{"id":19115,"date":"2024-04-14T22:54:39","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T02:54:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coldfury.com\/?p=19115"},"modified":"2024-04-14T23:50:21","modified_gmt":"2024-04-15T03:50:21","slug":"the-greatest-band-you-never-heard-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coldfury.com\/wp\/the-greatest-band-you-never-heard-of\/","title":{"rendered":"The greatest band you never heard of"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A look behind the scenes at the Cramps. First, a cpl-three of my personal favorites.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"560\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8jHbsI-tLfk?si=_5Fdwfz3mXRghTGL\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/center><center><\/center><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"560\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iZW0RtcDxUA?si=bro58bFujhv0rlX6\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/center><center><\/center><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"560\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FrJWkTSld0Y?si=NA0xb41p9J9iOSHf\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Yes, I&#8217;m aware that the Cramps&#8217; bare-bones, raw, stripped-to-the-primer sound; the shock\/schlock vintage horror-movie sensibilities which are shot through both their recordings and their onstage presentation; and Lux Interior&#8217;s more-shouted-than-sung vocal style isn&#8217;t going to appeal to all of y&#8217;all CF Lifers\u2014let alone the bizarre way he prowls and flings himself around onstage, the <i>outr\u00e9<\/i>\u00a0antics, the in-your-face freaky-deakiness. I can see how that might be off-putting to those who didn\u2019t come of age during the mid-70s punk rock explosion like I did, and that\u2019s cool. In consideration of more-restrained and\/or genteel tastes, I\u2019ll do y\u2019all a favor and just tuck the rest of this post away beneath the fold.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>One of the verymost intense and exciting live performances I ever witnessed was the Cramps&#8217; headlining gig at CLTs venerable\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parkelevator\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Park Elevator club<\/a>, the same venue where I rode my old 1971 FLH up onto the stage a few years later, blipped the throttle a few times, and parked it by my blonde Bassman amp as the BPs were launching into our opening number. The Cramps concluded their encore set on the aforementioned night with Lux stalking recklessly atop the dizzyingly-high PA stacks, wearing nothing but a leopard-print G-string and a pair of red spike stripper-heels, wallowing and raving as the band\u2019s frenzied, driving attack reached its thunderous climax behind (and below\u2014WAY below) him.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone in the joint was drenched in sweat, utterly exhausted, and happy as some clams, if the languid smiles were any indication. I know <em>I<\/em> was, anyway.<\/p>\n<p>I won\u2019t embed it here due to its 15 minutes-plus length, but if you\u2019re interested you definitely ought to watch <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=VJEY5Eyo7pE&#038;list=PLXmHkaG_3bthaAJZKwF-QJYb9vOFRsvpl&#038;index=6\" rel=\"noopener\">this YewToob documentary<\/a>\u00a0on the Cramps. It\u2019s fascinating, even sweetly touching in places, specifically the footage featuring Lux and his wife of 37 years, lead guitarist\/songwriter\/producer <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Poison_Ivy_(musician)\" rel=\"noopener\">Poison Ivy Rorschach<\/a> (Kristy Wallace IRL; Lux was born <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lux_Interior\" rel=\"noopener\">Erick Lee Purkhiser<\/a>). The couple met in 1972 at Sacramento State College, moving to Lux\u2019s hometown of Akron, Ohio in 74 before landing in NYC just in time to launch the Cramps in 1976 as part of New York\u2019s punk rock revolution.<\/p>\n<p>Even as a diehard Cramps fan of many years\u2019 standing, I learned something from the documentary I hadn\u2019t known before: the Cramps were acknowledged among friends, fans, and inner-circle types as being \u201cIvy\u2019s band,\u201d a less-than-obvious truth that even Lux himself never tried to gainsay or dispute. Though she seldom got credit for it, Ivy <em>ran<\/em> this show, in every sense, and nobody but NOBODY dares to claim otherwise.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201ctouching\u201d part arises from the onscreen interaction between the devoted couple during the interview clips: they simply can\u2019t stop looking at each other, respectfully consulting each other on every question, in constant physical contact if it\u2019s nothing more than two fingers absently intertwined. Unconventional though their lifestyle was, Poison Ivy and Lux were as perfect, as <em>complete<\/em> a couple as I can ever remember seeing, in any context. Small wonder, then, that since her husband\u2019s untimely death in 2009 Ivy has been a recluse: declining all interview requests, shunning the spotlight, just quietly walking away from the rock and roll grind with neither fuss nor fanfare.