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.
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."
Songs the Lord Taught Us is the debut album by the American rock band the Cramps. It was released in 1980 on I.R.S. Records in America and Illegal Records in England. In 2020, Rolling Stone included Songs the Lord Taught Us in their "80 Greatest albums of 1980" list, praising the band for its "psychobilly sound that went way beyond the kitschiest moments of the Ramones or Blondie and into a whole new realm of garage-trash novelty".
Smell of Female is the first live album by the American rock band the Cramps. The mini-album was recorded at The Peppermint Lounge in New York City on February 25–26, 1983, and issued the same year on Big Beat Records in the UK, Enigma Records in the US and New Rose Records in France. It was also released by New Rose as a quadruple-7" box set, with an additional track, "Weekend on Mars". It was later expanded to album length with three bonus tracks.
Gravest Hits is the first 12" EP by the American rock band the Cramps, compiling both sides of their first two 1978 Vengeance singles, "Surfin' Bird" and "Human Fly", with an added fifth track, a cover version of "Lonesome Town". It was released in July 1979 on Illegal Records and I.R.S. Records. The tracks were all produced by Alex Chilton and recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis in 1977. The EP's liner notes were credited to "Dr. J.H. Sasfy, Professor of Rockology, American Rock'n'Roll Institute, Washington D.C., U.S.A.". Gravest Hits is one of the first records of both the rockabilly revival and the psychobilly genres. The photograph on the back of the original sleeve, of the band in performance, was taken at the Palladium theater in New York.
Erick Lee Purkhiser, better known by the stage name Lux Interior, was an American singer and a founding member of the American rock band the Cramps from 1976 until his death in 2009 at age 62.
Kristy Marlana Wallace, known as Poison Ivy or Poison Ivy Rorschach, is an American guitarist, songwriter, arranger, producer, and occasional vocalist who co-founded the rock band The Cramps.
Bryan Gregory was an American rock musician, and founding member of and guitarist for The Cramps.
How To Make A Monster is the third compilation album by the American rock band the Cramps. Comprising rare, previously-unreleased tracks, the release is a 2-CD set that includes a 28-page book with extensive liner notes by members Lux Interior and Poison Ivy, as well as rare and previously unseen photos and flyers from their personal collection.
...Off the Bone is the first compilation album of previously released material by the American rock band the Cramps. It was released in 1983 in the United Kingdom on Illegal Records. The original release had an anaglyph on the cover and a pair of paper red and blue "3D glasses" inside the sleeve for viewing it.
Fiends of Dope Island is the eighth and final studio album by the American rock band the Cramps. The Cramps resurrected their own record label Vengeance Records to release the album in 2003. It was recorded in Hollywood in August 2002. It was self-produced by Poison Ivy and Lux Interior. The album takes its title from the 1959 film, Fiend of Dope Island. "Fissure of Rolando" was dedicated to John Agar (1921-2002).
Big Beat from Badsville is the seventh studio album by the American rock band the Cramps. It was released in 1997 on Epitaph Records.
Flamejob is the sixth studio album by the American rock band The Cramps. It was released on October 11, 1994, by Creation Records. It was recorded and mixed at the engineer Earle Mankey's Psychedelic Shack in Thousand Oaks, California. It was self-produced by Poison Ivy and Lux Interior. A UK-only reissue in 2003 contained two versions of "Ultra Twist!"
Look Mom No Head! is the fifth studio album and the 10th album overall by the American rock band the Cramps. It was released in November 1991 by Restless/Enigma, and licensed to Ace Records under Big Beat in the UK. It was recorded and mixed by Steve McMillan at Ocean Way Studios in Hollywood between June 21 and July 14, 1991. It was self-produced by Cramps guitarist Poison Ivy. Iggy Pop guested on the track "Miniskirt Blues", which was originally recorded by the Flower Children in 1967.
RockinnReelininAucklandNewZealandXXX is the eighth album overall and the second live album by the American rock band the Cramps. It was released on the band's own Vengeance Records. It was mixed by Greg Heiter and recorded live on August 27, 1986, at the Galaxy in Auckland, New Zealand. The track list was heavily drawn from the album A Date with Elvis, released earlier that year. It was reissued in 1994 with the bonus tracks "Blue Moon Baby", "Georgia Lee Brown" and "Lonesome Town".
A Date with Elvis is the third full-length studio album by the American rock band the Cramps, released in the UK on Big Beat Records in 1986. The title was appropriated from A Date with Elvis (1959), the eighth album by Elvis Presley. The album was recorded in fall 1985 and engineered by Steve McMillan and Mark Ettel at Ocean Way Studios in Hollywood, California. The album was first released in the US in 1990 by Enigma Records, with the bonus tracks "Blue Moon Baby", "Georgia Lee Brown", "Give Me a Woman", and "Get Off the Road". The Cramps reissued the album on their own Vengeance Records in 2001. The original album was reissued in the UK by Big Beat in 2013 on orange vinyl, and subsequently reissued again by Vengeance Records in the US, UK and Canada in 2014. It was the Cramps' most commercially successful album release, charting internationally and reaching the top 40 of the UK Albums Chart.
Bad Music for Bad People is the second compilation album of previously released material by the American rock band the Cramps. It was released in 1984 on I.R.S. Records and was seen by most fans as a cynical cash-in by the record label, following the departure of the band. Sounds, the now defunct UK music paper, gave the album a 5-star review but said, "Miles Copeland's IRS label pick the carrion of their former label mates even cleaner by releasing a watered down version of the ...Off the Bone singles collection that was released in the UK...The music's still great even if the scheming behind Bad Music for Bad People stinks of decay and corruption".
Psychedelic Jungle is the second album by the American rock band the Cramps. It was released in May 1981 on I.R.S. Records. It was engineered by Paul McKenna and recorded in January 1981 at A&M Studios. It was self-produced by the Cramps. The photo on the back cover of the album was taken by the noted photographer and director Anton Corbijn.
"Come On" is a song by the Scottish alternative rock group The Jesus and Mary Chain and the second single from the group's album Stoned & Dethroned. It was released by Blanco y Negro Records in October 1994 and reached #52 in the UK single charts.
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