The Cramps

The original psychobilly garage punk band that scared the shit out of your mom and probably scared the shit out of you if you ever encountered them, if you don't know about them, you should! Here is the story.

The Cramps were an American rock band, formed in 1976 and active until 2009. The band split after the death of lead singer Lux Interior. Their line-up rotated much over their existence, with the husband and wife duo of Interior and lead guitarist Poison Ivy the only permanent members. The addition of band members Guitarist Bryan Gregory and drummer Pam Ballam comprised the first complete lineup in April 1976.

They were part of the early CBGB punk rock movement that had emerged in New York. The Cramps are noted as influencing a number of musical styles: not only are they one of the first garage punk bands, they are also widely recognized as one of the prime innovators of psychobilly.

Their sound was heavily influenced by early rockabilly, rhythm and blues, and rock and 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,[citation needed] 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 was an influence for their style of theatrical horror-blues.

In turn, The Cramps have influenced countless subsequent bands in the garage, punk and rockabilly revival subgenres,and helped create the psychobilly genre. "Psychobilly" was a term coined1 by The Cramps, although Lux Interior maintained that the term did not describe their own style.

The band split after the death of lead singer Lux Interior.

Interior was known for a frenetic and provocative stage show that included high heels, near-nudity and sexually suggestive movements. The Cramps gave their last show in November 2006.When asked why he continued to play live well into his middle age, he told the LA Times:

"It's a little bit like asking a junkie how he's been able to keep on dope all these years, It's just so much fun. You pull into one town and people scream, 'I love you, I love you, I love you.' And you go to a bar and have a great rock 'n' roll show and go to the next town and people scream, 'I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you.' It's hard to walk away from all that."
Their music is mostly in rockabilly form, played at varying tempos, with a very minimal drumkit. An integral part of the early Cramps sound is dual guitars, without a bassist. The focus of their songs' lyrical content and their image is camp humor, and retro horror/sci-fi b-movie iconography.

Poison Ivy about being called Psychobilly in 2003 (source http://suicidegirls.com)

"It's weird. We used that word when we first started out in 1976 before we even had gigs we had posters for fake gigs we hoped to have which had psychobilly and rockabilly on them. I think psychobilly has evolved into a musical style now which kind of isn't what we are. Maybe it means different things to different people. There seems to be a style of music called psychobilly now and I think it's defined by a standup bass, a very speeded up pace which we don't do. I think our songs have a more sensuous tempo to our songs. I'm not sure what exactly defines psychobilly but it seems to have taken on a life on its own. But its not quite what we do."

Poison Ivy about how they come up with their unique live shows.

"I don't even know. Its self expression to us and I guess it's evolved. We just do what we do. The stage is our playground and it's the ultimate self expression. We're as loud as we're legally allowed to be at every gig. What we wear is our taste in clothes, what we play is our taste in music. If it's crazy it's because we're crazy and we get paid for it."

Final line-up

Lux Interior (Erick Purkhiser) – vocals, March 1973 to February 2009
Poison Ivy (Kristy Wallace) – lead guitar, March 1973 to February 2009
Harry Drumdini – drums, February 1993 – July 2003 and August 2006 to February 2009

Former members

Bryan Gregory (Greg Beckerleg) – guitar, April 1976 – May 1980
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
Click Mort – guitar, December 1983
Scott "Chopper" Franklin – bass & guitar, January 2002 – September 2006

Sean Yseult (Shauna Reynolds, of White Zombie) – bass, October/November 2006
Touch Hazard (Tim Maag of The Mechanics & D.I.) – bass, 1985
Fur (Jennifer Dixon) – bass, March 1986 – May 1986
Candy del Mar – bass, July 1986 – January 1991
Slim Chance – bass, March 1991-August 1998
Doran Shelley – bass, 1998–1999
SugarPie Jones (aka Tim Ferris) – bass, 2000

Pam Ballam (Pam Beckerleg) – drums, April 1976 – September 1976
Miriam Linna – drums, October 1976 – June 1977
Nick Knox – drums, July 1977 – January 1991
Jim Sclavunos – drums, 1991
Nickey Alexander – drums, June 1991 – January 1993
Bill "Buster" Bateman – drums, June 2004 – August 2006
Jen Hanrahan – castanets June 2000 – August 2000.
"Jungle" Jim Chandler – "Laid down the primal beat" for the European tour 2004

Studio albums

Songs the Lord Taught Us (1980, Illegal)
Psychedelic Jungle (1981, I.R.S.)
Smell of Female – (live at the Peppermint Lounge) 6-track mini album (1983, Big Beat)
A Date with Elvis (1986, Big Beat)
Stay Sick (1990, Enigma)
Look Mom No Head! (1991, Enigma)
Flamejob (1994, The Medicine Label)
Big Beat from Badsville (1997, Epitaph)
Fiends of Dope Island (2002, Vengeance)

Compilations

Off the Bone (1983, Illegal)
Bad Music for Bad People (1984, I.R.S.)
How to Make a Monster (2004, Vengeance)
The Secret Life of the Cramps (2006)[citation needed]

Source Wikipedia and the Internet.