25 Years of Love (part 1)

Introduction

I sat in the theatre last week, thoroughly enjoying the swing band that was performing. Jimmy Barnes' son David Campbell is very talented and entertaining, and it felt so good to hear live swing again after so long - though it would've been even nicer to have been able to dance, instead of just sitting in the plush velvet seat. When the band played "This Ole House" and threw in a guitar solo - played on a Gretsch, no less - I thought I was gonna cry. I had no idea I missed Brian Setzer so much until that moment. It got me to thinking about the old days, and I realized it's a story I really want to write. So here it is.

The Beginning

I have owned a particular t-shirt for 25 years. The shoulder seams have unraveled and the material is so thin and fragile it feels like the entire shirt could disintegrate at any moment. I've had it since I was nine years old, when it was so big on me that it went down past my butt and for some reason I wore it with jeans, untucked, with a white belt over it. For years I had a photo of myself dressed just like that, but somewhere along the way my ego would not let me keep that picture and be constantly reminded of my total lack of fashion sense. Anyway, the t-shirt has come with me everywhere I've lived, from San Diego, to Atlanta, to Harlingen, to San Diego again, to Brisbane, Dallarnil, and now Bundaberg (those last three are in Queensland, Australia, where I've lived for the past 2 and a half years.) And while I haven't worn it since I was nine (it quickly got way too small), there's no way in hell I'll ever get rid of it. It's my Stray Cats t-shirt. But the shirt isn't the subject of my 25 years of love.

That would be Brian Setzer.

I didn't know it at the time, but 1983 set the course for the rest of my life. Whenever I saw Stray Cat Strut on MTV, I was entranced. I begged my family to buy me my first ever records, Built for Speed and Rant & Rave (the Bennie and the Jets single I had didn't count). Actually, I ended up with two copies of Built For Speed- I accidentally and quite fatally scratched the first one, but couldn't bring myself to throw it away. I had no idea this music was called rockabilly, or that it had any kind of a history prior to 1983 - all I knew was that it didn't sound like anything else I heard on the radio, that it was exciting and dangerous. It had curse words! For some reason neither of my parents seemed to notice it. (I wasn't allowed to listen to Prince's "1999" album though. That seemed weird.) Unfortunately at that age I was a complete idiot and thought nothing of writing on the album covers in ink (circling some words, crossing out others) and cutting out bits and pieces of the liner notes to make collages. Argh. What was I thinking?!

With the video for Stray Cat Strut I also developed my very first crush - on Brian Setzer. I stared for hours at the photos on the album covers and liner notes, and at the "Struttin' Across America" poster above my bed, memorizing every detail of his hair, his face, his clothes - at that age I had no idea how to articulate it other than "he's SO cute!!" And again with the exciting and dangerous - that year I also was crazy about Michael Jackson (who wasn't?), but he just didn't have that same bad boy thing that Brian Setzer had.

For a few weeks around this time my mother dated a fella - I don't remember anything about him except that occasionally we'd go over to his apartment. One time I got bored while there and started digging through his record collection, only to find two Stray Cats albums I'd never seen before, Stray Cats and Gonna Ball. I was dismayed - how come I'd never seen these before? He told me they were imports. How would I ever get these records? I listened to them and stared at the pictures every time we went over to his house, and was quite sad when she stopped seeing him.

Of course as time went on the Cats poster came down, the t-shirt went into a drawer, and many other posters graced my bedroom walls - INXS, the Police, Johnny Depp... and while I never stopped liking the Stray Cats, I kind of forgot about them. I'd hear Strut or Rock This Town or Sexy + 17 on the radio occasionally and would sing along, but didn't give it a second thought. Until 1994.

The Rediscovery

In 1992 at the age of 18 I started my career in radio - I operated the console for an adult nostalgia station in San Diego called KPOP. Most of the music was pretty boring but I kind of liked the big band and swing stuff. The next year I saw a movie called "Swing Kids" and it really opened my mind to what swing music was - living, breathing, exciting music, not just some scratchy old record coming out of the speakers at the station. The dancing in the movie was amazing- I wanted to do that! At some stage I saw in the newspaper that a band called Hot Rod Lincoln played every week at Croce's in the Gaslamp- and gave swing dancing lessons before each show. I couldn't wait to turn 21.

