Rock This Town

The Dirty Boogie; The Brian Setzer Orchestra; Brian Setzer, guitar and vocals

I remember hearing “Rock This Town” by the Stray Cats during my high school years. They played it a lot in the gym during noon. I didn’t think much of the song then; not my style. But I’ve warmed to it over the years. There’s a lot of excitement there.

But that ain’t nothin’ compared to the hip and crazy meter reading you get from the version that Brian Setzer and his orchestra put out on "The Dirty Boogie". If the Stray Cats were in third gear with this song in the 80’s, Setzer has revved it up to sixth gear for this recording and then kicks it into overdrive before they call it a party at the end.

I really dig the retro aspect. “This Old House” reminds me of Rosemary Clooney. Santo and Johnny’s “Sleep Walk”, a steel-guitar instrumental from 1959, certainly influenced an inspired performance on this CD. Mr. Setzer received a Grammy Award in 1998 for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for it.

Brian Setzer’s take on “Jump, Jive ‘n Wail” gets its cue from the chart by Louis Prima, Keely Smith and Sam Butera. Of course, Sam Butera played this song many times during my tenure with his band. Setzer plays it practically note for note from Louis and Sam's version.

Sometimes, Sam’s regular trumpet player, F., couldn’t make it to one of our jobs. So, the trumpet player who had the job before F., K., filled in. Interestingly enough, K. plays trumpet with Brian Setzer’s band.

In season five of “The Nanny”, Brian Setzer and his orchestra make an appearance on episode three called “The Bobbie Flekman Story”. K. gets a speaking part. You can see him checking out the food here.

Credits: To Brian Setzer, for making music BIG.