How dumb am I? I lost track of Brian Setzer.

Cafe Society
1

I loved him back in the Stray Cats days and then forgot that he even existed. The other day I heard a snippet of Sleepwalk, you know the dreamy guitar piece that means someone in the cast is dead.

I found out that it was The Brian Setzer Orchestra and asked about it at the secondhand CD place. The young guy there said they get his CDs in but they never hang around and told me I should go and get the DVD of the band live in Japan and watch the second camera angle of Setzer playing Sleepwalk.

Well Lordy I must have played it ten times in a day. All closeups of the guitar and boy can he play. I won’t forget him next time great guitarist discussions begin.

2

I’ll have to check it out.

Brian Setzer and the Stray Cats were basically my reason for existance between the ages of 14 and 16 or so.

3

Okay, retrace your steps. Where did you last see him? Did you check your coat pockets? Really don’t ask, if you can’t keep track of one Rockabilly musician, your father just won’t let you have that band you’ve been asking for.

4

He won the 1998 Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for that version of “Sleepwalk.”

5

Damn, I hate it when this happens. Okay, everyone spread out and start looking. He can’t have gotten very far. Remember, listen for his guitar riffs and follow the sound.

6

Heh. I got back into him during my early swing-dancing days (almost ten years ago now), otherwise I probably would have no idea that he was still making music. Pretty good stuff, even though a lot of it is too fast to be really danceable.

7

He also does the opening and closing theme music for a Disney Channel show called “The House of Mouse.”

8

Hmm. I think I saw a pompadour behind the garage last night. I thought it was a stray cat.

9

Given his success with rockabilly and then big-band swing, he’s probably searching for yet another neglected style of music to dig up and reanimate.