The band who unexpectedly turned old-fashioned rockabilly into a sensation during the height of synthesized new wave.
Sporting bodacious pompadours, tattoos, and leather jackets, the Stray Cats looked like a rockabilly band straight out of central casting. That was by the design of Brian Setzer, Lee Rocker, and Slim Jam Phantom, a trio of Long Island renegades who were attempting to keep the fire of old-time rock & roll burning during the height of punk and new wave. It took some time - and a trip across the Atlantic - for them to succeed, but when they did, it was beyond all expectations…

Although he shared the same rockabilly roots as Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison went on to pioneer an entirely different brand of country/pop-based rock & roll in the early '60s. What he lacked in charisma and photogenic looks, Orbison made up for in spades with his quavering operatic voice and melodramatic narratives of unrequited love and yearning. In the process, he established rock & roll archetypes of the underdog and the hopelessly romantic loser…

Long before he'd evolved into a fully-fledged cult figure, Joe Meek was the UK's first fully independent record producer. This unique 2CD set traces his career from his earliest sessions, as a sound balance engineer in the mid-'50s, to his emergence as a major songwriter and hit maker in the early '60s. It includes many of Meek's biggest records, including five UK # 1s by, Anne Shelton, Lonnie Donegan, Frankie Vaughan, Emile Ford and John Leyton, plus several other major million selling hits! Indeed, more than half of the sixty sides included herein were significant UK hits. This set also includes several collectors' rarities, previously unavailable on CD, most notably Gary Miller's unfeasibly-rare 'Moby Dick'. John Fraser's 'Golden Cage' and Geoff Goddard's 'Girl Bride'. If you are looking for what is by far the most interesting Joe Meek-related compilation for years then this is it!

Sleepy LaBeef became the ultimate rockabilly survivor, his live performances retaining the same raw power as he approached his eighth decade that they had in the years when he was among the music's pioneers. He was raised on a melon farm and grew up hearing both country and blues music.

To describe Alvin Stardust's hit-making career as deceptive is to do the man (and the music) a major disservice. He never pretended, after all, to be anything but an old time rocker reborn for the glam age; nor, once he and producer Pete Shelley had driven their first great idea into the ground, did he even threaten to return with anything so viscerally vibrant as his debut hit. But "My Coo Ca Choo" was more than a hypnotic guitar riff, a lyric steeped in lascivious sensuality and a really scary-looking singer who held his microphone upside down. It was forbidden sex and secret code, it was yowling subversion and evil intent, it was "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Be Bop a Lula" breathlessly updated and whipped into shape.

Limited eight CD 60th anniversary hardbound book collection from the Man In Black containing every classic album released by Sam Phillips' legendary Sun Records between 1957 and 1964. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the release of Johnny Cash's first LP in 1957, Sun Records and Charly Records are proud to present for the first time ever, all seven classic Sun albums in one deluxe collection. 83 songs as they appeared on the original LPs plus a bonus disc of alternate versions, rare recordings and outtakes, all newly remastered from the original Sun master tapes. Also included are every Johnny Cash seven-inch single A and B side originally released on Sun Records, including the hits: "I Walk The Line", "Cry! Cry! Cry!", "Folsom Prison Blues", "Ballad Of A Teenage Queen", "Home Of The Blues", and many, many more. Deluxe 60-page hardback book reproduces original album artwork, liner notes and labels and includes rare photos and memorabilia from the Sun Records archives plus Johnny Cash career retrospective, in-depth album sleeve notes, rare recordings track-by-track, discography, Sam Phillips' recollections, and introduction by Sun Entertainment Corporation President John A. Singleton.

In 1986, after almost 30 years on Columbia Records, Country music legend Johnny Cash released his first album on Mercury Records – Class Of ’55, in collaboration with fellow Sun Records alumni Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. Seven years later, his last recording before signing with Rick Rubin’s American Recordings would be another collaboration, “The Wanderer”, with U2. In the years that span those recordings, Johnny Cash released a total of six albums for Mercury Records. The highlights of that output are presented here, on the brand new compilation Easy Rider: The Best Of The Mercury Recordings. Now remastered for the very first time, using the original Mercury master tapes, the 24 tracks that make up the set feature Cash’s updated interpretations of classics songs “Get Rhythm” and “Tennessee Flat Top Box”, the rare B-side “Veteran’s Day”, Elvis Costello’s “The Big Light”, and his collaboration with U2, “The Wanderer”.

Chris Isaak's debut album, Silvertone, named after his three-piece backup group, sets the pattern for his subsequent albums in its meticulously constructed retro sound. Isaak enters a time machine and emerges around 1960, when Roy Orbison is ruling the charts with his melodramatic ballads and Elvis Presley has just returned from the Army. Of course, what passed for a style 25 years before is in Isaak's hands stylization, and when he wails in an Orbison falsetto of romantic desperation, then does a flat, Presley-like recitation in the album-closing "Western Stars," it all seems over the top. But he is just about sincere enough to pull it off, and James Calvin Wilsey is a strong enough guitarist to keep the arrangements on track. So, to the extent that you can resist the "Is this guy kidding?" impression, the music is appealing.

Born in Dublin, Ireland, Imelda May is a unique vocal talent, one whose gift lies outside the normal order of pop culture time and trends. Inspired by the sounds of vocal jazz à la Billie Holiday and the sound and looks of rockabilly, May began performing with the swing outfit Blue Harlem, and released a handful of independent CDs before scoring attention in 2007 with her nomination for an award as Best Burlesque Singer as well as the release of her more official debut, Love Tattoo. The album, featuring her strong backing band comprised of players Dave Priseman, Darrell Higham, Al Gare, and Steve Rushton, was critically and commercially well received, leading to some high-profile live gigs, including hitting the road with Jools Holland. It was released in the U.S.A. by Decca in 2009, followed by two singles, and scored a mid-level success. Her sophomore effort, Mayhem, arrived in September of 2010, preceded by the single "Psycho".

Although he shared the same rockabilly roots as Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison went on to pioneer an entirely different brand of country/pop-based rock & roll in the early '60s. What he lacked in charisma and photogenic looks, Orbison made up for in spades with his quavering operatic voice and melodramatic narratives of unrequited love and yearning. In the process, he established rock & roll archetypes of the underdog and the hopelessly romantic loser. These were not only amplified by peers such as Del Shannon and Gene Pitney, but also influenced future generations of roots rockers such as Bruce Springsteen and Chris Isaak, as well as modern country stars the Mavericks. Orbisongs is a compilation LP released by Monument Records in 1965 after Orbison had left the label and joined MGM. It features tracks such as the stereo version of "Oh, Pretty Woman", a different version of "Dance", and the unreleased "I Get So Sentimental."