<\/p>\n<p>In <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/gravyzine2.com\/interview\/lux-interior-interview-for-gravyzine-circa-1997\/\" rel=\"noopener\">this interview<\/a>, Lux tenders an opinion I couldn\u2019t agree with him more on, which I\u2019ll boldface and italicize for y\u2019as.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>Sal: Lately, as far as listening, has anything been on the record player for awhile? I guess being on tour is kinda hard.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Lux: Oh all kinds of stuff. We listen to stuff all the time. We bring a CD player, 2 big boxes of cassettes and stuff, compilations I\u2019ve made out of singles. That stuff we always take with us. Just a lot of Rockabilly stuff is kinda what we are listening to, it\u2019s really our favorite thing. We did that interview in Incredibly Strange music talking about Bachelor Pad Music, that\u2019s what they\u2019re calling that these days, we listen to that sometimes, that\u2019s sometimes a fun thing to listen to but our real passion is Rockabilly and 60s.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sal: There seems to be lots of Rockabilly coming out. I mean I remember the first time in the 70s Rockabilly resurgence but now there\u2019s so many, even more things coming out of the vaults. It\u2019s like a time machine, people cranking them out.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Lux: <em><strong>There seems to be a lot of bands that seems to treat it too reverently. You know, they sing about boppin\u2019 in the soda shop and all this kinda stuff and that ain\u2019t what rockabilly is supposed to be about.<\/strong><\/em> It\u2019s really supposed to be about sex. And I like Reverend Horton Heat, they do something new with it, and there are a few other bands that do. I wish that somebody would take Rockabilly a step further, and Psychobilly that\u2019s not sexual enough, it\u2019s too fast and not sexual enough most of the time. It\u2019s kind of like Rockabilly mixed with punk. It seems it\u2019s not as sexy as it should be.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sal: Yeah it doesn\u2019t really seem to be concerned with that. It seems to be concerned with the hair-do\u2019s and basically how fast they can play. It\u2019s not tribal enough or sensuous.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Lux: <strong><em>Yeah, I mean if Elvis was concerned about what came 30 years before him, he\u2019d be doing the Charleston<\/em>. <\/strong>It makes no sense.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sal: It didn\u2019t seem like they want to be rule breakers, like Elvis was more into breaking the rules, so was Jerry Lee Lewis and all the original people.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Lux: Yeah and <em><strong>I think that\u2019s what Rock\u2019n\u2019Roll is really all about whether it\u2019s R\u2019n\u2019B, Rockabilly, whatever it is. I think the Stooges were a great band. They did something brand new when they started, they were about breaking rules and every once in a while something like that happens.<\/strong><\/em> But I don\u2019t see much happening since punk rock hit (in) the 70s, you know the Sex Pistols and the Clash and the American bands like the Ramones, when that happened and when we started out, I think that was culture changing and people are still copying that, fashion is copying that and since then Grunge was just a copy of early 70s progressive rock. The thing that punk rock rebelled against \u2013 and retro \u2013 that\u2019s just disco for the fifth time over again. I\u2019d like to see a bunch of 16 year old kids do something exciting and new with R\u2019n\u2019R. That\u2019d be great.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Concur. From the above, as well as the Cramps&#8217; recorded output and live shows, it\u2019s clear as crystal that Lux was no great admirer of what I\u2019ve always called \u201cRockabilly under glass\u201d or \u201cMuseum-quality rockabilly,\u201d and neither am I. Oh, there are a handful of really good trad-RaB artists out there who play it the old-fashioned way\u2014such as High Noon, or Sweden\u2019s the Go-Getters\u2014but nonetheless bring their own fresh passion, originality, and creativity to the party.<\/p>\n<p>With the museum-quality bands, on the other hand, it all seems to be about getting the correct vintage clothes, the perfect pompadour, the correct vintage gear, and then taking the stage to try and out-Eddie Cochran <em>Eddie Cochran<\/em>, ferchrissake. It&#8217;s a mug\u2019s game, and after seeing an endless succession of these grave-robber bands at one of the big RaB weekenders like, say, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vivalasvegas.net\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Viva Las Vegas<\/a>, it gets mighty boring mighty quick. My late wife disdained the copycat breed as \u201cRockaNazis\u201d; she had no more patience with them than I do, or Lux did, bless her outlaw heart.