The Cramps: C or D?

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you ain't no punk, you punk. you wanna talk about the real junk?

― fritz, Wednesday, 13 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

one half hillbilly and one half punk, eight long legs and one big mouth, the hottest thing from the north to come out of the south

― fritz, Wednesday, 13 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I have a feeling ILM will hate em for their retro aesthetic, cheap laffs, Russ Myersisms, and being 110% American. I love them for all of the above, plus they had goooooooooooooooo-ood taste!

― fritz, Wednesday, 13 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Oh, they're great. And they give fun interviews.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 13 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Did you interview Lux n' Poison, Ned?

― fritz, Wednesday, 13 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Oh my god, the Cramps are a COMPLETE CLASSIC! Anyone who says differently should be smacked over the head with a stack of old Barry Manilow albums.

― Alex in NYC, Wednesday, 13 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I only wish! No, this is from the interviews I've read from them over time, like the great one in the first Incredibly Strange Music volume.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 13 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Utter classic. And occasionally one of the best live acts in the world. I'm partial to the incarnation that features Kid Congo Powers; Bryan Gregory's early departure to join the Church of Satan also adds a nice creepy sheen to the "Gravest Hits" E.P.

― John Darnielle, Wednesday, 13 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Complete classic.

― dan, Wednesday, 13 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

ivy roX0r. i have a million squillion cramps rekkids, but "off the bone" is my fave - all the wickedest shit like "human fly" and "she said" and "can't hardly stand it" and "the crusher".

― di, Wednesday, 13 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I saw them live and enjoyed them so much but I was very drunk, on the other hand it was like seeing a play. Lux Interior took off his pants, I saw his penis etc. I don't mean to take anything away from them, they are great, but they're very very straight down the line. Very straight in the sense of knowing what they're doing. I guess that makes you feel a bit manipulated sometimes. Very tasteful! I'm doing what you called 'the expected ILM response', aren't I? Well, what do you expect - we're all sitting here at computers, not playing live in a mental hospital - I read last night that a certain sort of art is really just intended as an 'imaginary world', not a slice of life or a philosophical commentary on it, but even in the case of this intense imaginary world, it helps to have touches of reality, like flies biting your leg or whatever, to aid you in your suspension of disbelief.

― maryann, Wednesday, 13 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

What still baffles me about the Cramps is the Alex Chilton connection.

― Dave Beckhouse, Wednesday, 13 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I love The Cramps. They have bucketfuls of charisma. And their recent records are better than a lot of people would have you believe. Their last album (from way back in '97), Big Beat From Badsville, holds up great next to their earlier stuff. If you haven't outgrown the band, they still rock.

Also, for some reason, they're also one of the most widely bootlegged bands of their generation. Live recordings, outtakes, and bootleg videos are strangely ubiquitous and can often be had cheaply. The famous Napa State Hospital video (a 1975 gig in a mental hospital with lots of participation from the audience of patients who loom around the band like the zombies in Night of the Living Dead) is good for a viewing or two. There's a lot of film of the early Cramps. "Music videos", interviews. I have three tapes (purchased from various record fairs) packed full of stuff from the 70s to the 90s. Lux and Poison are always cool (being in a band that's always been several miles out of fashion becomes them) and they've changed remarkably little all this time. Especially in appearance. How they've looked exactly the same (especially Poison Ivy) over the years is some kind of strange miracle.

― Oliver Kneale, Wednesday, 13 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Re Cramps and LX Chilton: I work briefly at Ardent Studios, where Big Star did their stuff and where Alex recorded a number of solo projects. Anyhow, the story I heard around the coffee machine was that after Alex recorded Like Flies on Sherbert there, he came back bitching and complaining about the sound, the engineering (done by fledgling knob-puller John Hampton), whole project ruined, etc. This is especially amusing when you consider what his other records from the same period sound like. Anyway, he complained so much about it that John Fry, Mr. Ardent, awarded him some free studio time as compensation. LX promptly brought the Cramps down from NYC and produced Songs the Lord Taught Us on his free hours. Hopefully he chopped up the advance money he saved with the band--assuming he told them. And to top it all, he dunned Hampton into engineering it.

Oh, and back on topic, total classic. Even though they got a bit showbiz and corny after the early years.

― lee g, Thursday, 14 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Gotta say they are classic. Saw them the first time in 1982 - damn 20 years ago, in portland, oregon. We were high on refer, the place was small, about 100 people were there, with disco lights on. What fun!

― richee, Sunday, 17 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

twenty-one years pass...

I was not wrong.

― Alex in NYC, Wednesday, 8 November 2023 21:45 (two years ago)

eternally classic

― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Wednesday, 8 November 2023 22:17 (two years ago)

no you were not

― digital chirping and whirring (Hunt3r), Thursday, 9 November 2023 03:04 (two years ago)

(sorry, xp)

― digital chirping and whirring (Hunt3r), Thursday, 9 November 2023 03:04 (two years ago)

nine months pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBHwbqCI-Xw

Cramps live at Max’s 1977 audio.

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 27 August 2024 16:29 (one year ago)

That screenshot above is something: Bryan Gregory in a tie, Poison Ivy barely looking like Poison Ivy.

― clemenza, Tuesday, 27 August 2024 17:02 (one year ago)

yeah that is old school with Miriam, Lux still looking like a hippie refugee named Vip Vop

― pink-haired Marxist (sleeve), Tuesday, 27 August 2024 17:04 (one year ago)

if it wasn't for Lux's inclusion i'm not sure i would have ever known who was in that photo. looking forward to listening.

― stirmonster, Tuesday, 27 August 2024 17:16 (one year ago)

Even Lux looks more like he should be in the Blues Magoos than he does Lux.

― clemenza, Tuesday, 27 August 2024 17:19 (one year ago)

that's some drum-pounding!

― Theracane Gratifaction (bendy), Tuesday, 27 August 2024 17:21 (one year ago)

one year passes...

This’ll keep ya going. As shared by Kid Congo on Bluesky:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx0f_posfFg

The Cramps @ Emerald City, Cherry Hill, NJ. May 8, 1981 (Full Show) . Shot by the great and wonderful Rich Lustre of Sic Kidz Lights by fab Rick Schmidlin on this tour if not mistaken ! Lux Interior, Poison Ivy, Kid Congo Powers, Nick Knox . What a gas it was!

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 21 January 2026 21:09 (four months ago)

aw yeah

― vague facial gymnastics (sleeve), Wednesday, 21 January 2026 21:30 (four months ago)

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