When I did turn 21, in September of 1994, one of the very first things I did was go to Croce's with my mother and began learning to dance. Megan, a pretty girl in vintage clothes, Buzz, HRL's leader, and a big guy named Jim taught the swing dance lessons. They even played the Swing Kids soundtrack while we practiced! When the lesson was over, the band took to the stage. I found myself really digging on their music, thinking it sounded somehow familiar. Then they played a Stray Cats song. (Strut? Memphis? Can't remember, too long ago.) I screamed with delight, so loud I think I scared the band and everyone else in the club. Suddenly my childhood had just crashed into the present and my love for the Stray Cats came rushing back with great force. I was hooked from that moment on. I went dancing at Hot Rod Lincoln shows every chance I got, I bought all the Cats records on CD (including Stray Cats and Gonna Ball!) and started learning about rockabilly and rhythm and blues. I'd gotten my first tattoo at 18, flowers around my left ankle. At 21 after rediscovering the Stray Cats I got the wild cat on my right shoulder blade. I got a cat (a stray, no less) and named him Choo Choo Hot Fish - Choo Choo for short. He still lives with my mother.

While all this was going on, I learned that Brian Setzer had started an orchestra, so of course bought the CD. On first listen, I hated it. It seemed so tame compared to the excitement and danger of the Cats! But the more I listened to it, the more I liked it, until I couldn't stop listening to it. My job at the radio station afforded me the ability to learn a lot about the Bobby Darin and Nat King Cole songs on the record, and that combined with the Swing Kids movie launched my love of big band music.

Soon I learned that the Brian Setzer Orchestra would be playing at Thornton Winery in Temecula. I convinced a boy that I'd been stringing along to take me to the show, and it knocked me out. While the snobby winery crowd sat quietly through the majority of the show, I was up dancing and singing along through most of the show (god, that must've been annoying for everyone around me. I couldn't help it.) At the end I was the only one at the foot of the stage screaming and I managed to get a couple set lists, a pick and a program with Brian's picture on the cover. After the show I got to chat with one of the band members- a trombone player I think?

After the place had cleared out and we were about to get in the car and drive home, I noticed a big silver Cadillac parked near the venue's side door. I convinced the poor long suffering sap to wait to see what happened, whether that was Brian's car. Before long Brian and a few others walked out, and I said, "I have to go meet him." The sap waited in the car.

As I walked towards the Caddy, someone (I think it was Niels or Jerry) said, "sorry, we have to go." But Brian said, "hang on a second. I saw you out there sweetheart, how're you doing?" I have no idea what I said to him, but I know I was on cloud 9. Sweetheart! I asked him to sign my program, for which he used my back as a writing surface, and had the presence of mind to tell him about my tattoo. I tried to manouver the blouse to show it to him, and he grabbed the neckline of the shirt and pulled on it to have a look at the ink. I remember thinking "wow, Brian Setzer is looking down the back of my blouse right now!" Afterwards I said, "now you have to show me yours," and he grinned and said sure. He took off his jacket and lifted up his sleeve and I put my fingers on his tattoo, as if touching the original wild cat would somehow do or mean something. I gave him a hug and he gave me a kiss and I thanked him and started walking to the car where my poor sap of a date was waiting. I turned to look back and saw a crowd of people converging on the Caddy and Brian's blond head ducking into the car just in time. I realized what a precious five minutes I'd spent alone with Brian Setzer.

to be continued...

