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Cramps Singer Lux Interior Dead At 62
mtv.com ^ | 2-4-2009 | James Montgomery and Jem Aswad

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 ...


TOPICS: Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: cramps; googoomuck; luxinterior; poisonivy
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To: 537cant be wrong; Aeronaut; bassmaner; Bella_Bru; Big Guy and Rusty 99; Brian Allen; cgk; ...

Rock and Roll PING!


21 posted on 02/05/2009 5:51:25 AM PST by a fool in paradise (Obama thinks spending tax $ on abortions in Mexico helps more than controlling illegal immigration)
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To: lainie
...the Cramps are often cited as pioneers of "psychobilly" ...

A term they got from Johnny Cash (in On Piece At A Time a song by Wayne Kemp, where he mentions "This is the Cotton-Mouth in the psychobilly Cadillac...")

From recording their debut album at Sun Studios (with Alex Chilton on the knobs) to imbedded references to their vast record and movie collection, Lux and Ivy lived the life.

22 posted on 02/05/2009 5:55:31 AM PST by a fool in paradise (Obama thinks spending tax $ on abortions in Mexico helps more than controlling illegal immigration)
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To: lainie

If ever a couple were soul mates, these fit the description. At least they weren’t bank robbers or thrill killers like some couples...


23 posted on 02/05/2009 5:58:20 AM PST by a fool in paradise (Obama thinks spending tax $ on abortions in Mexico helps more than controlling illegal immigration)
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To: Revolting cat!

24 posted on 02/05/2009 6:04:05 AM PST by a fool in paradise (Obama thinks spending tax $ on abortions in Mexico helps more than controlling illegal immigration)
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To: lainie
The concert vid of them playing in a mental ward in the 70's is surreal.

RIP

25 posted on 02/05/2009 6:10:26 AM PST by Sam's Army
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To: lainie

Wow. Saw them at CBGB’s in the 70’s and again at the Whisky in 80’s. Always a great show with an interesting audience. I had no idea he was that old. Time does fly. RIP Goo Goo Muck.


26 posted on 02/05/2009 6:52:29 AM PST by Mase (Save me from the people who would save me from myself!)
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To: lainie

Bummer....I must have seen the Cramps 6 or 7 times over the years. Always put on a great show.


27 posted on 02/05/2009 8:28:24 AM PST by GSWarrior (To activate this tagline please contact the admin moderator.)
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To: weegee

Goo goo muck forever!


28 posted on 02/05/2009 8:36:16 AM PST by Revolting cat! (Let us prey!)
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To: lainie

RIP.


29 posted on 02/05/2009 8:54:14 AM PST by fieldmarshaldj (~"This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps !"~~)
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To: lainie
"Don't eat stuff off the sidewalk. No matter how good it looks..."

I always liked the double entandre of that line...

30 posted on 02/05/2009 8:59:20 AM PST by Dead Corpse (What would a free man do?)
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To: a fool in paradise; weegee

Pure in your face rock’n’roll without silly artistic or political pretensions, with nonsense lyrics and stinging rockabilly guitars, what more do you want?! They don’t make them like that any more (or if they do, I’d like to hear the sounds.)

Lux was a collector of rare rock’n’s roll 45s, and he was the one who discovered (or at least popularized) for the world the great Hasil Adkins (also deceased.)


31 posted on 02/05/2009 9:03:53 AM PST by Revolting cat! (Let us prey!)
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To: lainie

32 posted on 02/05/2009 9:07:30 AM PST by Revolting cat! (Let us prey!)
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To: B-Chan

I was at Urgh! show at the Santa Monica Civic Center. Discovered some great bands I still listen to today...Pere Ubu, Magazine, among others. Those were the days, indeed.


33 posted on 02/05/2009 9:16:02 AM PST by GSWarrior (To activate this tagline please contact the admin moderator.)
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To: Revolting cat!

I didn’t know they were a string trio with someone playing an empty bottle.


34 posted on 02/05/2009 9:38:30 AM PST by a fool in paradise (Obama thinks spending tax $ on abortions in Mexico helps more than controlling illegal immigration)
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To: GSWarrior

Still waiting for URGH to come out on DVD (with extra band footage that was shot).

IRS is owned by one of the big corporations now. They have just announced that they will FINALLY be reissuing some long out of print albums (by the Fleshtones, among others) as mp3s.

The Cramps managed to own everything else they ever did (including the artwork) and eventually reissued all that they could on their own label and worked up an large “unreleased” package but had to omit all of the IRS tracks they wanted to use.

The Urgh concerts looked interesting.

The Cramps were on one of my favorite concert lineups I’ve seen listed (I did not go to the show, it was before my time) “The Cramps, Bo Diddley, and The Clash”.


35 posted on 02/05/2009 9:41:36 AM PST by a fool in paradise (Obama thinks spending tax $ on abortions in Mexico helps more than controlling illegal immigration)
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To: lainie

Fool’s Paradise with Rex

Lux and Ivy of the legendary Cramps drop by for some Orangeade and a round of platter chatter. From October 23, 2004.

Listen to the whole show: http://www.wfmu.org/listen.ram?show=12963


36 posted on 02/05/2009 9:44:56 AM PST by a fool in paradise (Obama thinks spending tax $ on abortions in Mexico helps more than controlling illegal immigration)
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To: stylecouncilor

ping


37 posted on 02/05/2009 10:03:50 AM PST by windcliff
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To: Revolting cat!
Pure in your face rock’n’roll without silly artistic or political pretensions, with nonsense lyrics and stinging rockabilly guitars, what more do you want?! They don’t make them like that any more (or if they do, I’d like to hear the sounds.)

These guys come close (and they toured with the Cramps)

http://www.livemusiccapitol.com/2008/11/drinking-with-wolves/


38 posted on 02/05/2009 10:10:51 AM PST by a fool in paradise (Obama thinks spending tax $ on abortions in Mexico helps more than controlling illegal immigration)
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To: a fool in paradise
Woo hoo! Seiji and Guitar Wolf in Wild Zero!
39 posted on 02/05/2009 10:21:51 AM PST by B-Chan (Catholic. Monarchist. Texan. Any questions?)
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To: a fool in paradise
A friend of mine put Urgh! on DVD for me as we watched it repeatedly in high school. Unfortunately, it was just a copy of an aging VHS cassette that was showing its age. Still, it was a lot of fun to watch again after something like a quarter of a century!!.

My favorite Cramps tune: The Crusher...
40 posted on 02/05/2009 12:36:00 PM PST by philled ("I prefer messy democracy to the stability of tyrants." -- Howar Ziad, Iraqi Ambassador to Canada)
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