Brian Setzer

During the late '70s, before he formed the Stray Cats and moved to England, Brian Setzer was playing with two separate bands in New York City. One was the Bloodless Pharaohs. The other was the Tom Cats, a rockabilly revival group that featured his brother Gary on drums and bassist Bob Beecher. The Tom Cats played a number of rockabilly covers, both familiar and obscure, as well as originals in the spirit of Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins and Gene Vincent. The group never released a record but were fixtures at the New York club T.K.'s until their break-up in 1980. Several of their performances at T.K.'s in 1980 were recorded and in 1997, Collectables Records took the unprecedented -- and, frankly, a little bewildering -- step of simultaneously releasing these recordings as seven separate discs in November of 1997. Each disc is nearly identical to each other, containing the same style of music and, many times, similiar set lists. All Shook Up is the first of the series, containing 10 songs including "I Don't Care if the Sun Don't Shine," "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Maybe Baby," "Twenty Flight Rock" and, most interesting of all, an early version of "Rock This Town." It's an entertaining, high-energy set, but only devoted Setzer fans will need to seek it out. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide