tell me things about The Cramps (RIP Lux Interior)

"Psychedelic Jungle" is worth getting, as is "Songs the Lord Taught Us." "A Date With Elvis" has a truly hideous cover. And "Gravest Hits" is beyond vital. "Human Fly"...O God they were great.

There's a certain kind of rock'n'roll party that for me is something very primal and vital... for me the Cramps tap into this energy and danger. I can't go there very often, but it's really like a kind of pagan ritual. I've gotta be transported; wild, half naked, drenched in beer and sweat, banging into people dancing my ass off... I was disappointed and depressed to see them a couple years ago at a San Francisco Halloween gig... the crowd was mostly bored hipsters just standing around.

I have a lot more to say about this... but for now I'll leave you with the words Jungle... Voodoo... Frenzy.

http://junkrock.com/images/bgregoryjpeg.jpg

He and Ivy live in Glendale, CA on a hillside adjacent to Forest Lawn Cemetery, the one featured in The Loved One.

http://blog.limewire.com/posts/4834-R-I-P-Lux-Interior-of-the-Cramps-

RIP Lux. :(

WAHHTT OMG NO

can anyone confirm this

http://www.thedailyswarm.com/headlines/cramps-lux-interior-rip/

seems to be true

WTF no :((((

fuck

this is horrible

neither one of those has any actual confirmation. i'm going to hope they're wrong until proven otherwise.

I will be crushed if this is true. one of my favorite bands ever.

oh man this is no good if true.

oh fuck.

RIP.

geez, i hope hope hope it ain't so. (wouldn't be the 1st time i've been taken in by bogus lux RIP rumor)

i'm hoping it isn't true - and clinging to the idea that normally there are wikipedia updates on this kind of thing in a flash and there's no sigh as yet

Oh uh - DailySwarm link updated with:

UPDATE: This news is, sadly, true. Please be patient; we will pass on more information soon.

WTF. This really sucks if true.

So far, the Limewire blog is the only thing coming up in a Google news search.

oh man that is sad : (

Talked with someone who knows their publicists. It's true. :( :( :(

Going home to drink cheap beer and watch their clip on Urgh A Music War.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

DailySwarm now has something that looks like it could be official:

The Official Statement (from Girlie Action, The Cramps’ media representatives):

For Immediate Release:
February 4, 2009

Lux Interior, lead singer of The Cramps, passed away this morning due to an existing heart condition at Glendale Memorial Hospital in Glendale, California at 4:30 AM PST today. Lux has been an inspiration and influence to millions of artists and fans around the world. He and wife Poison Ivy’s contributions with The Cramps have had an immeasurable impact on modern music.

The Cramps emerged from the original New York punk scene of CBGB and Max’s Kansas City, with a singular sound and iconography. Their distinct take on rockabilly and surf along with their midnight movie imagery reminded us all just how exciting, dangerous, vital and sexy rock and roll should be and has spawned entire subcultures. Lux was a fearless frontman who transformed every stage he stepped on into a place of passion, abandon, and true freedom. He is a rare icon who will be missed dearly.

The family requests that you respect their privacy during this difficult time.

aww fuck it RIP :(

aw man. r.i.p. lux. dammit, i never saw them. i had a good chance like 18 years ago and passed it up.

yeah I just got the official confirmation from the publicist

fuck

they were AMAZING live. one of the best live bands ever

I saw them play in London in 1986 - 22 and a half years ago - and its still vibrant in my mind.

Even if no other good musicians die for the rest of the year 2009 is still going to have been a fucking bitch for this sort of thing

So fucking bummed.

i would not have guessed he was closin in on 60 ...so goooooooooooooooooooddd....so wrong...i will sorely miss u luxxxxy...u were a great inspiration to me..even tho i canty play surfgoth i loved so much cramps..it hurts///oooo eeee oowww wahhhhh

I was thinking today that "Smell of Female" IS a really great title. maybe one day I'll actually listen to the band, also

this fucking sucks. rest ye well in rock god heaven, Lux.

:(

when people use that whole "sounds like music from another planet" trope, the first thing i think of is Bad Music For Bad People, which really did completely mindfuck me the first time i heard it. RIP you awesome weird dude.

That Wednesday clip made me smile.

