By the end of the 70s, Britain’s rockabilly scene was like a powder keg stashed away beneath the mainstream music industry. The fuse was burning out of control and the whole thing seemed on the verge of exploding, sending quiffs, double basses and twangy guitars flying all over the charts, radio waves, TV shows and newspapers.
The audience was so extensive that the Stray Cats travelled from New York to London to use the British scene as their springboard to fame. Britain’s Levi and the Rockats, by contrast, struck out in the opposite direction, taking a re-energised form of rockabilly back to its homeland, where it had been all but forgotten.
When the band made their American TV debut, the bemused host, Merv Griffin, tried to explain to the audience what they were about to hear: “It’s going to be reminiscent of the 50s…”