The In Crowd

With my lifestyle changing so quickly and me wanting to go out dancing four nights a week, the sap pretty quickly got left behind. I met a cute rockabilly boy at the HRL shows and before long we were a couple. He had the whole exciting and dangerous thing going for him, and I fell for it hook line and sinker. Damn you Brian. He turned out to be a terrible boyfriend. Of course, he loved the Stray Cats and Setzer too, and we went to the BSO shows every chance we got. We'd become friends with HRL, and went to their shows every week. One night Buzz came in as we were settling in for the night and said to us conspiratorially, "Brian Setzer is coming to the show tonight. He's in town to buy a car. I wanted to let you know so you guys are ready for it and don't freak out or anything. Save him a couple seats with you, okay?" Uh, okay! Was this for real?? Before long, Brian and Christine did indeed come in. The bar was packed, but I don't think many people realized who had just walked in. Buzz led him to our table and made the introductions, and we found ourselves spending the entire evening with Brian Setzer. We chatted the whole time, about cars and music and acting (the boyfriend was a drummer and an aspiring actor). Brian and the boyfriend shared a beer, and Brian took a couple drags off the boyfriend's Lucky Strike cigarette (the butt of which he may well still own). Brian and I danced a couple songs, and I kept thinking, "is this really happening?" Through the course of the night Brian and the boyfriend both sat in with HRL, and when Brian was onstage the boyfriend and I would dance. Later in the evening when Brian was asking for requests, I shouted out "Fishnet Stockings!," my favorite Cats song at the time. He turned to the band and said "do you guys even know that song?" Of course! And away they went. I couldn't believe it, Brian Setzer was playing songs because I asked for them!

People had finally realized the Stray Cat was in the house, and lots of folks came up to talk to him. He was kind and friendly to every single one, even the drunk annoying guy who wanted to ask him over and over again about "Crazy Mixed Up Kid." It was one hell of a night, and of course we had no intention of leaving the club before Brian did. By end of the last set he bar was very nearly empty, but Brian was still amped. He'd turn to my boyfriend and say, "let's go fan the band!" They'd run over to the stage and take off their shirts and wave them at the band, telling them how on fire they were. It was undoubtedly one of the best shows Hot Rod Lincoln ever put on, with feedback like that from the Stray Cat. When they finally kicked us out and Brian and Christine went home with Buzz, we stood in the parking lot for probably a half hour and relived the entire thing, with lots of wide grins and "oh my god! Can you believe that just happened?!" We were walking on air for days.

At night, the boyfriend and I would go to sleep with the local smooth jazz radio station tuned in. One morning as we were waking up, we heard the DJ mention that Brian Setzer was in the studio this morning. That was all we needed to hear to leap out of bed and quickly dress and haul ass to the station. We flew up the stairs and asked if he was still here, only to be told he just left. We ran back down to the parking lot just in time to see his SUV pulling out. They stopped for us. "Hey, what're you doing here - you guys listen to this station?!" Brian asked. We explained it was great for going to sleep! We chatted for a couple minutes, then said our goodbyes. As we were about to pull out, Niels walked over to the car and said, "do you guys have any plans tomorrow night? We have to do this record industry party and Brian wanted to know if you want to come." We were gobsmacked. Yes, of course we'll be there! It was a crowded party and Brian was much in demand so we didn't have much chance to chat with him, but we were totally thrilled to have been invited. It got to the point where every time we saw his show, we'd dance at the front of the crowd, he'd smile and wave and chat with us when he could, hugs and handshakes all 'round. I don't think he knew our names, but we felt like part of the "in crowd."

As usually happens with relationships started in bars, the relationship with the rockabilly boy fell apart. All along I'd still been working at the radio station, which ended up being part of a cluster of stations. I was doing commercial production for 91X and three other stations by this time, and had just started a 2 hour show every Saturday night on KPOP - I called it Jump Jive an' Wail, and I played big band, swing, rockabilly, western swing, jump blues, you name it. I was really lucky during the course of doing the radio show to have the chance to meet and interview Keely Smith, Sam Butera, James Darren, and all the new swing bands when they came into town- I couldn't have asked for a better job, and I couldn't believe they paid me for it. While I didn't go out dancing very often any more, I still went to BSO shows every chance I got, and once when Brian played "Bud Bowl" in the Gaslamp Quarter in 1998, I had a chance to chat with him and told him I had just started a show called Jump Jive an' Wail. He said that was really cool. Next thing I know, Dirty Boogie comes out, and the song Jump Jive an' Wail is on it! I couldn't help but wonder about that...

