed Apr 10, 2002  1:15 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Brian Setzer
 
BRIAN SETZER (By Shaun Mather)

Born 10 April 1959, Masapequah, New York

When the Stray Cats burst onto the scene in 1980, you could have been
forgiven for thinking that they were all quiffs and image and no substance.
The reality is that you couldn't have been farther from the truth. They
were, in fact, a breath of fresh air to rockabilly music, writing their own
contemporary songs and playing them with no shortage of quality. Setzer's
guitar playing is a brilliant mix of the old and new, influenced and
influential. Not only was he a major player in the chart resurgence of
rockabilly in the '80s, the following decade he helped bring swing music
back to the public's consciousness.
The Stray Cats had formed in New York and moved to England, taking the
charts by storm with their self-written top ten hits, Runaway Boys, Rock
This Town and Stray Cat Strut. Back in the States they broke through with
Built For Speed, an amalgam of their first two European albums plus the title
track. When the band split Setzer recorded a couple of rock albums before
turning his hand to swing. He's picked up a couple of Grammy's with his
Brian Setzer Orchestra, a powerhouse 17-piece ensemble whose brass section
chimes in behind his growling Gretsch. 2001 saw him return to rockabilly
with Brian Setzer's 68 Comeback Special, a no holds barred thrash.

Recommended listening:
Most Stray Cats albums.
Brian Setzer Orchestra (The Dirty Boogie/Vavoom!)
Brian Setzer's 68 Comeback Special - Ignition!
Recommended viewing:
http://www.rockabillyhall.com
http://www.briansetzer.com/index.html