tribute to the Stray Cats

VARIOUS ARTISTS- Go Cat Go!
- A Tribute To Stray Cats (2006)

01. Cry Baby - The Phenomenauts
02. Fishnet Stockings - Mad Marge & The Stonecutters
03. Stray Cat Strut - Reel Big Fish
04. Rumble In Brighton - Shark Soup
05. Bring It Back Again - Os Catalepticos
06. Something's Wrong With My Radio - G-String
07. TRunaway Boys - he Rezurex
08. Ubangi Stomp - Batmobile
09. Lust'N'Love - The Irish Brothers
10. 9 Lives - The Koffin Kats
11. Storm The Embassy - The Rocketz
12. (He's) Sexy + 17 - Thee Merry Widows
13. Let's Go Faster - The Astounding Roy Gorbisons
14. Blast Off - The Hellbillys
15. Baby Blue Eyes - The Phantom Rockers

It can be argued that the Stray Cats were both ahead of their time and behind the times. Mixing '50s nostalgia with punk rebellion helped the band establish a unique niche in American music during the '80s. Go Cat Go! A Tribute to Stray Cats showcases a wild collection of today's most popular psychobilly bands - Reel Big Fish, Koffin Kats, Batmobile, The Roketz, Mad Sin and more - truly an international effort meant to pay tribute to a band that left a genuine mark on the world of rock 'n' roll: the Stray Cats! A powerhouse lineup of artists pay tribute to the best neo-rockabilly band of all time...and it's done with slick style and a bad attitude. Destined to be the psychobilly record of 2006.

http://rapidshare.com/files/138962698/VAGoCaGoATributeToStrayCats2006.rar
password: zinhof

I never heard this cd and I've always been curious about it. Thanks Laurent for giving the possibility to get the answer.
And I agree with all you wrote about the Cats.

FrenchyCat

I bought this CD a couple of years ago and it almost got tossed out the car window on the way home!!! Needless to say, I didn't care for it very much... I'll stick to the originals!!

Most of them are harder, faster, (and in a lot of cases sung out of tune), but most of the interpretations aren't that interesting. I like Fishnet Stockings and Sexy + 17 sung by women- that's pretty cool. The kinda ska Stray Cat Strut isn't too bad, but it lacks the vocal finesse that song needs. Synthesizer on Cry Baby? Ew. And is that Fred Schneider from the B52s singing Runaway Boys?

Huh. I really wanted to like this!

I think a tribute to the Cats would be much cooler if it was made by normal rock/pop artists.
Of course it would no longer be Rockabilly, but it would be interesting to hear, how normal artists would interpret those songs.


Greetings from Munich
Chris

I remembering listening to it, and thinkin' "holy shit this is really bad". Some good bands playing on the album, but it did no do the job to me. Setzer songs is a lot more than just playing fast. Would have been a lot more interesting to me listening to bands like Go Getters, Build For Speed, Nekromantix, Darrel Higham ect.

Rasmussen wrote:

I remembering listening to it, and thinkin' "holy shit this is really bad". Some good bands playing on the album, but it did no do the job to me. Setzer songs is a lot more than just playing fast. Would have been a lot more interesting to me listening to bands like Go Getters, Build For Speed, Nekromantix, Darrel Higham ect.

Well, we (Built For Speed) used to do LOTS of Stray Cats/Setzer songs in "the old days" , so we'd definitely like to be on a comp like this... (Taggy Tones ought to be on it as well, Jess! ) Never heard that tribute CD, except from a few tracks, so I really don't know what to think about it...


Anders

Well.... I never heard it before and .... I will never again
The idea of a tribute is great because Stray Cats is so far the best band in its kind of music. But I have to admit I'm disappointed by almost all the songs. An album to forget, really ...

FrenchyCat

Whats the point?
There's no way that they can improve on the original versions!

For those that haven't heard it you can listen to samples up on Amazon: Amazon - Go Cat Go

It`s ok, and sometimes not so bad.
It might be not my favorite album for the year, but it is ok just for entertainment.

Thanks for posting that laurent -always interesting to hear new rockabilly stuff.

Most tribute CDs that pay tribute to a single artist or group fall flat when considering the album as a whole. Fans of the artists being covered are the album's toughest critics, but are usually satisfied if at least a couple of worthy songs come out of the project. Fans of a band that's contributing a song will also buy these tributes, as sometimes it's the only way to get that rare cover song.

