Make a Circuit With Me :: The Polecats
from the album, Rockabilly Cats
Make a Circuit With Me is a song by The Polecats, a rockabilly band formed in 1977, in North London.
The original line-up was Tim Worman (a.k.a. Tim Polecat, vocalist), Martin “Boz” Boorer (guitarist and vocalist), Phil Bloomberg (bassist), and Chris Hawkes (drummer), who originally played under the name “Cult Heroes”. Finding difficulty persuading promoters to book them on the rockabilly circuit with a name sounding “too punk”, they adopted Hawkes’ suggested band name, The Polecats. Hawkes was later replaced by Neil Rooney, who was subsequently replaced by John Buck.
The Polecats played rockabilly with a “punk sense of anarchy and helped revive the genre for a new generation in the early ’80’s“. (Vintage at Goodworld writes)
The band were first signed by the fledgling British rockabilly record label, Nervous Records, and recorded their first single, Rockabilly Guy, at guitarist Alan Warner’s “Lane Studios”, in 1979. Formerly with the successful “Foundations” band, Warner toured and recorded with the Polecats for about a year.
In 1980, the band signed to Mercury Records, and released their most successful LP, Polecats Are Go! They had UK chart success with a David Bowie cover, John, I’m Only Dancing, a re-working of Rockabilly Guy, and another cover version of the T-Rex (Marc Bolan) song Jeepster.
John Buck replaced Neil Rooney in 1982, on drums.
In 1983, they hit the charts in the United States with this song, Make a Circuit With Me.
Boz Boorer left the group to work as a guitarist, musical director, and co-songwriter with Morrissey, but led a Polecats reunion, in 1989, which produced a live album and a new studio set. Tim Polecat moved to Los Angeles, California and formed the band 13 Cats with drummer Slim Jim of the Stray Cats, stand-up bassist Smuty Smith of The Rockats, and guitarist Danny B. Harvey of The Swing Cats.
Musically, Tim Polecat continues to work as a film composer and solo singer-songwriter.
In June 2008, Disney’s Pixar film, Wall E, used Make a Circuit With Me in their television trailers for the film. In 2010, Make a Circuit With Me was used by TBS in two episodes of their show Glory Daze.
Editor’s Note: This is one of those “on the radio” songs I remember from my early teen years, back when I would turn KROQ on, taping my favorite songs right off the radio, often sitting there, breath held, waiting to catch the next song at just the right time (without the DJ intros, but at the closest to the start as possible). This was one I taped, and would replay and replay, turning the volume up high, dancing around my room and singing-a-long.