By this time in mid 1998, I'd begun an internet romance with a handsome Australian named Dean. Two months after we'd met online, he visited the states to meet me in person and it was absolutely love at first site. We got engaged, but he had to go back to Australia for four months to quit his job and pack up his life before moving to California to marry me. While he was away I kept doing my radio show, while planning a vintage wedding with a our local 10 piece big band, Big Time Operator, as the reception entertainment.

When I heard that the BSO would be coming in to 91X one morning - all 17 of them - to play live, I made sure I was ready, and alerted mom to be at the station for it too. Dressed in my favorite vintage style dress and with my hair all done up like nobody in our office had ever seen, I walked down the hall towards the studio just as Brian was walking towards the studio from the opposite direction. He looked tired, like he'd been working nonstop. But his eyes lit up when he saw me and he gave me a big hug and kiss and said "what are you doing here?" I told him I worked here, and that I certainly wasn't going to miss this. My coworkers were all confounded, why did I seem to have such a friendly relationship with Brian Setzer? I think I grinned from ear to ear the entire day. The performance was quite entertaining, only Brian could fit in the tiny studio and the big band had to trail all the way down the hallway, rocking the roof off of our office building. It was so cool. As they packed up to leave, I asked Brian if it'd be possible to get him into one of our production studios for just 5 minutes to record a quick interview for my show. He said of course. As we walked down the hall to the production studio, Jerry stopped him and said "we have to go," and he said, "just hang on, I want to do this interview." I thought my heart would burst out of my chest.

I had typed up some questions the night before on the off chance that I was able to interview him, with the giant heading "BRIAN F***ING SETZER!!!!" just in case I forgot who I was talking to. I was nervous and it was probably the worst interview I've ever done (it required heavy editing afterwards to make me sound coherent in some spots), and he was obviously very tired, but extremely accommodating. I think back now and realize how incredibly giving he was of his time, all the time. I asked him about having been doing the big band for a few years now and how the audience received it. His answer started with, "well you and me, we've been into this stuff for a long time..." My grin was a mile wide. I also teased him about doing JJ&W after I'd told him that's what I had named my radio show, and he remembered the conversation. He started talking about recording the song, and at one point actually sang "jump jive an'... then you wail!" in the middle of a sentence. More grinning from me. At the end of the interview he obliged me by recording a liner for me. I'd written, "hey this is Brian Setzer. You're listening to the swingingest show on the electric radio, Jump Jive an' Wail with Andi, on AM 1360 K-POP." What he actually said was, "hey this is Brian Setzer, of the Brian Setzer Orchestra...." I thought it was cute that he felt the need to specify that! I produced the liner afterwards and threw in the bit where he sang "Jump Jive an' Wail" a cappella. It was a one of a kind recording, and I played it on my show every chance I got. As we wrapped up the interview, I asked if it'd be okay if my mother took a picture of us - after all this time, it would be the first one I had. My grin looks absolutely enormous in the photo, but I have to say, he looks pretty happy too. My mother mentioned the fact that I was getting married in November, and would he be able to make it to the wedding? First he asked if I was marrying that guy.... no, no no! Different guy! Much better guy!Brian seemed to genuinely want to come, and asked the date. He looked to Niels, was he available? No, sadly, he was busy. Ah well.

Not long after that, I got an email from Niels. He was going to be getting married, and could I recommend a local swing band that might be able to play his wedding? Of course, Brian would want to sit in with them. I ended up giving him a couple different names and he went with one of my suggestions. I secretly hoped to be invited to the wedding but that didn't materialize! I was pretty impressed that Brian's manager was asking me for wedding band advice, and hoped desperately that the band did a good job. I followed up with Niels afterwards and congratulated him and asked him how it went, and he said they were great. Whew! Can't even remember the name of the band now.

End of an era

I had the opportunity to meet up with Brian a few more times after that, and was finally able to introduce Brian to my loving husband at one show that Dean and I attended with Alex, the cohost of my radio show (which had morphed into a six hour weekend extravaganza called "Jumpin' Like Mad.") Alex was pretty stoked to meet the Cat too, and Dean was happy to take a photo of the three of us. That was probably 7 years ago, and that was the last time I got to talk to Brian Setzer.

