Feb
05
Cramps Singer Dies at 60
Psychobilly punk frontman Lux Interior dies in LA.
Interior (real name Erick Lee Purkhiser) died in an an LA hospital yesterday from an existing heart condition, he was 60.
Best remembered for his outrageous stage performances, Interior’s brazen, often half-naked performances are ingrained into the retina of anyone who was lucky enough to catch one of their infamous live performances. The Cramps became a cornerstone of the 70s New York punk scene.
Bands have been influenced by The Cramps B-Movie sound for more than 30 years with the likes of The White Stripes, Royal Trux, Gallon Drunk and more recently Black Lips owing more than a nod to Lux & Co.
RIP.
There’s something about the cramps that can never be repeated; that’s what make the loss of lux such a huge one.
Watching them at the end of the eighties was probably the greatest gig I have ever seen. Tear it up sparked a riot but lux just carried on fuelling the fire, whipping the 20,000 crowd up into a PCP-like frenzy in his thigh length boots and black love heart posing pouch. The cramps, playing live and on form, were somewhere between an enduring childhood nightmare, the scariest horror movie you have ever seen, a bad trip in the company of the grim reaper, and a glimpse of heaven.
One day I swore I would watch get to see them again, half wanting to relive that seminal moment in my life, but now I suppose I will have to carry the regret.
The cramps were the ‘hard to put into words’, living incarnation of b movie horror rock and roll, how could anything like this ever be followed and appear even remotely genuine?
In my opinion, if you feel like you’ve been irreparably mentally scarred by a live band, but feel happier for it, you have truely experienced the meaning of life…
RIP the cramps
steve el mundo on February 21st, 2009