The Cramps were an American rock band formed in 1976 and active until 2009. Their lineup rotated frequently during their existence, with the husband-and-wife duo of singer Lux Interior and guitarist Poison Ivy the only ever-present members. The band are credited as progenitors of the psychobilly subgenre, uniting elements of punk rock with rockabilly.
Rockabilly is an early style of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blues, leading to what is considered "classic" rock and roll. Some have also described it as a blend of bluegrass with rock and roll. The term "rockabilly" itself is a portmanteau of "rock" and "hillbilly"; the latter is a reference to country music that contributed strongly to the style. Other important influences on rockabilly include western swing, boogie-woogie, jump blues, and electric blues.
Psychobilly is a rock music fusion genre that fuses elements of rockabilly and punk rock. It's been defined as "loud frantic rockabilly music", it has also been said that it "takes the traditional countrified rock style known as rockabilly, ramp[ing] up its speed to a sweaty pace, and combin[ing] it with punk rock and imagery lifted from horror films and late-night sci-fi schlock,... [creating a] gritty honky tonk punk rock."
The Meteors are an English psychobilly band formed in 1980. Originally from London, England, they are often credited with giving the psychobilly subgenre — which fuses punk rock with rockabilly — its distinctive sound and style.
Shelton Hank Williams, known as Hank Williams III, is an American musician, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known for his fusion of traditional and honky-tonk country music with rockabilly and punk rock. He was the drummer of hardcore punk band Arson Anthem, and bassist of Phil Anselmo's band Superjoint Ritual. He has released eleven studio albums, including five for Curb Records.
The Legendary Shack Shakers are an American rock band from Murray, Kentucky that was formed in 1995 by J.D. Wilkes. The original line-up formed the band out of a shared interest in rockabilly, blues and Western swing. Subsequently, the band gained prominence in the alternative country scene with a sound that encompassed rockabilly, blues, country and punk rock and a lyrical focus on Southern Gothic themes. Over time, the band's sound shifted to emphasize country music.
Hasil Adkins was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His genres include rock and roll, country, blues and more commonly rockabilly, and because of his unusual playing and singing style, he is often cited as an example of outsider music. He generally performed as a one-man band, playing guitar and drums at the same time.
Martin James "Boz" Boorer is an English guitarist and producer who founded the new wave rockabilly group the Polecats; and for a 30-year period beginning in 1991 was co-writer, guitarist and musical director with Morrissey.
HorrorPops are a Danish punk band that formed in 1996. The band's sound is rooted in psychobilly, rockabilly, and punk rock.
Demented Are Go are a Welsh psychobilly band that was formed around 1982 near Cardiff, Wales. They were one of the earliest in the initial wave of bands to mix punk rock with rockabilly, and as a result, are considered to be highly influential to the psychobilly scene. The band often claims their name originated from the phrase "Demon teds are go!" as an adaptation of the phrase "Thunderbirds are go!" from the Thunderbirds TV series. Psychobilly is often associated with horror.
The Quakes are an American psychobilly band from Buffalo, New York, United States. They were formed in 1986. When the band began in the late 1980s, there was no psychobilly scene to speak of in the United States. The Quakes moved to London to try to find an audience.
Southern Culture on the Skids, also sometimes known as SCOTS, is an American rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Nervous Records is a UK rockabilly music independent record label. It was formed in 1979 by Roy Williams, a DJ on the UK rock'n'roll scene. Nervous Records is credited by many as the leading record label behind the emergence of the British neo-rockabilly and psychobilly scene in the early 1980s and released many of the earliest records by key British artists of the genre including The Polecats, The Sharks, Frenzy and Restless - as well as leading acts from other European countries including Batmobile (Netherlands) and The Nekromantix (Denmark).
The Polecats are an English rockabilly band formed at the end of the 1970s.
Patricia Day is a Danish musician best known as the lead singer and bass player of the rockabilly/psychobilly band HorrorPops.
The Farrell Brothers are a rockabilly group from Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada. Their stage show was noted for being professional and high energy.
Batmobile is a Dutch psychobilly band from Rotterdam and Breda, formed in 1983. They were the first band not from the United Kingdom to perform at the influential psychobilly club, Klub Foot and are considered the seminal Dutch psychobilly band.
The Go-Katz are a British psychobilly band formed in Loughborough in 1986. The original members were Howard Raucous on vocals, Beaker on guitar, Andy Young (guitar), Moff on Double Bass, and Wolf on drums. The band members have formerly made up Loughborough bands The Exorcists and The Go-Go Dakotas.
The Sting-rays were a British rock band from Greater London which recorded on Ace Records' garage and psychedelic subsidiary Big Beat and Joe Foster's Kaleidoscope Sound in the 1980s.
The Thirsty Crows are an American rock band from the South Bay area of Los Angeles, California. Thematically their songs tend to revolve around horror, binge drinking, and acts of revenge.
