tell me things about The Cramps (RIP Lux Interior)

Oh man. Another hero gone :-(

RIP

Ah, jeez fuck shit.

What a fun sweetheart. What a great.

RIP.

Maybe the best frontman I ever saw. RIP Lux.

RIP, Elvis Fuckin' Christ. "You gotta live it 'til you're dead . ." and Lux damn well did.

nooooooo

RIP

Really bummed at never having gotten to see 'em. RIP Garbageman.

Oh damn. Only ever saw them once when they played the Reading Festival (1990?). Didn't really quite work in the open air, but I do remember some sort of on-stage hijinks going on - didn't Lux eat his own vomit or something? Anyhow, the records really kick arse and I would gladly give my right nipple to have seen them play in some dank subterranean dungeon somewhere. RIP Lux.

the cramps changed my fucking life. so long lux. my thoughts are with ivy.

Jesus, not another one! RIP Lux, what a man, love to Ivy.

I don't think another band ever turned me on to so much other great stuff. The first time I saw them is still one of the 5 best live shows I ever saw... and it was at a House of Blues! R.I.P./Stay Sick!

I'll never forget the image of Lux scaling a wall of speakers while wearing bikini briefs and fishnet stockings. Even their roadie shook his head at the sight.
Last time I saw them was in October 2004 at the Avalon in Boston. Across the street, the Yankees were killing my Red Sox in Game 3 of the ALCS (but we know how that turned out - heh heh). They kicked off with "Mad Daddy," I believe. Incredible shows, all. RIP.

I've been listening to them loads over the last week or so and was pleased they were nearing the shortlist of invitees to May's UK ATP. Sad news. RIP Lux.

I remember first hearing Off The Bone when I was ~14. I confess my first reaction was "what in the fuck is this shit?" but it wasn't long before it was a mainstay on my turntable. I'll give it a wee play on the way home tonight.

Yes, I've still got the 3d specs!

I remember when the first cramps ep came in to the record store I was working in 1978. even in the wake of punk and no new york it was a shocker -- so crude and propulsive. like it was recorded by cavemen.

search: the re/search book on incredibly strange records, the interview w/lux & ivy nicely lays out their aesthetic. true believers in rock & roll.

RIP

Rest in peace, Lux. You were an idol since I got hold of that 3 hours long VHS-tape with Cramps on stage. Shame I'll never experince it live myself.

As (to paraphrase Billy Connelly) I've recently passed my 50th birthday, and will more recently pass my 53rd, 60 don't seem so old.

My introduction to their campiness was in '82-ish @ the on Broadway in SF (upstairs from the fab-Mab) topping a bill with Tav Falco, and the Gun Club. Goodness me.

I got to see Lux and Ivy @ a meet and greet @ The Vic in Chicago after a gig, maybe 10 years ago or so (time flies etc). I just wanted to see what they looked like up close, and was prepared for them to look old and scary under too much pancake makeup. Actually they both looked quite lovely, healthy, and normal (under the circumstances).

Although I thought they lost a step after Nick Knox left, Ivy blossomed into quite guitar player in the 10+ years between the 1st and last gigs I saw.

We all owe the man a huge debt.

search: the re/search book on incredibly strange records, the interview w/lux & ivy nicely lays out their aesthetic.

Yeah, I was thinking about that myself, I need to read that again.

Shit. I forgot to write something about crying 96 tears, from 96 eyes.

Aw shit, another one I would've liked to have seen, judging from the "Tear It Up" footage. Let me be the first to make a "this coffin contains a lux interior" joek. (Come on, the dude would've appreciated a little black humour.) Too bad for Poison Ivy - didn't know they were married until now.)

RIP

Let me be the first to make a "this coffin contains a lux interior" joek.(Come on, the dude would've appreciated a little black humour.)

OTM

man, i'd forgotten about elvis fucking christ. there should be a cramps song title poll, inc. bend over, i'll drive.

RIP Lux. I saw one Cramps show, late 90's, they were iconic.

Two of my friends got married in a drive-thru Vegas chapel while the New Zealand tape played in the car, exchanging vows to the tune of Can Your Pussy Do The Dog? Easily the coolest wedding music ever.