Dean and I left San Diego for Atlanta, then eventually Australia, and life has changed significantly since those days. Heavier, older, a bit more heavily tattooed (no other rockabilly tats though, other than a nautical star on my right bicep), dabbling in photography and running a nonprofit sustainability organization that keeps us way too busy to dress to the nines and go out dancing. We now have two dogs, sisters named Rhythm and Blues. In 2006 we had to do a quick trip back to the states that just happened to coincide with Hootenanny, so we went along and I got some excellent photos of James Intveld, The Living End, Lee Rocker and my old friend Buzz Campbell. Some of the photos are online here, and there are more on Lee's site. It was good to roll up the jeans and put on the makeup again, like an old friend. As when I was a kid, my musical tastes have wandered, but they always come back to their roots in the Stray Cats, rockabilly, swing...

Way back when I got my wild cat tattoo, my dad asked, "what if one day Brian Setzer kills somebody or something crazy like that? How are you going to feel about having that on your back?" I pointed out to him that the tattoo was much more than just because I liked Brian Setzer. Setzer and his music had shaped my love of music, my career, my entire life. If anything had happened any differently, I wouldn't be who I am today. My cat tattoo marks the beginning of me becoming me. Plus, are you kidding me? Kill someone?! Come on!

So the tiny, ratty old Stray Cats shirt will continue with me no matter where I roam. Though those old scribbled on albums are gone, I still have the music and still listen to it every so often, and find myself missing it if I go too long without hearing it. Sometimes I put on one of the CDs and get Dean to dance with me in the living room. It's a cozy, familiar relationship: it's been 25 years, and me and Brian, we're still going strong.

Hey A, very well written; one can tell it's from the heart...thanks for sharing!!

Well Andi, let me first say, welcome to the board, and then damn woman, you know how to make an entrance!

Thank you so much for sharing that story with us, its fabulous! And it really shows just how great Brian is with his fans. He's just amazing.



P.S. Hey Rickabilly, I think she gives you a run for your money!

Thanks for the welcome- sorry, guess I should have said hello before just spilling my guts and taking so long to do it! I've been here before in the forum's previous incarnations, but I've never been a regular. Good to see my old friend Ross is still around.

I figured this is the only place where anyone will actually appreciate that story, I hope nobody minds me telling it!

Welcome! We are ready for part 3.

Welcome, Andi! Masterful storytelling indeed! Well done, you!

It appears that Andi and I enjoy writing. The main difference between her novellas and my dissertations is that her stories are actually engaging every step of the way, while mine have actually been studied by the American Medical Association as a possible cure for insomnia.




Looking forward to reading more,

Writer's Block-a-billy

That was great, Thanks!

Hey Andi,
welcome to the board.
Great story,well written.
Cheers
Steve

Hey Andi WELCOME!!! and THANKS!!!
I wish I could put things in words as well as you?
If I typed that much in one go,It would take so long "I would be tripping over my beard"
All the best
Carbon Cat UK

Thanks all! Sidelakebob, unfortunately there is no part three- at least not now. Dean and I are planning on doing some traveling between now and the end of the year, we'll see where it takes us. I have to admit, I wouldn't mind being in London on my birthday (Sept 10) or heck, even go home and see friends and family in California in July.... Dean and I have a bunch of planning and decision making to do, so stay tuned, there may yet be a part 3.

And I do enjoy writing, very much. I haven't had much opportunity to do it in the last year or so, so I guess this week has been making up for it! Glad you all enjoyed. I enjoyed writing it, but I enjoyed living it more

Ooh! Remembered the band that played Niels' wedding. Zoot Suit Revue. And they're still together, apparently!

Ooh great story Andi! And WELCOME ABOARD!! Yay, another Queenslander!


Kid.

Hey Andi,
Welcome aboard, get ready for quite a ride!
I understand how ya feel, I've kept the t-shirts from the Cats Aussie tour and would never part with them. When 1 of them fell apart, I cut out the front and back and framed them.
The others went straight out the shed, as our friends from the Castle would say! They're a reminder of the great times I had when I was a Crazy Mixed Up KId!!
Good to see an another Aussie, cheers Pete.

Andi,
Wonderful. Thanks for that. I'd give you a hug if you were here.

