Story Behind The Song

I founded the Roustabouts in the late seventies along with vocalist Gary Setzer (brother of Brian Setzer of the Stray Cats) and bassist Lee Tobia. (I was the guitarist.) I wrote this song in 1979 and showed it to Gary backstage at a gig at CBGB. He loved it and the next thing I knew, it was a staple of the Routsabouts' set and its flagship number.

Song Description

The Roustabouts were part of the underground music scene that sprung up in New York City in the late seventies. "Iron Curtain Rock" parodies a similar scene that sprung up in the USSR, albeit one that is a complete fantasy.

Lyrics

Heard it on a newscast
Heard it on a broadcast
Herard it on Radio Free Europe
They're all rockin' in Eastern Slobovia
Everything's cool up in Siberia
They got a movement going underground
Called Iron Curtain Rock and Roll

And it's red hot, ready to go
Iron Curtain Rock and Roll
Red hot, out of control
Iron Curtain Rock and Roll
They can't get no rest in Budapest
They're burnin' down Nikolskoe

Karl and the Marxist
Bobby and the Bolsheviks
Are opening up the show for
Suzy and the Socialists
Up in Moscow, down in Krakow
Everybody's tearin' up
A communist dictatorship
Bunch of bushy-eyed boys and girls
Doin' Iron Curtain Rock and Roll

And it's red hot, ready to go
Iron Curtain Rock and Roll
Red hot, out of control
Iron Curtain Rock and Roll
They can't get no rest in Budapest
They're burnin' down Nikolskoe

Once you get the beat
It just don't stray
Once you get the rhythm
It don't go away
Tell the boys in the Kremlin
They better start tremblin'
You can tell the KGB
They better start assemblin'
There's nothin' that Stalin can do right now
But roll over in his grave

And it's red hot, ready to go
Iron Curtain Rock and Roll
Red hot, out of control
Iron Curtain Rock and Roll
They can't get no rest in Budapest
They're burnin' down Nikolskoe