The Cramps | |
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 The Cramps in 1982 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1976–2009 |
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| Past members |
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The Cramps were an Americanrock band formed in 1976 and active until 2009. Their lineup rotated frequently during their existence, with the husband-and-wife duo of singerLux Interior and guitaristPoison Ivy the only ever-present members. The band is credited as progenitors of thepsychobilly subgenre, fusing elements ofpunk rock withrockabilly.[1] The addition of guitaristBryan Gregory and drummer Pam Balam resulted in the first complete lineup in April 1976. They released their debut albumSongs the Lord Taught Us in 1980. The band split after the death of lead singer Interior in 2009.[2]
Lux Interior (born Erick Lee Purkhiser) andPoison Ivy (born Kristy Marlana Wallace) met inSacramento, California, in 1972.[3] In light of their common artistic interests and shared devotion to record collecting, they decided to form the Cramps. Lux took hisstage name from a car ad, and Ivy claimed to have received hers in a dream (she was first Poison Ivy Rorschach, taking her last name from that of the inventor of theRorschach test). In 1973, they moved toAkron, Ohio, and then to New York in 1975, soon entering intoCBGB's early punk scene with other emerging acts likeSuicide, theRamones,Patti Smith,Television,Blondie,Talking Heads,Mink DeVille, and fellow Ohio transplantsDead Boys. The lineup in 1976 was Poison Ivy Rorschach, Lux Interior,Bryan Gregory (guitar), and his sister Pam "Balam" (drums).
In a short period of time, the Cramps changed drummers twice;Miriam Linna (later ofNervus Rex, the Zantees, andthe A-Bones and co-owner ofNorton Records) replaced Pam Balam, andNick Knox (formerly with theElectric Eels) replaced Linna in September 1977. In the late 1970s, the Cramps briefly shared a rehearsal space withthe Fleshtones, and performed regularly in New York at clubs such asCBGB andMax's Kansas City, releasing two independent singles produced byAlex Chilton atArdent Studios inMemphis in 1977 before being signed byMiles Copeland III to the youngI.R.S. Records label. Their first tour of Great Britain was as supporting act tothe Police on that band's first UK tour promotingOutlandos d'Amour.
In June 1978, they gave a landmark free concert for patients at theCalifornia State Mental Hospital in Napa, recorded on a SonyPortapak video camera by the San Francisco collectiveTarget Video and later released asLive at Napa State Mental Hospital. Once back to the east coast, they played the revamped 1940sswing club "The Meadowbrook" in New Jersey, which had a huge stage and dance floor. Next they recorded two singles in New York City, which were later re-released on their 1979Gravest Hits EP, before Chilton brought them back that year to Memphis to record their first full-length album,Songs the Lord Taught Us, atPhillips Recording, operated by formerSun Records label ownerSam Phillips.[4]
The Cramps relocated to Los Angeles in 1980 and hired guitaristKid Congo Powers ofthe Gun Club.[4] While recording their second LP,Psychedelic Jungle, the band and Miles Copeland began to dispute royalties and creative rights. The ensuing court case prevented them from releasing anything until 1983, when they recordedSmell of Female live at New York'sPeppermint Lounge; Kid Congo Powers subsequently departed.[4] Mike Metoff ofthe Pagans (cousin of Nick Knox) was the final second guitarist – albeit only live – of the Cramps' pre-bass era. He accompanied them on an extensive European tour in 1984 (that had been canceled twice because they could not find a suitable guitarist) which included four sold out nights at theHammersmith Palais. They also recorded performances of "Thee Most Exalted Potentate of Love" and "You Got Good Taste" which were broadcast onA Midsummer Night's Tube (1984).Smell of Female peaked at No. 74 in theUK Albums Chart.[5]
The band appears in the 1982 filmUrgh! A Music War.[6]
In 1985 the Cramps recorded a one-off track for the horror movieThe Return of the Living Dead called "Surfin' Dead", on which Ivy played bass as well as guitar. With the release of 1986'sA Date With Elvis, the Cramps permanently added a bass guitar to the mix, but had trouble finding a suitable player, so Ivy temporarily filled in as the band's bassist.Jennifer "Fur" Dixon joined them on the world tour to promote the album. Their popularity in the UK was at its peak as evidenced by the six nights at Hammersmith in London, three at the Odeon (as well as many other sell out dates throughout the UK) and then three at the Palais when they returned from the continent. Each night of the tour opened with the band coming on one at a time each: Knox, Fur, Ivy and then Lux before launching into their take onElvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel". The album featured what was to become a predominating theme of their work from here on: a move away from the B-movie horror focus to an increased emphasis on sexual double entendre.[4] The album met with differing fates on either side of the Atlantic: in Europe, it sold over 250,000 copies, while in the U.S. the band had difficulty finding a record company prepared to release it until 1990.[7] It also included their firstUK Singles Chart hit: "Can Your Pussy Do the Dog?"[5][8]
It was not until 1986 that the Cramps found a suitable permanent bass player: Candy del Mar (of Satan's Cheerleaders), who made her recorded debut on the raw live albumRockinnReelininAucklandNewZealandxxx.[4] This was followed by the studio albumStay Sick! in 1990, which spent one week at No. 62 in the UK Albums Chart in February of that year.[5]
Candy del Mar andKnox left the band in 1991. The Cramps hit the Top 40 in the UK for the first and only time with "Bikini Girls with Machine Guns";[5] Ivy posed as such both on the cover of the single and in thepromotional video for the song. The Cramps went on to record more albums and singles through the 1990s and 2000s, for various labels.[8] When the band signed to The Medicine Label, a Warner Brothers imprint, in 1994 – the label made the announcement via a limited edition (500 copies) 12" live album of the Cramps' first two Max's Kansas City shows, given away to all ticket holders as they exited a secret CBGB show in early January of that year.