All the best from Philly,
Tommy

rickabilly wrote:

Welcome, Andi! Masterful storytelling indeed! Well done, you!

It appears that Andi and I enjoy writing. The main difference between her novellas and my dissertations is that her stories are actually engaging every step of the way, while mine have actually been studied by the American Medical Association as a possible cure for insomnia.




Looking forward to reading more,

Writer's Block-a-billy

Pish tosh, R-abilly! Your stories are great!

Welcome aboard Andi! Looks like Rickabilly has finally met his match! I can't wait to see what you two cook up.

Thanks all- and thanks especially Tommy, I'd like that hug. Maybe soon our paths will finally cross, I can't believe we haven't met in all these years!

Never know what the future holds Andi! Ya never know....

Have a great weekend!
Tommy

i was having a really rough day today (teaching kindergarten at the end of the school year is not fun ) ... and when i took a break at lunch today to read that, it really left me very happy. Thanks for sharing your lovely story with us all. It was a pleasure to read, and very much lifted my spirits!!!
nice to meet you!!!

C

Awww, thanks Chillicat!! Glad to hear it cheered you up! I've actually been reading it through a few times myself, grinning like an idiot the whole time

Welcome and Thank You Usually I am done by the third line but I stuck with you the whole way. As a teen runaway and being homeless for years I drew my comfort and Identification from the rockabilly scene in L.A. from 1979 0n It is nice to hear someone elses story There are so many things in life that define who we are and Music is one of those things. Now ive been married for 20 years and raised 2 I kids Love my Wife my Kids my 55' and my Gretsch............................. I want to chime in Thanks Brian, Slim and Lee for all the years

Any one else ?

Hey Andi,

It's great to hear from you again! It's been a while. I hope all is good for you, Dean and the dogs (kids that is). I got married a second time to Jessica and we have been married for 8 years on June 24. Jessica is the best!

I remember going to the BSO at Bud Bowl with you and Jan in 1998, that was a great show. Unfortuenatley that was just before my life change with the first phycho bitch from hell, I mean wife. That was a nightmare of a year, but I made it back alive and better than ever.

I have 3 dogs, Cricket, Lucy and Bandit, they are minature Dachshunds.

Thank you for being my friend.

Have A Gretsch Day !

Ross

Hey Ross, good to hear from you- it's been a long while since we traded emails! I remember you sent me pics of your family some time ago. Them pups are cute! My girls have a gallery dedicated to them here. Glad to hear you and Jessica are still going strong- Dean and I celebrate 10 years of marriage in November. Man, time flies!

I was sitting here last night looking at Setzer's discography and realized I've missed a lot in the last several years that I've been out of So Cal. I bought Ignition and Rockabilly Riot and I was given Dig That Crazy Christmas *after* Christmas last year, so I haven't even opened it yet (was sick of Christmas music by that stage!) - but that's it. I got a copy of Vavoom when I was still doing my radio show and ended up giving it away to a listener- so aside from the three mentioned above, I don't have any of his other most recent works - and I don't have any DVDs or videos at all (remember those vids you gave me years and years ago, Ross? I lent them to a "friend" and they magically vanished. As did the friend. I hate that. Guess it doesn't matter much now, where I live NTSC VHS doesn't work!) I feel so out of the loop! I best start saving up

I listened to Choo Choo Hot Fish, Live Nude Guitars, the Brian Setzer Orchestra, Dirty Boogie and Guitarslinger all day yesterday- wooooow, that's some damn fine music!

one thing is a given: wherever you go and whatever you do, you *shine*, Andi! You have the photographer's eye, whether you are actually shooting through a lens or firing off words with passion and precision. You had told me some of these stories, but others are entirely new. Thank you!

Like Ross, I do remember being at the Bud Bowl (as your guest...thank you again!). Not that orchestra is not fantastic now, but seeing them in those early days held a certain sort of a magic. It was like falling in love for the very first time.....heady, gob-smacked, blind-sided (and blinding!) love. The very first time I heard them play (at The Strand in Redondo Beach, Ca), I got goose-bumps. I remember walking down the street after the show, too excited to get in my car and drive home. And I *cried*, right there on the street. It was all just so wonderfully overwhelming and unexpected that it just did me in.

