The Cramps
The Cramps | |
|---|---|
| File:TheCrampsLogo.gif | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Sacramento, California |
| Years active | 1976-2006 |
| Members | Lux Interior Poison Ivy |
| Website | thecramps.com |
The Cramps are a rock band whose only permanent members have been Lux Interior and Poison Ivy, the lead singer and lead guitarist respectively. Their music is mostly in twelve bar blues form, played at varying, (though usually fast) tempos, with a very minimal drumkit. An integral part of the early Cramps sound is dual guitars, without a bassist. The content of their songs and image is sleaze, trashy Americana (much in the style of filmmaker John Waters), sexual fetishism, clever bad jokes, and cheap, horror B-movie clichés.
Their sound was heavily influenced by early rockabilly and proto-rock'n'roll like Link Wray and Hasil Adkins, 1960s surf music acts such as The Ventures and Dick Dale, 1960s garage rock artists like The Standells, The Gants, The Trashmen, The Green Fuz and The Sonics, as well as the post-glam/early punk scene from which they emerged. They also were influenced to a degree by The Ramones and Screamin' Jay Hawkins, who is often credited for having pioneered their style of theatrical horror-blues.
In turn, they have strongly influenced subsequent punk and rockabilly revival bands, even creating a genre in their wake. "Psychobilly," a style played by bands like The Meteors and the Sharks, is a term coined by the Cramps, although Lux Interior maintains that the term does not describe their own style. [1] The Cramps also influenced or anticipated acts like The White Stripes, The Gun Club, The Fuzztones, James Chance and the Contortions, The Birthday Party, Thr Flat Duo Jets, and Queen Adreena. It is also widely acknowledged that The Cramps inspired the more recent Psychobilly subgenre, Gothabilly — which focusses even more so on the monster/horror themes.
Brief biography
Lux Interior (born Erick Purkhiser) and Poison Ivy (born Kristy Wallace) met in Sacramento, California in 1972. Due to their common artistic interests and shared devotion to record collecting, they decided to form The Cramps. Lux took his stage 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 the Rorschach test). In 1973, they moved to Akron, Ohio, and then to New York in 1975, soon entering into CBGB's early punk scene with other emerging acts like The Ramones, Patti Smith, and Television. The lineup in 1976 was Poison Ivy Rorschach, Lux Interior, Bryan Gregory (guitar) and his sister Pam "Ballam" (drums).
In a short period of time, the Cramps changed drummers twice; Miriam Linna (later of Nervous Rex, the Zantees, and the A-Bones) replaced Pam Ballam, and Nick Knox (formerly with the Electric Eels) replaced Linna in September 1977. In the late 1970s, the Cramps briefly shared a rehearsal space with The Fleshtones, and performed regularly in New York at places like CBGB's and Max's Kansas City, releasing two indie singles produced by Alex Chilton at Ardent Studios in Memphis in 1977 before being signed by Miles Copeland to the young I.R.S. Records label. In June of 1978 they gave a free concert for patients at the California State Mental Hospital in Napa, recorded on a Sony Portapak video camera by the San Francisco collective Target Video and later released as Live at Napa State Mental Hospital. They released the two singles again on their 1979 Gravest Hits EP, before Chilton brought them back that year to Memphis to record their first full length album, Songs The Lord Taught Us, at Phillips Recording, operated by former Sun Records label owner Sam Phillips.
After relocating to Los Angeles, Kid Congo Powers of The Gun Club joined the Cramps on guitar. But 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 recorded Smell of Female live at New York's Peppermint Lounge; Kid Congo Powers subsequently departed. Mike Metoff of The Pagans (cousin of Nick Knox) was the final second guitarist - albeit only live - of the Cramps' pre-bassist era.
In 1985 the Cramps recorded a one-off track for the horror movie "The Return of the Living Dead" called "Surfin' Dead", on which Ivy played bass as well as guitar. With the release of 1986's A 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.. The album featured an increased focus on sexual double entendre, and 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 major problems finding a record company prepared to release it.
It was not until 1986 that the Cramps found a suitable permanent bass player: Candy Del Mar, who made her recorded debut on the raw live album ROCKINNREELININAUCKLANDNEWZEALANDXXX, which was followed by the studio album Stay Sick in 1990. The Cramps hit the top 40 singles chart in the U.K. for the first and only time with "Bikini Girls with Machine Guns"; Ivy posed as such both on the cover of the single and in the promotional video for the song. The Cramps went on to record many more albums and singles through the 1990's and 2000's, for various labels and with varying degrees of success.
Personnel
The Cramps have had fluctuating lineups over the years. The current lineup now includes Harry Drumdini back on drums and Sean Yseult, formerly of White Zombie, on bass.
Current members
- Lux Interior (Erick Purkhiser) – vocals, March 1976 and onward
- Poison Ivy (Kristy Wallace) – lead guitar, March 1976 and onward
- Harry Drumdini – drums, February 1993-July 2003 and August 2006 and onward
- Sean Yseult – bass, September 2006 and onward
Former members
- Bryan Gregory (Greg Beckerleg) – guitar, April 1976 - May 1980
- Pam Ballam (Pam Beckerleg) – drums, April 1976 - September 1976
- Miriam Linna – drums, October 1976 - June 1977
- Nick Knox – drums, July 1977 - January 1991
- Julien Grindsnatch – guitar, July 1980 - September 1980
- Kid Congo Powers (Brian Tristan) – guitar, December 1980 - September 1983
- Mike Metoff (as Ike Knox) – guitar, October 1983 - November 1983; January 1984 - July 1984
- Candy del Mar – bass, July 1986 - January 1991
- Slim Chance – bass, March 1991-August 1998
- Nickey Alexander – drums, June 1991 - January 1993
- Harry Drumdini – drums, February 1993 - August 2003 and August 2006 - now
- Bill "Buster" Bateman – drums, June 2004 - August 2006
- Chopper Franklin – bass & guitar, January 2002-September 2006
- Fur - Bass Guitar early nineties
Discography
Albums
- Gravest Hits (1979)
- Songs the Lord Taught Us (1980)
- Psychedelic Jungle (1981)
- Smell of Female (1983)
- Off The Bone (1983)
- Bad Music for Bad People (1984)
- A Date With Elvis (1986)
- ROCKINNREELINAUCKLANDNEWZEALANDXXX (1987)
- Stay Sick (1989)
- Look Mom, No Head! (1991)
- Flame Job (1994)
- Big Beat From Badsville (1997)
- Fiends of Dope Island (2003)
- How to Make a Monster (2004)
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard Hot 100 | US Modern Rock | US Mainstream Rock | UK Singles Chart | |||
| 1978 | "The Way I Walk" (US) | - | - | - | - | Gravest Hits, Off The Bone |
| "Human Fly" (US) | - | - | - | - | Gravest Hits, Off The Bone | |
| 1980 | "Fever" (UK) | - | - | - | - | Songs The Lord Taught Us, Off The Bone |
| "Garbageman" (US) | - | - | - | - | Songs The Lord Taught Us, Off The Bone | |
| "Drug Train" | - | - | - | - | Off The Bone | |
| 1981 | "Goo Goo Muck" | - | - | - | - | Psychedelic Jungle, Off The Bone |
| "The Crusher" | - | - | - | - | Psychedelic Jungle, Off The Bone | |
| 1984 | "Faster Pussycat" | - | - | - | - | Smell Of Female |
| "I Ain't Nuthin' But a Gorehound" | - | - | - | - | Smell Of Female | |
| 1985 | "Can Your Pussy Do the Dog?" | - | - | - | #68 | A Date With Elvis |
| 1986 | "What's Inside a Girl?" | - | - | - | - | A Date With Elvis |
| "Kizmiaz" | - | - | - | - | A Date With Elvis | |
| "Get Off The Road" (Sweden) | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1990 | "Bikini Girls With Machine Guns" | - | #10 | - | #35 | Stay Sick! |
| "All Women Are Bad" | - | - | - | - | Stay Sick! | |
| "The Creature From the Black Leather Lagoon" | - | - | - | - | Stay Sick! | |
| 1991 | "Eyeball In My Martini" | - | - | - | - | Look Mom, No Head! |
| 2003 | "Big Black Witchcraft Rock" | - | - | - | - | Fiends Of Dope Island |
Videos
Human Fly (1978) Garbageman (1979) Urgh! A Music War (1982) Bikini girls with machine guns (1990) Creature From the Black Leather Lagoon (1990) Ultra Twist (1994) Naked Girl Falling Down the Stairs (1994) Like a Bad Girl Should (1997)
References
- The Cramps Discography, Biography and Links at Mr Bill's I.R.S. Records Corner Retrieved 23 November 2004.
- Deming, Mark. Allmusic.com Biography on The Cramps Retrieved 23 November 2004.
- The Wild Wild World of the Cramps by Ian Johnston, 1990, Omnibus Press, ISBN 0-7119-2350-7