Yeah, Lux was a great singer but so were so many of his role models, hello Gene Vincent!

On December 31, 1988 I saw The Cramps, Butthole Surfers, and Dead Milkmen at the 2,000 seat Warner Theatre in Washington DC . Had seen the Cramps before and they were great each time .

The Warner Theatre doesn't seem like a place for any of those bands! Sorry I missed that era.

I saw the Cramps twice - once was the first time I'd ever said "well, fuck it, I have a driver's license and L.A.'s only 40 minutes away, what if I drove in to see a show tonight" -- they were astonishing, they were touring Smell of Female. second time they were headlining the first Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds US tour. They were good, but Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds had chewed up all the scenery, the Cramps played for 90+ minutes and it didn't stun the way Cave & Co. had in 40 scant minutes. OTOH Lux actually took off his pants toward the end of the set, so, you know, naked Lux.

i could have sworn that i saw the cramps paired with john cale at cbgb, but i can't find any positive confirmation of that pairing on the internet. maybe it's that john cale happened to be there in the audience the night i saw the cramps? i also saw the cramps / bo diddley / clash show at the palladium.

the wednesday dance is the highlight of the show (which I hated at first but grew to like despite myself). that figure skating routine is really fun.

nice! (my life history sux and i’ve done it wrong sadmoji)

I wish I saw them a couple decades before I finally did - but the one show I saw (2006 at Sunset Junction) is on YouTube in its entirety. (this was a few months before their last show ever)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0OG68n8Pb4

This wasn't the show I saw, but this was the tour I saw, in 1994, promoting Flamejob. It was a bigger club — the Academy on 42nd Street in Manhattan. I think Gas Huffer opened.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyV5_IQKU3o

out of all the bands I regret missing live, The Cramps and Sun Ra have gotta be at the top. I missed a legendary show they did at the Jockey Club in Cincinnati in the mid-80s and never had the chance after that. The show they played in Indianapolis on the Psychedelic Jungle tour was even higher up on the pinnacle of Indiana legendary gig stories.

I saw them in 1991 (?) when the Stay Sick tour visited Australia. I was in my last year of high school, still underage and couldn’t get into thei venue of their Sydney show - so myself and two friends wagged school and caught a train to Newcastle University (about two hours away) and saw them there. We had no plan to get back and ended up spending the night in the waiting room of the train station! When I look back I am proud of our efforts (the Cramps were good).

Ha! I was at that Pittsburgh show, the back of my head probably mostly in the lower left corner, but I don't see it.

re Wednesday : me and mk2 watched the whole season over the festive season and loved it.
i knew of the Cramps scene, but kept quiet.
best thing in a long long time.

i saw them at a weird festival in finland in 1990, they were their usual groove of weird chaos.
but i seem to recall that i was just waiting for nomeansno.

"Goo Goo Muck" hasn't made Billboard's Top 100 yet, but they're still on a heavily Christmas-slanted chart, so maybe soon. (Haven't cared about the charts in years, but I want this to happen.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke9mddHlnCk

I spent all these years thinking Goo Goo Muck was one of their originals.

Also, I didn't realize there were two very different track lists for ...Off the Bone. That was the first of theirs I bought, from Paul's Records in Pittsburgh on an afternoon where there was a chemical spill from a tipped freight train in Panther Hollow. As me and my buddy approached the shop, a kid wearing a gas mask and riding a big wheel rumbled passed us. I remember flipping through the stacks and thinking I should get a Cramps record, but not knowing much about them. I pulled out ...Off the Bone and asked my buddy if it was good, and he said, "oh it's great!" But then I realized it wasn't him, but another Pittsburgh punk with the same devil lock hairdo, as we all looked the same circa '87.

They rapidly became one of my favorite bands, so I felt somewhat deficient that I didn't have the 3D version with the red/blue glasses. But the IRS tracklist opening with "Garbage Man" THEN hitting you with "Human Fly" seems like a much better way to introduce you to the Cramps worldview. No 3D glasses, but walking through a chemical spill to learn about the Cramps still feels like an auspicious start to the relationship.