I am so looking forward to seeing you and Dean again. I think a little Blue Cafe is in order. And don't worry too much over those vids that you lost: Ross was kind enough to send a lot of those tapes to me, as well, and I still have a great many of them. So, my tape is *your* tape, mi amiga!



see you soon!

jan

andi wrote:

Introduction

I sat in the theatre last week, thoroughly enjoying the swing band that was performing. Jimmy Barnes' son David Campbell is very talented and entertaining, and it felt so good to hear live swing again after so long - though it would've been even nicer to have been able to dance, instead of just sitting in the plush velvet seat. When the band played "This Ole House" and threw in a guitar solo - played on a Gretsch, no less - I thought I was gonna cry. I had no idea I missed Brian Setzer so much until that moment. It got me to thinking about the old days, and I realized it's a story I really want to write. So here it is.

The Beginning

I have owned a particular t-shirt for 25 years. The shoulder seams have unraveled and the material is so thin and fragile it feels like the entire shirt could disintegrate at any moment. I've had it since I was nine years old, when it was so big on me that it went down past my butt and for some reason I wore it with jeans, untucked, with a white belt over it. For years I had a photo of myself dressed just like that, but somewhere along the way my ego would not let me keep that picture and be constantly reminded of my total lack of fashion sense. Anyway, the t-shirt has come with me everywhere I've lived, from San Diego, to Atlanta, to Harlingen, to San Diego again, to Brisbane, Dallarnil, and now Bundaberg (those last three are in Queensland, Australia, where I've lived for the past 2 and a half years.) And while I haven't worn it since I was nine (it quickly got way too small), there's no way in hell I'll ever get rid of it. It's my Stray Cats t-shirt. But the shirt isn't the subject of my 25 years of love.

That would be Brian Setzer.

I didn't know it at the time, but 1983 set the course for the rest of my life. Whenever I saw Stray Cat Strut on MTV, I was entranced. I begged my family to buy me my first ever records, Built for Speed and Rant & Rave (the Bennie and the Jets single I had didn't count). Actually, I ended up with two copies of Built For Speed- I accidentally and quite fatally scratched the first one, but couldn't bring myself to throw it away. I had no idea this music was called rockabilly, or that it had any kind of a history prior to 1983 - all I knew was that it didn't sound like anything else I heard on the radio, that it was exciting and dangerous. It had curse words! For some reason neither of my parents seemed to notice it. (I wasn't allowed to listen to Prince's "1999" album though. That seemed weird.) Unfortunately at that age I was a complete idiot and thought nothing of writing on the album covers in ink (circling some words, crossing out others) and cutting out bits and pieces of the liner notes to make collages. Argh. What was I thinking?!

With the video for Stray Cat Strut I also developed my very first crush - on Brian Setzer. I stared for hours at the photos on the album covers and liner notes, and at the "Struttin' Across America" poster above my bed, memorizing every detail of his hair, his face, his clothes - at that age I had no idea how to articulate it other than "he's SO cute!!" And again with the exciting and dangerous - that year I also was crazy about Michael Jackson (who wasn't?), but he just didn't have that same bad boy thing that Brian Setzer had.

For a few weeks around this time my mother dated a fella - I don't remember anything about him except that occasionally we'd go over to his apartment. One time I got bored while there and started digging through his record collection, only to find two Stray Cats albums I'd never seen before, Stray Cats and Gonna Ball. I was dismayed - how come I'd never seen these before? He told me they were imports. How would I ever get these records? I listened to them and stared at the pictures every time we went over to his house, and was quite sad when she stopped seeing him.

Of course as time went on the Cats poster came down, the t-shirt went into a drawer, and many other posters graced my bedroom walls - INXS, the Police, Johnny Depp... and while I never stopped liking the Stray Cats, I kind of forgot about them. I'd hear Strut or Rock This Town or Sexy + 17 on the radio occasionally and would sing along, but didn't give it a second thought. Until 1994.

