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On this day, 26 November 1980, American rockabilly band Stray Cats, played Cardiff’s Casablanca Club.
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 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. According to Brian Setzer, the band changed names to fool club owners (who would not hire the same band for consecutive nights), but kept the "Cats" moniker in their various names so the audience would know they were the same band. Setzer joined up with Phantom, and they soon added Phantom's schoolmate and friend, Lee Rocker.
In the middle of 1980, the Cats found themselves being courted by record labels including Virgin Records, Stiff Records, and Arista Records. Word quickly spread and soon members of The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Led Zeppelin were at their shows.
After a gig in London, Stray Cats met Cardiff-born musician and producer Dave Edmunds, well known as a roots rock enthusiast for his work with Rockpile and as a solo artist.
Edmunds offered to work with the group, and they entered the studio to record their self-titled debut album, Stray Cats, released in Britain in 1981 on Arista Records.
