‘Boys’ Rounds Up the Best of Stray Cats

*** STRAY CATS

“Runaway Boys:

A Retrospective 81-92�

EMI Records

The Stray Cats were a dated pop phenomenon decades before their first album even was released. The style that the group revived with its most popular U.S. album, 1982’s “Built for Speed,� was ‘50s rockabilly. Patterned after Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran, the Cats evoked bygone visions of sock hops, drag races and gang rumbles waged with knives and fists, not Uzis and grenades.

“Runaway Boys� collects the best tracks by the pompadour, leather-jacketed trio, in the hope perhaps of exposing them to a young audience that might be as charged by the rollicking energy of the music as the band obviously was.

The Cats’ strong point was their ability to compose and perform songs that sounded as if they’d been recorded decades earlier, then stored in some garage until the band unearthed them. The laid-back “Stray Cat Strut,� with its combination of doo-wop, finger-snappin’ background crooning and slap-style bass, is authentic enough to make baby boomers say, “Yeah, I remember where I was when I first heard that song.�

But like the genre they love, the Stray Cats’ music quickly runs out of steam. Such songs as the vibrant “Rock This Town� and the jumpy “(She’s) Sexy + 17� are great fun but wear out after listening a few times. And with 25 different songs that basically all sound alike, this album is strictly for die-hard rockabilly fans.

There are some gems, however, that keep things moving along. The gentle (and somewhat humorous) “Lookin’ Better Every Beer,� the bluesy “My One Desire� and the visual, highly descriptive “Rumble in Brighton� never became hits but they’re the best example of why so many people found--and still find--the rockabilly style so charming.

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**** VARIOUS ARTISTS

“Rare Grooves Volume 1:

The Originals�

“Rare Grooves Volume 2:

Straight Funk�

Priority Records

Both volumes of “Rare Grooves� demonstrate that many rap productions are only watered-down versions of masterful, in some cases near-symphonic records that should have been bigger hits on their own.

“The Originals� is a soothing, mind-opening experience. Smokey Robinson’s “Cruisin,’ � Al Green’s “I’m So Glad You’re Mine� and Barry White’s “Playing Your Game, Baby� (the bases of hits for D’Angelo, Eric B. & Rakim and Black Moon, respectively) remind listeners that in some cases rap producers are only as brilliant as the records they copy.

The seamless “Straight Funk,� however, is especially revealing. Dr. Dre’s groundbreaking hit “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang� from 1993 leans heavily on Leon Haywood’s “I Want’a Do Something Freaky to You.� While Dre is to be commended for his taste in resurrecting such an obscure ‘70s hit, younger listeners need exposure to the original record.

Both albums lend educational, highly entertaining insight into how current multi-platinum production sensibilities are cultivated.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).