tomcats info wanted

Has anybody got a link to some info re the Tomcats -or can anyone on board supply some background to how the live and demo bootlegs came about. Am wondering why their live stuff was recorded and by who etc - the proto Stray Cats tunes seem more or less fully formed on the stuff that I've got.

You mean like the live dates on the Collectables CD series??

Yes, but just some info really on how many dates were recorded -how many demos etc - am trying to track everything down -being a bit of an obsessive completist! -plus wondered how the stuff came to be recorded anyway - sound quality on what I've got isn't too bad for bootleg.

Hey man,
as far as I know there are several CDs:
One of them, is the DEMOS. There is a bootleg with 9 demo tracks but there is another version that contains 10. The songs included there are Rock This Town (3 tackes), My One Desire (2 takes), Fankie & Johnny, Blue Moon Of Kentucky, Fishnet Stockings, Can't Hurry Love and Say Mama. Unfortunatell, I don't know when these tunes were recorded, but quite obvious it was in 1980.

As for the Tomcats live shows, there is a collection of 7 CDs that contains these shows (all these live dates recorded live at TK's Place, Bellmore, Long Island, NY)
vol 1 "Rock This Town" - March 29, 1980
vol 2 "High School Confidential" & vol 3 "Stray Cat Strut" - May 24, 1980
vol 4 "Rip It Up" & vol 5 "All Shook Up" - May 30, 1980
vol 6 "Shake Rattle & Roll" - May 31, 1980
vol 7 "Rockabilly Boogie" - October 10, 1980 (this date might not be correct as the Cats were already in UK)

Apart from these 7 CDs, there is a compilation that appeared one year later, 1998 called "Rock This Town", containing some tracks from each of these recordings.

You that live in Mcr, have a look on the Raucous Records website.
I got hold of them like 3 months ago, I bought 5 CDs there.
The other 3, I had to look them somewhere else, but if you are a bit patient, you can find them on the internet by typing "Tomcats" plus the tittle of the CD.

Hope this little helps!
Jon

Thanks for all that detailed info - much appreciated!

scatcatcnut wrote:

Thanks for all that detailed info - much appreciated!

Jon,
you see you can be a good boy when you just want to....

FrenchyCat

Frenchy,
I'm always a good boy - it does only depend on how you look it ;-)

You're more than welcome StrayCatCnut.
As for the sound quality you asked for.... it's a Soundboard recording, though in that year, technology wasn't too advanced... in any case, I would grade it between 7-8 out of 10 points as a maximun. However, these recordings are much better than ANY LIVE BOOTLEG YOU MIGHT EVER COME ACROSS!! Some songs were only played during that period... Frankie & Johnny, Please Please Me, Anna Go To Him, High School Confidential, All Shook Up... and some "primitive versions" to Rumble, Rock This Town, Summertime Blues, Mystery Train...

As I said, get them asap dude, you'll get them in a couple of days in your letterbox, unless the mailman knows what's in it and he happens to be a Stray Cats fan too ;-)

Jon has always been good, just got to know how to handle him lol

You're a mistress, Kelley!

kelley68 wrote:

Jon has always been good, just got to know how to handle him lol

WOOOWWW Kelley, but you're far from Oviedo, don't you?

Jon,
I think you're too kind with the sound quality of the Collectables CDs: I'd give 5,5 or 6 out 10. But they're worth 20/10 as it's the beginning of a wonderful musical adventure, for the Cats and for us!!

FrenchyCat

I agree with FrenchyCat. This collection is a MUST have for serious fans.

I'd like to add that for me that Collectables set was like finding
the Holy Grail, the Nirvana of unreleased Cats recordings. It blew away everything in my collection (which is quite huge), and here it was, an official release! (ok, ok, so it got pulled and quickly was out of print....that's another story for another day!)

If you haven't heard "Tom Cat Strut" yet, get ready to be blown away....

Ooby Dooby!
Scatman