The Cramps were unique, even within the unique world of punk. They were the opposite of wholesome. With their thrift shop horrorshow appearance, Lux usually shirtless in black leather pants and pumps, and their original "psychobilly" sound, they combined early 1960's garage rock with B-movie atmosphere and a slightly campy sense of dread. With song titles like, "Surfin' Dead," "Drug Train," "What's Inside a Girl?," "Garbageman," "Bend Over I'll Drive," "Bikini Girls with Machine Guns," "Human Fly," "Two-Headed Sex Change from Space," "I Was a Teenage Werewolf," "Goo Goo Muck," "The Crusher," "Let's Get Fucked Up" and the memorable coinage question, "Can Your Pussy Do the Dog?" what is not to like?
Lux's heavily echoed voice combined with Ivy's throwback 1950's guitar sound were the infectious aural signature of a band that will undoubtedly have more songs licensed after death than in life. It kinda suits them, as they basically brought Halloween every night they played. Per the otherwise unheard of "J. H. Sasfy, Professor of Rockology" on the liner notes to their Gravest Hits debut e.p.:
In the spring of 1976, The CRAMPS began to fester in a NYC apartment. Without fresh air or natural light, the group developed its uniquely mutant strain of rock’n’roll aided only by the sickly blue rays of late night TV. While the jackhammer rhythms of punk were proliferating in NYC, The CRAMPS dove into the deepest recesses of the rock’n’roll psyche for the most primal of all rhythmic impulses — rockabilly — the sound of southern culture falling apart in a blaze of shudders and hiccups. As late night sci-fi reruns colored the room, The CRAMPS also picked and chose amongst the psychotic debris of previous rock eras - instrumental rock, surf, psychedelia, and sixties punk. And then they added the junkiest element of all — themselves.
Perhaps the most memorable show the The Cramps ever played, make that any band ever, was Live at the Napa State Mental Hospital, immortalized in grainy black & white video (available on Amazon). It went something like this:
Tributes like this one are coming in. While there was always (to me, at least) a distance to The Cramps that kept them from being quite as, uh, lovable as maybe The Ramones, their individuality, sharp edges and bracing individuality inspired a higher form of respect, like the kind one might have for a particularly terrifying roller coaster.
Yep, they were strange. They were skanky. And they were way, way cool.
He's with Elvis now.
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