They Sold Their Instruments To Buy One-Way Tickets
Released in the UK on January 30, 1981, “Rock This Town” peaked at number nine on the UK Singles Chart and reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 when EMI America finally released it stateside in 1982. The song spent 21 weeks on the American chart and helped push the Built for Speed compilation to double platinum status. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame later named it one of the 500 songs that shaped rock and roll. For three Long Island kids who had pawned their gear to escape New York, this was the payoff nobody predicted.
The single arrived during the band’s explosive UK breakthrough, alongside “Runaway Boys” and “Stray Cat Strut,” giving them three consecutive top ten hits in Britain. In America, the compilation album Built for Speed reached number two on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 77 weeks. By 1982, members of The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Led Zeppelin were showing up at their London gigs. Keith Richards became a fan. The punks embraced them when the rockabilly purists kept their distance, with Joe Strummer and Chrissie Hynde becoming close friends during those early London days.
Brian Setzer wrote the song as a tribute to 1950s rock and roll venues, deliberately crafting the title and chorus to be infectious and rallying. He was obsessed with Carl Perkins, whose driving rhythms and rebellious spirit ran through every note. Setzer had started playing euphonium in school jazz bands before discovering rockabilly, punk, and the Village Vanguard. By 1979, he and his brother Gary were playing in a band called the Tomcats, cycling through names like the Teds and Bryan and the Tom Cats to fool club owners who wouldn’t book the same band on consecutive nights. When bassist Lee Rocker and drummer Slim Jim Phantom joined, Gary left and the Stray Cats were born.
Producer Dave Edmunds recorded the track for their self-titled debut album on Arista Records after meeting the band following a London gig in late 1980. Edmunds was already known as a roots rock enthusiast through his work with Rockpile and his solo career. He captured the band’s raw energy while adding the polish that made them radio-ready. Setzer’s Gretsch 6120 delivered those crisp, twangy riffs while Rocker’s slap bass and Phantom’s stripped-down kit created that unmistakable rockabilly bounce. The whole thing sounded like 1956 filtered through 1981, vintage enough to feel authentic but punchy enough to compete with synthesizers and new wave.
The song appeared on the UK debut Stray Cats in February 1981 and later on the American compilation Built for Speed in 1982. That journey from Long Island to London remains one of rock’s great gambles. They sold everything except a guitar, a bass, and a snare drum to afford one-way tickets. Lee Rocker bought four tickets because his upright bass needed its own seat. They arrived in June 1980 with no plan, no contacts, and no money. By September they had an apartment and record label offers. By November they were on Top of the Pops. Setzer later called it a combination of balls and stupidity, though he preferred the word naivety.
The song has appeared in films like 10th & Wolf and the surfing documentary Riding Giants, and became a playable track in rhythm video games. Showaddywaddy covered it in 2006. Setzer reimagined it as a big band swing arrangement with his Brian Setzer Orchestra in 1998. In 2019, the Stray Cats released their first album in 25 years, titled 40, and toured to celebrate four decades since forming. They released two new tracks in October 2025, “Stampede” and a cover of Eddie Cochran’s “Teenage Heaven,” their first recordings in six years.
Days later, Setzer cancelled the entire fall tour. An autoimmune disease had been robbing him of his ability to play since the previous year. His hands cramp. It feels like wearing gloves when he tries to pick up the guitar. He couldn’t tie his shoes for a while. The Mayo Clinic is treating him, and in March he said he was getting better day by day. He still dreams of returning to the stage. Three teenagers once sold everything they owned to chase a rumor about Teddy Boys in London, and now one of them is fighting just to hold a pick again. Sometimes the story doesn’t end where you expect. Sometimes it just keeps going, waiting to see what happens next.
