The Polecats

The Polecats started out in north London in 1977 as Cult Heroes: Tim Worman, better known as Tim Polecat, on vocals and guitar, Martin "Boz" Boorer on guitar and vocals, Phil Bloomberg on bass and Chris Hawkes on drums. Promoters on the rockabilly circuit thought the name sounded too punk to book, so they went with Hawkes' suggestion instead. He was later replaced by Neil Rooney, who in turn gave way to John Buck.

That punk suspicion wasn't far off. The Polecats played rockabilly with a snotty, anarchic streak, and they helped drag the style back into the spotlight for a new generation at the start of the '80s. Nervous Records signed them first, and they cut their debut single, "Rockabilly Guy", in 1979 at Lane Studios, run by guitarist Alan Warner, formerly of the Foundations, who toured and recorded with the band for about a year. Boorer was the secret weapon, doubling on saxophone and piano when the songs called for it.

Mercury picked them up in 1980 for Polecats Are Go!, their most successful LP, and a cover of David Bowie's "John, I'm Only Dancing" put them in the UK chart. The song radio listeners have held on to longest, though, is "Make a Circuit With Me" from 1982, a nervy, twitchy slice of rockabilly-meets-new-wave with a grin on its face and a hook that won't leave the room. They kept going until 1989.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.