<\/p>\n<p>For years, I made it a point to flaunt black nail polish and heavy eyeliner onstage, just to annoy the RockaNazi types. As our <em>repertoire<\/em> evolved from mostly classic-rockabilly covers to more muscular, harder-edged originals, the BPs caught our share of grief from the fussy traditionalists for playing \u201ctoo loud,\u201d \u201ctoo hard,\u201d \u201ctoo fast,\u201d <em>etc<\/em> over the years, which was just jake with me.<\/p>\n<p>I dropped the period-perfect garbadine jackets, slacks, and brothel creepers for black jeans and engineer boots. I still worked gobs of NuNile pomade into my hair, but instead of a laboriously-constructed pompadour I started cutting it myself, grew it <em>waaay<\/em> out on top with razor-short back and sides, and let my\u00a0preposterously long, greasy bangs fall where they would as the night wore on, the crowd got rowdier, and the sweat made the pomade run in rivers down into my stinging eyes.<\/p>\n<p>In light of my post-adolescent rebellion against all things staid and traditional, then, can it come as any big surprise that what I consider to be one of the most gratifying moments of my life should occur in, oh, around 1999 or thereabouts, when I was living in ATL?<\/p>\n<p>See, it went down this way: my friend Mark, who had been playing bass with us for a jot under a year, was gainfully employed as a bar-back at the fabled <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.masqueradeatlanta.com\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Masquerade Club<\/a> and got tasked with picking up Lux and Ivy at the airport and bringing them back to the venue for soundcheck in his ratty old van. The rest of the band arrived earlier in the tour bus; can\u2019t remember why it was that the other two had to fly in, but whatevs.<\/p>\n<p>As Mark related to me the next day, he had a pile of the Playboys\u2019 <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.countrystandardtime.com\/d\/cdreview.asp?xid=113\" rel=\"noopener\">recently-released live CD<\/a> strewn about the floor between the front seats, which Ivy noticed with delight. She picked one up and asked Mark, \u201cOh, do you know these guys? We LOVE them, they\u2019re a fantastic band!\u201d Mark grinned back over at her and allowed as how he was our new upright bassist, he had the CDs to help him learn our songs. Whereupon Ivy responded, \u201cMe and Lux have ALL their CDs, except for this one. We didn\u2019t even know they <em>had<\/em> a live record out, it\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve seen it!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Lux affirmed his wife\u2019s statements, and when they all got to the Masq Mark gifted his passengers with four or five copies of <em><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.discogs.com\/release\/8799379-The-Belmont-Playboys-One-Nite-Of-SinLive\" rel=\"noopener\">One Nite Of Sin<\/a><\/em> to add to their own personal stash back home. Being complimented in such fashion by Lux Interior and Poison Ivy is praise indeed as far as I\u2019m concerned, and has to be one of the high points of my entire life\u2014even moreso now that I know how congruent our attitudes and stylistic approaches to the music we played really was.<\/p>\n<p>Ivy, I sincerely hope you\u2019re well, and as happy as may be, y\u2019know, considering. Thanks for all the music, the fun, and the memories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A look behind the scenes at the Cramps. First, a cpl-three of my personal favorites. Yes, I&#8217;m aware that the Cramps&#8217; bare-bones, raw, stripped-to-the-primer sound; the shock\/schlock vintage horror-movie sensibilities which are shot through both their recordings and their onstage presentation; and Lux Interior&#8217;s more-shouted-than-sung&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class=\"easywp-readmore\"><a class=\"read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/coldfury.com\/wp\/the-greatest-band-you-never-heard-of\/\">Would you like to know more?<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  The greatest band you never heard of<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[170,168,118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-punk","category-rockabilly","category-guitars-and-those-who-sling","wpcat-170-id","wpcat-168-id","wpcat-118-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldfury.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldfury.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldfury.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldfury.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldfury.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19115"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/coldfury.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19120,"href":"https:\/\/coldfury.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19115\/revisions\/19120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldfury.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldfury.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldfury.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}