Got excited by some Esquire piece that quoted Billboard as saying "Goo Goo Muck" "is steadily climbing the charts." Checked the Top 100 and nothing. The Lady Gaga song where she does the Goo Goo Muck dance on TikTok, that entered the Top 100, and that just doesn't seem right. (I like her song fine, but I bet even she'd be rooting for the Cramps.)

Interesting non-official statement on the "official" cramps insta,

https://www.instagram.com/p/CnRqPxcDBlw/

Hi all, just to clarify a few points:
There is at present no singular body in charge of The Cramps legacy, ownership of publishing etc being bought by various persons over the years, multiple defunct record labels & most importantly; Ivy having retired, completely.
Until further notice this page is acting as a curated presence for fans. It is run on behalf of various associates wishing to maintain the legacy of the group.
The current horrible, cash-in speeded up version of Goo Goo Muck on spotify (see above as to rights & publishing) will not be promoted here in any way.
This is a non-profit entity so there will never be links to merchandise.
The hashtags are broad & often seemingly tenuous for a wide reach - please try not to be a "gatekeeper," everyone discovers music in a different way - if you're here because of Wednesday: hello & welcome!!!
A single dance routine has introduced a whole new generation to The Cramps.
If you'd rather keep the music as your personal secret because you were there first... that SUX, frankly.
So a big thank you to all for following & interacting! Much love & STAY SICK.

100% agree with their sentiment. a shame the cramps legacy is such a mess though.

The current horrible, cash-in speeded up version of Goo Goo Muck on spotify

i just checked this out - so bad!

it has 138000 plays vs the cramps now 32 million!

Hurrah for this:

"A single dance routine has introduced a whole new generation to The Cramps. If you'd rather keep the music as your personal secret because you were there first...that SUX, frankly.'

that statement raises more questions than it answers. did Ivy sell all her rights and publishing? what does "retired completely" mean?

i heard she has no desire to have anything to do with the business anymore.

is that instagram link working for others? it gives me an error

Brad - I posted the whole text of the post

I agree that the statement raises a bunch of questions - was hoping someone might know more. Dashes my hopes of Ivy recording again.

There was a comment string in the instagram post. It appeared that the person who runs the account replied to a doubter with something more revelatory, which said doubter replied to with something along the lines of "oh that makes sense then and sounds like good news". By the time I saw it however, the account had deleted their original reply with apologies that they might have said too much. Now, the whole post has been deleted.

Wish I had thought to screencap it, because I'm only providing a vague paraphrase of what was actually said.

And by doubter, I mean someone who was like "are you actually related to the Cramps or just a fanpage?"

I just read the Kid Congo Powers book, and while it didn't make me want to take a shower, it made me want everyone in it to take a shower. But watching a few Cramps clips afterwards brought me to this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fO3ZJ048ZQ

I had to cover a couple of junior music classes this afternoon where the teacher had a slide show of Halloween-related songs she wanted them to respond to. The Addams Family theme was on there, just the kind of opening I need to go off on a tangent. So 40 or so 10- and 11-year-olds have now seen the "Garbageman" video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyoAt7r1omc

Most kids know their cover of "Goo Goo Muck" when it went viral in the past year.

That was the segue--I went from the theme to the clip of Wednesday/Lurch dancing on the original show to Jenny Ortega/"Goo Goo Muck" to the Cramps.

Bryan Gregory's practically Twin Peaks' Bob in that clip.

lol yes exactly! I'd never seen that video before, supremely rockin'.

Toronto was lucky enough to have a show at the time, The New Music (co-hosted by future Fox mannequin J.D. Roberts), that would play stuff like that. Hard to put into words the effect that seeing that had on me at 20.

We had a middle school trick or treater on Halloween dressed as Wednesday from the Adams Family. My wife put on Cramps "Goo Goo Muck" and the kid, unprompted, did the dance quite well.

crew needed a pale boy dressed in sweaty latex pants and net shirt and lee press-on dagger nails imo

Alas she didn’t have a crew and probably wasn’t aware of specifics re the song .

Lol nah yah that kid was def owning that role— i was just laffing at the idea of a kiddo on halloween as lux which would be like “i’m calling protective services”

Ha , yes .

So, big ol' mailout from Henry Rollins in my inbox about a new rarities collection, Gravest Gravy, out in late August:

--

Greetings. Henry Rollins here.

