The Cramps

The Cramps were a punk band from Sacramento, California, originally forming in 1976, and played up until February 4th, 2009, when lead singer, Lux Interior, died at age 62 from an aortic dissection (tear in the wall of the aorta). Poison Ivy (Kristy Wallace) was his wife, whom he met in 1972, and had been with until his death.

The band went through a slew of line-up changes, with Lux and Poison being the only two member to stay with the band from beginning to end, with former guitarist, and one of the original founders of the group, passing away at age 46, in January of 2001, following a heart attack.

Their looks and lyrical content revolved around Americana, retro horror/sci-fi b-movie clichés, sexual fetishism, and humor. Their sound is mostly rockabilly.

Bikini Girls with Machine Guns was their only top 40 UK hit.




Sorry about the quality of some, youtube has changed and some of the videos weren't working properly. Not sure if it's my computer or if youtube is having some bugs with their new layout.

Nice thread.

Pretty cool band, never heard of them, but this sparked my interest.

They should make an album and call it "midol"....

one of my all time favourites is Naked Girl Falling Down The Stairs, although the video is a bit frightening ( a man in a red lycra jumpsuit and high heals) they also did a very passable version of Surfin' Bird, Erick was a genius coming up with the best ever Punk name Lux Interior,

Magic said:

They should make an album and call it "midol"....

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I became a fan of the Cramps after seeing their performance in the WILD 'Urghh! A Music War' movie from the early 80's. My favorite album is 'Stay Sick' & my favorite tune would have to be "Bikini Girls with Machine Guns"




I find it weird that they changed the first verse on this video. They sing
"Well I've been a drag racer in Tennesee..." & on the album it's "Well I've been a drag racer on LSD..." Damn You MTV!!!!!

This is a fun band! I like the Rockabilly punk vibe! I dug Ultra Twist the most!

the only album i've ever heard was Bad Music for Bad People but i liked it.

A Classic band.......that I was so fortunate to have seen live.Always great entertainers..loved by everyone...Psychobillies,goths,punks,rockers etc
Very sad about Luxs death...which has also brought the end of THE CRAMPS ,who looked like they would go on forever.....shame
Heres just a few great albums they did...

Their looks and lyrical content revolved around Americana, retro horror/sci-fi b-movie clichés, sexual fetishism, and humor.

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Sounds like my kind of band!

Here's their cover of "96 Tears":