I am actually amused by the extremely psycho version of Bring It Back Again. It reminds me of the Dead Kennedys song "Nazi Punks." However, I am also let down by the lack of musicianship on many of the tracks. The cover art saves the album for me, though. And the music is at least as good (or bad) as a previous Stray Cats tribute album from a few years before, "Homenaje a Stray Cats"



01. Double Talking Baby - Carlos Segarra & Rockabilly Club
02. Too Hip Gotta Go - General Lee
03. I Wanna Cry - Correcaminos
04. Can't Hurry Love - Lonely Cats
05. Lonely Summer Nights - Gatos Locos
06. Built For Speed - Crazy Legs
07. Rockin' All Over The Place - Correcaminos
08. Stray Cat Strut - Sastreria Andres
09. Cry Baby - Massapequa Trio
10. Rock This Town - Hellbilly Club
11. Nine Lives - Dixie Rock Band
12. Lust 'n Love - Lucky Dados
13. Double Talkin' Baby - General Lee
14. Gina - Massapequa Trio
15. Let's Go Faster - Pink Cats
16. Rebels Rule - Hellbilly Club

You'll notice "Double Talkin' Baby" is on there twice - which is funny because it should be more closely associated with Gene Vincent than Stray Cats, and "You Can't Hurry Love" is another cover of a cover. The Stray Cats had a number of great "originals" and covers of lesser known tunes like "Gina," but they are a great cover band themselves, so they don't seem like an obvious choice for a tribute album.

I own quite a few tribute albums, and the ones that are most rewarding to me are the ones where bands take a chance and reinvent a song. It may be horrible, but it could be very interesting as well. If I bought the tribute album, then I most likely have the original version to listen to any time I want. I don't think anyone buys these sorts of things with the expectation that they'll surpass or even come close to matching the original versions.

Two tribute albums I really enjoy are the "If I Were a Carpenter" tribute to The Carpenters, and "Kiss My Ass - Classic Kiss Regrooved." I'm a sucker for these sorts of projects - I probably have 100 or more discs of Beatles-related covers, most of which are crap, but some are quite good. And the crap ones are entertaining in their own right. So if you know of any really good tribute projects, I'd love to hear about them.

Top of the World-a-billy

Hei Anders,

Sorry about the D, sometimes I'm writing without my brain turned on

And in general, tribute albums can be great, and if the artist does something new to the stuff it's fantastic (if it works of cause). I did a Elvis tribute album in 1996 with Taggy Tones that I'm not to proud of
Some of the Johnny Cash tributes are fantastic, and a few of the Elvis' ones worked good as well

there is something about hearing those songs performed by other bands that feels just..wrong.

These bands are obviously talented, but it just dosent feel right,
.

Rick - was expecting a download link there at end after whetting appetite for the mex style cats tribute -none forthcoming though!!

re tributes Union Avenue are interesting -they do rock/punk covers as if recorded by Johnny Cash in the 50's -most work brilliantly well.

Ah, Youtube has spoiled us! I don't do a lot of downloading, so I don't know if this album (the second one mentioned - Homenaje a Stray Cats) is even out there. Although I would approve of this album being put up on the net so you could save your money. Most, if not all of the bands on here hail from Spain. And it's not as if all of them are horrible, but their attempts include lousy intonation, missed lyrics, and for the most part, they offer nothing new to the songs.


Yawn-a-billy

just played the go cat go album -I actually quite liked it!!! I think it's just cos i've heard the Cats' versions so many times that the newness is a bit of a change!

By the way if anyone's interested there was a band called Go Cat Go who were one of the very best rockabilly bands of fairly recent years -worth checking out.

i´m in love with the picture on the cover !

perhaps i´ll get it as a tattoo on my right arm !

I have downloaded the Stray Cat Strut track from Reel Big Fish from this album, mainly for my love of Reel Big Fish.

I felt they did a pretty respectable job of doing the song and really not ska-ing it up too much.

RBF have been known to do some amazing covers in the past, and actually have a new album of all covers coming out in January.

I will have to take a look at the rest of the album later tomorrow though after work and see if the other bands did just as fun.

BK

just listen to it, Reel Big Fish version of Stray cat Strut is awesome.

I don`t like all of the songs (Blast off... ), but all in all it is a good tribute album.

Anybody heard the rockabilly tribute to the clash and ramones albums -if so would they recommend them - better still anyone got a link?!

Thanks for that link -greatly appreciated!

"Go Cat Go" is the worst tribute to the Cats EVER!!

Jon, you have a vast collection of Setzer-related material. Were there any other Stray Cats tribute albums than the two mentioned above (Homenaje and Go Cat Go)? I still think the Cats covered so many songs in their day, that I would consider them a tribute band of sorts, and probably not the greatest subjects for a tribute album. Usually the better tribute albums are ones where the subjects wrote most of their own material, mixed it up stylistically, or were simply more iconic - like Elvis.

I don't know which is the worst between these two. I think the overall production on Go Cat Go is much better. I guess it boils down to personal preference. I'd say they both miss the mark, but I respect the risks some of the artists took on Go Cat Go. What's the point of trying to do a note-for-note cover and falling short, when the original is so great? Give me a little psychobilly, a little ska, maybe reinvent a number as a slow blues ballad...

Shoot, the BSO has practically released enough tracks to have its own Stray Cats tribute album: Stray Cat Strut, Rock This Town, Rumble in Brighton, Drink That Bottle Down, Your True Love, and the live version of She's Sexy and 17. Oh dear. Did I just greenlight the next BSO compilation album?

Product Placement-billy