Biography
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Members
- Chris Jackson
There are at least three bands called The Tomcats, listed here in chronological order.
1. The Tomcats were a beat band of the early to mid 1960s from Perivale, United Kingdom. The founder members were Tom Newman (later founder of Virgin Records with Richard Branson, and producer of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells), Pete Cook (later luthier to John Entwistle, and creator of the 'Ned Callan' guitar range with Tom Newman), Allan James (later bass player with psychedelic band July with Newman and Jackson), and Chris Jackson, drummer.
2. The Tomcats were also a proto-psychedelic English beat band in the mid to late 1960s. Inspired by Brian Jones' interest in Eastern instrumentation, and actually produced by Stones bassist Bill Wyman, they made some recordings, including renditions of The Stones' hits, such as 'Paint It Black' and '19th Nervous Breakdown'. The Tomcats were based in Spain, where they released four Spain-only EPs before returning to the U.K. in 1966.
3. The Tomcats was the name of Brian Setzer's first rockabilly group, before transforming to the widely known Stray Cats. With Brian Setzer on guitar and vocals, Gary Setzer on drums and Bob Beecher on bass, the trio began to play clubs at Long Island in 1979. At the time Brian Setzer and Bob Beecher were also participating at another group, named the Bloodless Pharaohs, which played "art rock" music (as described by Gary Setzer). While The Bloodless Pharaohs were playing in and out New York, The Tomcats were still holding forth out on Long Island developing the sound and style that would mark the Stray Cats. Brian Setzer was primarily interested in rockabilly, resulting in the break-up of The Tomcats. Afterwards, Brian Setzer began working with a couple of Long Island buddies, Jim McDonnell (later known as Slim Jim Phantom, playing drums) and Lee Drucker (later known as Lee Rocker, playing bass). In the summer of 1980, the trio sold their equipment and moved to London, taking the name Stray Cats.
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