I am beyond stoked to announce the formation of The Cramps Inc. that will restart the Cramps’ label Vengeance Records, create official merchandise, and venture into the vaults to unleash unheard recordings of this amazing band.

The Cramps Inc. is the artist formerly known as Poison Ivy Rorschach, Larry Hardy, owner and operator of In The Red Records, and Jimmy Maslon, a former Rollin’ Rock recording artist, film producer, and owner of the Herschel Gordon Lewis, and Doris Wishman film catalogs. Both have deep ties to Lux and Ivy, forged over decades. Ivy is the major beneficiary. Larry and Jimmy are handling all the logistics. They are perfect for this.

Ian MacKaye and I, operating as RAM Prod. (Rollins and MacKaye), are working on behalf of The Cramps Inc., coming up with release ideas, handling tape maintenance, editing, mixing, mastering and lacquer cutting responsibilities. We are aligned with Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, VA and Infrasonic Sound in Nashville, TN.

Many Cramps records and items, such as t-shirts you see on the Internet—are bootlegs. The Cramps Inc. is striving to right that wrong and recently made a deal with the merchandising company Easy Partners. Cool designs for official merch are well underway.

The Cramps Inc. will be reissuing the following titles:

Gravest Hits
Smell Of Female
A Date With Elvis
RockinnreelininAucklandNewZealand
Stay Sick!
Look Mom No Head!
Big Beat From Badsville
Fiends Of Dope Island
How To Make A Monster

Out of an abundance of respect and affection for the Cramps, their amazing legacy, and their extraordinarily enthusiastic global fan base, we started work on all of this several months ago in relative secrecy.

Not only do we have a completely mind-blowing first release to kick things off, we have other projects in various states of completion that we will announce when the time is right. All of these are from source masters and previously unreleased. We will update you on upcoming releases.

Now, about this first dose of Vengeance, here are some facts:

In October 1977, the Cramps, who were at that time, Lux Interior on vocals, Poison Ivy on guitar, Bryan Gregory on guitar, and Nick Knox on drums, ventured into Ardent Studios with the extraordinarily talented musician and producer, Alex Chilton. These sessions were responsible for the first two Vengeance Records releases, both permanently disfiguring the music world in 1978.

Surfin’ Bird / The Way I Walk
Human Fly / Domino

In 1979, young British degenerates were treated to a five track 12” EP by the Cramps called Gravest Hits, which featured all four tracks released in the USA, along with another from the October 1977 sessions, a great channeling of Ricky Nelson’s hit Lonesome Town. From there, the band released their first LP, Songs The Lord Taught Us, again working with Alex Chilton, and went onward, releasing records and touring all over until the sad passing of Lux in 2009.

What Cramps fans might not know, was at Ardent, the band had planned to record their song T.V. Set to be their first A side, along with another track or tracks. Alex told them that he liked to have a band play every song they knew and the best of the batch would be committed to vinyl. This was fantastic advice, and luckily for us, that’s what the Cramps did. This is how Lonesome Town found its way to Gravest Hits. But, there was much more to the story.

In the late 1980s, Lux and Ivy endeavored to release more recordings from the October 1977 sessions. It was to be titled Gravest Gravy. It was a record for the fans, a journey back to Memphis, back to the first Cramps records, that, try as it might, the world has been unable to heal from. Lux and Ivy mixed several tracks between June 14 and 30, 1989 at Present Time Recorders, in North Hollywood. Alex mixed a few tracks in Memphis. The album had a title, a cover by the great Stephanie Chernikowski, who passed away recently, but for reasons lost to time, Gravest Gravy was shelved.

In 2026, we sought to change that. It was apparent that this record absolutely needed to be with the fans. A team, still severely cramped from initial contact with the band, began to form and got to work.

The tracks on Gravest Gravy were contained on seven 1/4 inch reels. Six were generated by Lux and Ivy, one by Alex. The tapes were carefully transferred by Brian Kehew. He was happy to report that all seven reels had withstood the test of time, and the tracks were in pristine condition. Many of the songs had multiple mixes. We had to determine which ones were the keepers. Over several nights of concentrated listening, and copious notetaking, I was able to get an understanding of the changes made from mix to mix. Within a few nights, I was able to determine that the last mix of each song was the keeper. Not only did the tracks sound to be at their fullest potential, it made sense.

