Synopsis

The Stray Cats turn a night out into a rockabilly fantasy. Brian Setzer cruises around on a motorcycle, dances with his girlfriend, and leads the band through a performance staged on a stylized city street. The couple's evening takes aim at the town's uptight, disco-oriented establishment, including a jukebox that becomes a target of rebellion. The playful storyline mirrors the song's celebration of youthful energy, sharp clothes, hot rods, dancing, and old-school rock 'n' roll attitude.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video dates from 1981 and runs for approximately three minutes.

• Its street-set design gives the performance a deliberately theatrical, almost comic-book quality rather than presenting the group in a conventional concert setting.

• Brian Setzer wrote "Rock This Town," while Dave Edmunds produced the recording. Edmunds helped frame the band's revivalist rockabilly sound with a polished but energetic studio approach.

• The single reached No. 9 in the United Kingdom in 1981 and later reached No. 9 on the US Billboard Hot 100 after its American release in 1982.

• "Rock This Town" helped bring rockabilly back into the mainstream during the early MTV era. The song was later included by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame among its "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll."

• The US music-video release is also listed in a separate version, described as featuring the group performing on a city-street set with women dancing.