“Rock This Town” by The Stray Cats

Brian Setzer wrote "Rock This Town", and the Stray Cats cut it for their self-titled 1981 debut with Dave Edmunds producing. It's hot-rod rockabilly that roars like a tricked-out Chevy on a Saturday night: twangy guitar, a jumping beat, and a gleeful blast of vintage rock and roll attitude.

The American band's record came out first in Britain, where Arista released it that January and it reached number nine. Back home it had to wait: EMI America first put it on the album Built for Speed in June 1982, then issued it as a single that August, and it climbed to number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 as well.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame later listed it among the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, and it has kept finding new audiences through video games, from Guitar Hero II, Donkey Konga and Elite Beat Agents to the game based on the 2006 Pixar film Cars. "Stray Cat Strut" followed it.

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