I sent the mixes and my notes to Ian MacKaye, whose ears I trust more than anyone I know. I asked him to take his time, go through the tracks and form an opinion of my selections. Days later, he reported back that he agreed with me on all of them. He then volunteered to do some EQ and level adjustment on two of the tracks with Don Zientara at Inner Ear Studios, in Arlington, Virginia.

Days later, all the tracks were at Infrasonic Sound, an excellent studio in Nashville, Tennessee for mastering under the careful watch of engineer Pete Lyman. I sat for hours and listened as Pete coaxed the frequencies to be at their best. The results were two six song sides of the Cramps, extracted from a 1977 amber block, de-fossilized and ready to be inflicted upon the ears of those who would rather Stay Sick and Turn Blue than hope for sunny weather.

Gravest Gravy is an absolute treasure. You get a performance of Hungry by Paul Revere and the Raiders, released in 1966, which found itself in the band’s early set lists, but soon dropped out. To make it even more interesting, Alex Chilton jumps in on organ. Another early Cramps cover, Problem Child, written by Sam Phillips, is on the record. The band used to do an absolutely rippin’ version of the 1958 Jimmy Lloyd track, Rocket In My Pocket at some of their early shows. There’s a great version of it on Gravest Gravy. Also really cool are the songs that found official release on the band’s second album, Psychedelic Jungle, with Kid Congo Powers taking over the spot vacated by Bryan. These tracks would be Jungle Hop (also with Alex Chilton on organ) by Kip Tyler, released in 1958, The Natives Are Restless (with different lyrics), Can’t Find My Mind and Rockin’ Bones released in 1959 by the Blond Bomber himself, Ronnie Dawson. The approach to these versions is much different than on Psychedelic, and it’s never a bad thing to have more Bryan Gregory to listen to.

We were able to locate the exact photo of Stephanie’s that Lux and Ivy had envisioned for the cover. The back cover photo was taken by David Godlis at CBGB, and is easily one of the coolest Cramps photos ever.

We brought in the very talented Jason Willis to make a video for T.V. Set. It could not have turned out better.

What you have in Gravest Gravy, is sheer brilliance committed to tape by a band that was plugged in directly to the Rock ‘n Roll mainline, produced by a visionary maniac named Alex Chilton.

This new chapter for the band is a combined effort of people whose lives were changed by the music of the Cramps. As I’ve said many times, I first saw the Cramps on April 20, 1979 in a small bar in Washington, DC, and I’ve never recovered. Ian was standing next to me. We still talk about that show. The opportunity to bring this music to fellow Cramps fans is beyond a thrill. It is an absolute honor that we feel so fortunate to be a part of.

Stay sick! Turn blue!

Peace to our dear Stephanie

Henry Rollins

Here's the first song they've released from this new compilation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K3cc9BMqmU

And the full details:

THE CRAMPS

GRAVEST GRAVY

THE CRAMPS INC

RELEASE DATE: 21ST AUGUST 2026 (LP/CD)

TRACKLIST:
01. T.V. Set
02. Weekend On Mars
03. Twist & Shout
04. Jungle Hop
05. Can’t Hardly Stand It
06. Hungry
07. The Natives Are Restless
08. Domino
09. Can’t Find My Mind
10. Rockin’ Bones
11. Problem Child
12. Rocket In My Pocket

oh my fucking god

this is truly great news

Yeah looks like everything but Songs and Psychedelic getting the roll out, plus all the other stuff on top of that. Works for me! And a good way to bring them further into the present.

Bandcamp page here: https://thecramps1.bandcamp.com/album/gravest-gravy

Thanks for that!

I have most of their stuff on CD, I will not rebuy it on vinyl

I have most of their stuff on CD, I will not rebuy it on vinyl

I have most of their stuff on CD, I will not rebuy it on vinyl

but it's so pretty...

haha

I will def buy the Bandcamp files ASAP

Bought it on CD. I’m not a Cramps completist and they are just not the kind of band where I have to chase the best mastering or whatever. But anything with Gregory is a must-buy.

I wonder if this was already in the works before Wednesday gave them a big push?

Good for Ivy. I hope she’s rolling in bliss.