In 1994, the Cramps made their national US television debut onLate Night with Conan O'Brien performing "Ultra Twist".
In 1995 the Cramps appeared on the TV-seriesBeverly Hills, 90210 in the Halloween episode "Gypsies, Cramps and Fleas".[9] They played two songs in the episode: "Mean Machine" and "Strange Love". Lux Interior started the song by saying "Hey boys and ghouls, are you ready to raise the dead?".
In honor of the success of the Cramps, theRock and Roll Hall of Fame has on display a shattered bass drum head that Lux's head went through during a live show.
On January 10, 2001, Bryan Gregory died atAnaheim Memorial Medical Center of complications following aheart attack. He was 49.[10]
In 2002, the Cramps released their final album,Fiends of Dope Island, on their own label, Vengeance Records. That same year, Lux Interior did a voiceover for the lead singer character of the band The Bird Brains on the animated TV showSpongeBob SquarePants singing 'Underwater Sun.' The song was written and composed by Stephen Hillenburg and Peter Strauss.[11]
The Cramps played their final shows in Europe in the summer of 2006 and their last live show was on November 4, 2006, at theMarquee Theater inTempe, Arizona.
On February 4, 2009, Lux Interior died at the Glendale Memorial Hospital after suffering anaortic dissection which, contrary to initial reports about a pre-existing condition, was "sudden, shocking and unexpected".[12]
The Cramps weren't thinking of this weird subgenre when we coined the term "psychobilly" in 1976 to describe what we were doing. To us all the '50srockabillies were psycho to begin with; it just came with the turf as a given, like a crazed, sped-uphillbillyboogie version ofcountry.
We hadn't meant playing everything superloud at superheavyhardcore punk tempos with a whole style and look, which is what "psychobilly" came to mean later in the '80s. We also used the term "rockabilly voodoo" on our early flyers.
The Cramps' music is played at varying tempos, with a minimal drumkit. An integral part of the early Cramps sound was dual guitars, without abassist. The focus of their songs' lyrical content and their image was camp humor, sexual double-entendre, andretro horror/sci-fib-movie iconography. Their sound was heavily influenced by earlyrockabilly, such asJerry Lott AKA The Phantom, whose 1958 single 'Love Me' they covered,[14]rhythm and blues, androck and roll likeLink Wray andHasil Adkins, 1960ssurf music acts[15] such asthe Ventures andDick Dale, 1960sgarage rock artists likethe Standells,the Trashmen,the Green Fuz andthe Sonics, as well as the post-glam/earlypunk scene from which they emerged, as well as citingRicky Nelson as being an influence during numerous interviews. They also were influenced by theRamones andScreamin' Jay Hawkins.[16] Poison Ivy stated, "The failure of outsiders to acknowledge the influence ofblues and R&B on The Cramps is an omission bordering on racism. Rockabilly is rooted in the blues and we consider ourselves a blues band."[17]
The band used the phrasesgothabilly,[18]psychobilly[19] and "rockabilly voodoo" to market their music.[13][20] The term "psychobilly" was first used in the lyrics to thecountry song "One Piece at a Time", written byWayne Kemp forJohnny Cash, which was a Top 10 hit in the United States in 1976. The lyrics describe the construction of a "psychobillyCadillac using stolen auto parts."[20] The Cramps have since rejected the idea of being a part of a psychobilly subculture, noting that "We weren't even describing the music when we put 'psychobilly' on our old fliers; we were just usingcarny terms to drum up business. It wasn't meant as a style of music."[20] Nevertheless, The Cramps, along with artists such as Screamin' Jay Hawkins, are considered important precursors to psychobilly.[20] Critics and journalists classified the Cramps' sound as psychobilly,[21][22][23][24] gothabilly,[18][25][26]garage punk,[27][28] rockabilly,[29][30][31]horror punk,[32]garage rock,[33] punk rock[30] and surf.[30]
The Cramps have been cited as an influence by musicians including45 Grave,[34]the Nomads,[35]Zombina and the Skeletones,[36]Inca Babies,[37]Creeper,[38]the Black Keys,[39]the White Stripes,[40]the Sisters of Mercy,[41]My Bloody Valentine,[42]Faith No More[43] andSouthern Culture on the Skids.[44]
Final lineup
Lux Interior ... was lead singer and co-founder of the pioneering psychobilly band the Cramps, ... which formed in the early 1970s, [and] were the first band to gain a following in psychobilly ....
Tous nos groupes préférés sont de vieux groupes éteints, à part Motorhead, les Cramps, les Banshees, et les Psychedelic Furs (All of our favorite bands are old, dead bands apart from Motorhead, the Cramps, the Banshees, and the Psychedelic Furs.)
Peu de nos contemporains possèdent une véritable dimension, les Banshees, les Psychedelic Furs. Les autres ne sont pas honnêtes. (Few of our contemporaries have got a true dimension. The Banshees, the Psychedelic Furs. The other bands are not honest.)
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