Archive for February 5th, 2009
Lux interior, frontman for legendary psychopunk band The Cramps, died yesterday at 62.
Most punk fans know the basics… Interior and his wife, Poison Ivy Rorschach, formed the Cramps in NYC in 1976. Primitive, cheap, gaudy and simple, the Cramps were a blast of fresh air in an unsightly era dominated by disco, yacht rock and guitar heroes. Assisted by a revolving lineup of sidemen (including perhaps the world’s coolest drummer, stone-faced Nick Knox)Interior and Ivy mixed their influences (B movies, EC Comics, rockabilly and garage rock) into a potent concoction that instantly spawned the entire genre of trash rock.
What many people don’t know is that Sacramento was Cramps Ground Zero. Lux and Ivy met here (hitch-hiking) in 1973. The pair lived in an upstairs apartment at 21st and H, just north of the Weatherstone. And, unsurprisingly they were frequent visitors to Records on K Street, undoubtedly rummaging for treasure among the stacks. Eager to escape the heat and doldrums of early seventies Sacto, they moved to NYC, soon to find fame and fortune.
Here’s a bit of the Cramps at their best…