Posted on 02/04/2009 10:31:57 PM PST by lainie
Lux Interior, lead singer of influential garage-punk act the Cramps, died Wednesday morning (February 4) due to an existing heart condition, according to a statement from the band's publicist. He was 62.
Born Erick Lee Purkhiser, Interior started the Cramps in 1972 with guitarist Poison Ivy (born Kristy Wallace, later his wife) — whom, as legend has it, he picked up as a hitchhiker in California. By 1975, they had moved to New York, where they became an integral part of the burgeoning punk scene surrounding CBGBs.
Their music differed from most of the scene's other acts in that it was heavily steeped in camp, with Interior's lyrics frequently drawing from schlocky B-movies, sexual kink and deceptively clever puns. (J.H. Sasfy's liner notes to their debut EP memorably noted: "The Cramps don't pummel and you won't pogo. They ooze; you'll throb.") Sonically, the band drew from blues and rockabilly, and a key element of their sound was the trashy, dueling guitars of Poison Ivy and Bryan Gregory (and later Kid Congo Powers), played with maximal scuzz and minimal drumming.
Because of that — not to mention Interior's deranged, Iggy Pop-inspired onstage antics and deep, sexualized singing voice (which one reviewer described as "the psychosexual werewolf/ Elvis hybrid from hell") — the Cramps are often cited as pioneers of "psychobilly" and "horror rock," and can count bands like the Black Lips, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, the Reverend Horton Heat, the Horrors and even the White Stripes as their musical progeny.
(Excerpt) Read more at mtv.com ...
I was kind of surprised to see a thread about this. I thought conservatives were supposed to be boring & stodgy when it came to popular culture. I got to see the Cramps here in San Diego at the Adams Avenue theater when it was still a theater.
Oh when the sun goes down and the moon comes up
I turn into a teenage goo-goo muck
Yeah I cruise through the city and I roam the streets
Lookin for something that is nice to eat
You better duck, when I show up, the goo-goo muck.
Ouch! Yes, you did!
That’s a great and terrible post at the same time.
I’d been a big fan for a long time by the time I got to see them live. I thought I knew what to expect.
I’ve still never seen anything quite like them.
It was in the same spirit of the warmly-remembered dearly departed. :)
He, and they, certainly were unique.
Boring and stodgy is a great myth. Those on the left who believe it must be really confused from time to time.
R.I.P. Lux, you depraved bastard. Your band rocked my world.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.