Came across this Lux DJ'd radio program last night while still hoping the rumor wasn't true:
http://salmagundisyncopation.blogspot.com/2009/01/purple-knif-show.html

I saw one Cramps show, late 90's, they were iconic.

same here, saw em on Valentine's Day of all days ... lux did the encore with a dildo strapped to his forehead o_0

great band

Loved them since hearing Bad Music for Bad People (what an awesome fucking title that is) in '86 or so, but didn't get to see them live until probably a decade later - the Flamejob tour. They fucking destroyed the place; one of the best shows I've ever seen, by anybody. Lux climbing the amps with his spandex pants creeping lower and lower, huffing and puffing into the mic he was deep-throating, while Ivy just cranked the riffs out impassively, never even bothering to check up on him. Wild as he was, she knew he knew exactly what he was doing. I still listen to them constantly. Everything through A Date with Elvis is essential, plus the live albums Smell of Female and Rockinnreelininaucklandnewzealand.

loved his intro to that clip at the mental hospital show pitchfork posted:

"Some people say you people are crazy...but I don't know about that. You seem alright to me."

<3

do you understand?

I'm going to tell you how / To get on board / You put one foot up / You put another foot up / Put another foot up / And you're on board ...

saw em (and his bare ass) once in the '80s. helluva spectacle.

shock.
saw them some years ago, Lux went wild over the mic and the speakers.
looked more like 40 than 60.
RIP. the cramps changed the way l listen to music while i was a teenage (werewolf).

I remember putting on "Human Fly" on the shared stereo in my highschool and another angry student turning it off and saying that it was "the worst music he'd ever heard". I remember being so puzzled by the solo in "TV Set" and the ghoulish way he would cackle into delay. What superheroes! Very sad . . .

RIP

I regret not being a total collector of the Cramps, because this was a great band for that. So many musicians, underground and overground, from all over the rock spectrum, especially throughout the 80s, nod immediately when The Cramps were brought as a life changing experience, from Ian MacKaye (in that Looking For A Thrill DVD) to Daniel Ash (in several Love & Rockets interviews.) to pretty much any rockabilly and/or punk band ever.

Ron Asheton + Lux R.I.P. within weeks is a really painful blow.

Not that many will care about the Looking For A Thrill DVD nor will this give anything away about it, but about a third of the bands mentioned The Cramps as their life-changing gateway in one form or another.

...and nick cave,iggy pop,jon spencer,calvin johnson,mark e. smith..(the list is endless)
xpost

Ivy just cranked the riffs out impassively, never even bothering to check up on him. Wild as he was, she knew he knew exactly what he was doing.

Man, how unusual was it to have a male/female partnership with the woman as instrumentalist and a male singer rather than the reverse? (esp 30 years ago?)

fuck, speechless

this is getting to me more than asheton's death... maybe cause the stooges always seemed like a previous generation's music (music they ignored, but still). this one hits close to home.

they don't make icons like lux anymore.

RIP zombie elvis

RIP. It's sad he went relatively early, but what a life he did lead.

Always thought one of the best pieces of Alex Chiltoniana was the story about him pistol whipping Lux during the sessions for Songs The Lord Taught Us, pointing the gun at Lux's head, telling him to "Sing it right!"

been reading other cramps threads and discovered I already said all I need to say

neither time nor experience can erase the bottomless sleazy splendor of the cramps and it is a beautiful mystery.

TS: The Cramps vs. Gun Club vs. X.............

Woah no way. Fuck's sakes.

one of my favorite recorded song intros ever: (to cover of Lonesome Town on the new zealand live album)
It's about love and death on a plane
under an open flame
igniting cocaine
it's not about dick and jane
it's about Ricky Nel-sane

I find it remarkable that even thirty years down the line, Lux and Ivy were *still* the short circuit to everything that was sleazy, perverted, and crazy fun about the kitsch eras. Dozens of Taschen books, 90s exotica revival records, and issues of Tiki News instantly made irrelevant by a single Cramps show. A great band, but insanely great conceptual artists.

Don't dream it - Be it. Indeed.

Buh buh buckee!

Edward III OTM, not quite sure why, more of my heroes have died (Ramones, asheton, john balance, david mccomb), but this, no, this manages to be more devastating and depressing somehow. It's like Fun and Awesome have failed or something.

Those muffled studio arguments on the Songs The Lord Taught Us bonus tracks are gold.

. . A great band, but insanely great conceptual artists.

Elvis OTFM

Exactly none of the 6 26 to 34 year old coworkers I went for a beer with tonight had ever heard of lux interior or the cramps. ***anomie****

You need some new coworkers

(I had at least one who talked about it with me)

the msm is starting to pick up on the story, for a while it was weird that nobody seemed particularly interested in reporting his passing

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE5140P920090205

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-me-lux-interior5-2009feb05,0,5401736.story

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aW85p_9cPDmE&refer=muse