Stray Cats “Gonna Ball” 1981. I’m spinning Stray Cats’ second album in honor of International Cat Day (not to be confused with National Cat Day, which falls on October 29th in the US – though my cats would argue that all days preceding and in between are Cat Day). Gonna Ball was a big hit in the UK where it was first released and where the Stray Cats were – and still are – hugely popular. In June we got to see them perform at London’s historic Eventim Apollo, formerly known as Hammersmith Odeon/Hammersmith Apollo. A sold out show, it was packed with aging rockabillys, their pompadours a bit thinning though still sprayed up high.

Gonna Ball is pretty much straight-forward rockabilly, with a mix of originals and a couple of covers including “Baby Blue Eyes” by Johnny Burnette and “Wasn’t That Good” by Wynonie Harris. While mostly rockers (that I prefer, like the title track “Gonna Ball”), there’s a lighter swinging number “(She’ll Stay Just) One More Day” which I’m pretty sure is sung by Lee Rocker rather than Brian Setzer, same with the country-swing “You Don’t Believe Me” (though I’m not positive about the Setzer/Rocker vocals). After this record and their debut Stray Cats successes in the UK, their label finally released a US version that included tracks from both LP’s on Built For Speed: from Gonna Ball were “Baby Blue Eyes,” “Little Miss Prissy,” “You Don’t Believe Me,” “Rev It Up and Go” and the 50′s-style ballad “Lonely Summer Nights.”