The Rediscovery

In 1992 at the age of 18 I started my career in radio - I operated the console for an adult nostalgia station in San Diego called KPOP. Most of the music was pretty boring but I kind of liked the big band and swing stuff. The next year I saw a movie called "Swing Kids" and it really opened my mind to what swing music was - living, breathing, exciting music, not just some scratchy old record coming out of the speakers at the station. The dancing in the movie was amazing- I wanted to do that! At some stage I saw in the newspaper that a band called Hot Rod Lincoln played every week at Croce's in the Gaslamp- and gave swing dancing lessons before each show. I couldn't wait to turn 21.

When I did turn 21, in September of 1994, one of the very first things I did was go to Croce's with my mother and began learning to dance. Megan, a pretty girl in vintage clothes, Buzz, HRL's leader, and a big guy named Jim taught the swing dance lessons. They even played the Swing Kids soundtrack while we practiced! When the lesson was over, the band took to the stage. I found myself really digging on their music, thinking it sounded somehow familiar. Then they played a Stray Cats song. (Strut? Memphis? Can't remember, too long ago.) I screamed with delight, so loud I think I scared the band and everyone else in the club. Suddenly my childhood had just crashed into the present and my love for the Stray Cats came rushing back with great force. I was hooked from that moment on. I went dancing at Hot Rod Lincoln shows every chance I got, I bought all the Cats records on CD (including Stray Cats and Gonna Ball!) and started learning about rockabilly and rhythm and blues. I'd gotten my first tattoo at 18, flowers around my left ankle. At 21 after rediscovering the Stray Cats I got the wild cat on my right shoulder blade. I got a cat (a stray, no less) and named him Choo Choo Hot Fish - Choo Choo for short. He still lives with my mother.

While all this was going on, I learned that Brian Setzer had started an orchestra, so of course bought the CD. On first listen, I hated it. It seemed so tame compared to the excitement and danger of the Cats! But the more I listened to it, the more I liked it, until I couldn't stop listening to it. My job at the radio station afforded me the ability to learn a lot about the Bobby Darin and Nat King Cole songs on the record, and that combined with the Swing Kids movie launched my love of big band music.

Soon I learned that the Brian Setzer Orchestra would be playing at Thornton Winery in Temecula. I convinced a boy that I'd been stringing along to take me to the show, and it knocked me out. While the snobby winery crowd sat quietly through the majority of the show, I was up dancing and singing along through most of the show (god, that must've been annoying for everyone around me. I couldn't help it.) At the end I was the only one at the foot of the stage screaming and I managed to get a couple set lists, a pick and a program with Brian's picture on the cover. After the show I got to chat with one of the band members- a trombone player I think?

After the place had cleared out and we were about to get in the car and drive home, I noticed a big silver Cadillac parked near the venue's side door. I convinced the poor long suffering sap to wait to see what happened, whether that was Brian's car. Before long Brian and a few others walked out, and I said, "I have to go meet him." The sap waited in the car.

As I walked towards the Caddy, someone (I think it was Niels or Jerry) said, "sorry, we have to go." But Brian said, "hang on a second. I saw you out there sweetheart, how're you doing?" I have no idea what I said to him, but I know I was on cloud 9. Sweetheart! I asked him to sign my program, for which he used my back as a writing surface, and had the presence of mind to tell him about my tattoo. I tried to manouver the blouse to show it to him, and he grabbed the neckline of the shirt and pulled on it to have a look at the ink. I remember thinking "wow, Brian Setzer is looking down the back of my blouse right now!" Afterwards I said, "now you have to show me yours," and he grinned and said sure. He took off his jacket and lifted up his sleeve and I put my fingers on his tattoo, as if touching the original wild cat would somehow do or mean something. I gave him a hug and he gave me a kiss and I thanked him and started walking to the car where my poor sap of a date was waiting. I turned to look back and saw a crowd of people converging on the Caddy and Brian's blond head ducking into the car just in time. I realized what a precious five minutes I'd spent alone with Brian Setzer.

to be continued...

To me, this is waht life's all about. GREAT story and so well composed. Let me know when the book is published, and send me a copy. ( cue tommy - I have the artwork for the cover, now where's the goddamn book dude - lol) Mikey xx