Poison Ivy 1992 Interview

From PENETRATING INSIGHTS

http://nonozeroblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/poison-ivy-rorshach.html

Originally posted February 7, 2009

I have been really torn up about Lux Interior's death in the hospital a few days ago, and thinking about Lux and Ivy the last few days motivated me to hunt through my filing cabinet for this old interview transcription.

It's an interview I did with Poison Ivy Rorshach of The Cramps back on February 23rd, 1992; she was in Providence, RI, on tour at the time, and I was in Ottawa, writing for Trans FM (which was the magazine of CKCU 93.1, Carleton's University radio station). Portions of this interview appeared in the paper at the time.

CKCU had a weird little rubber-lined booth there at the station that you'd squeeze into, and then you'd pick up the phone and speak to whomever at the appointed time, and the interview would be recorded and theoretically ready to air.

I freely admit here at the outset that I asked really dumb questions, and said really embarrassing things - not the least of which was describing The Cramps' back catalogue as sounding "hollow" right at the start of the interview.

Luckily, Ivy must have realised I wasn't actually mean or ignorant, just incredibly clumsy with words. Things improved thereafter and, in retrospect, the first lady of rock'n'roll guitar was very generous with her time indeed.

My sincere best wishes to her at this time, and my greatest respect to the greatest couple in rock'n'roll, Lux & Ivy.



Pius: On the new album "Look Mom! No Head", you've achieved a very full sound - and I guess that's very much your doing as you produced it. Obviously the bass shows more prominence, because you didn't have bass until recently --

Ivy: Well, we did since "Date With Elvis". I played bass on "Date With Elvis" and... the other one on that. But we didn't have a bass player like this one though (Slim Chance), so that makes a big difference.

Pius: There seems to be a move away from the more hollow sound of your earlier albums. Was this intentional, or was this just the way things worked out?

Ivy: Um, OK. I guess I don't understand what hollow means in relation to sound.

Pius: Well, I think it's a really cool sound on the first few albums. It's hard to describe.

Ivy: For us, "Songs The Lord Taught Us" - we felt, even though the production on that is fascinating, it didn't showcase The Cramps for what we are, which is a tough rock'n'roll band. It didn't get what we do live, which is rock. It didn't really capture that.

It definitely had a creepy atmosphere, and that has a certain kind of appeal to it. But, at the same time, it didn't really show us for that (rocking sound). And then after ("Songs The Lord Taught Us"), we didn't know much about production either, and we were limited by budget restraints.

Pius: Do you ever think about going back to a creepy sound?

Ivy: We kind of like trying to do it all at the same time. I think we want the presence too, cuz in our early stuff, you couldn't - I think the vocals really suffered on our early stuff. You couldn't hear what Lux was saying or singing. I think there's just more presence now. But yeah, we've always liked to have a creepy edge to our music.



Pius: How did you hook up with the two new members (bass player Slim Chance and drummer Nickey Alexander) of The Cramps?

Ivy: Through word of mouth, mainly. We had met Slim Chance before, when he was in a band called The Mad Daddys. He was the bass player, and I really loved his bass playing in that band. We'd met him before cuz we knew the singer in that band.

We were just trying to get members who were really dedicated. We'd got to the point where we felt like Lux and I were kind of carrying the thing. The rest were acting like a back-up band. We just wanted it to feel more like it did when we started, like a real gang.

Pius: So have you got that now, do you think?

Ivy: Yeah, I do. I know I do (laughs). Those guys are crazy. Yeah, we're able to do songs now we couldn't do before. We'd wanted to do "Hipsville 29 BC" for years. We were never able to really get in a groove with it in the past.

Pius: And has the new line-up changed your live show?

Ivy: Yeah, it has. It really has. I know I go out on a limb more than I used to be able to. I feel freer and we play off each other more than we have in the past - in that sense. But, in other ways, it hasn't changed. It's still just us, you know. We've always gone out there with no props and just ourselves.

Pius: How did you decide to get the Reverend Horton Heat to open the show?

Ivy: We were made aware that they were available, and we had seen them do a show in Los Angeles at the Blue Saloon, and it was a real wild show - so that sounded like it would be a great opener. They're pretty frantic. They're all over the place (laughs). Guy lays on the floor and plays guitar and stuff.

Pius: Do you listen to a lot of Sub>Pop?

Ivy: Ah, not a lot. To be honest, I prefer the more Horton Heat kind of sound. I do like some of that music...a lot of the bands from that area (Seattle) seem like they're trying maybe too hard to be original. Too many chord changes and things that aren't really set in a groove that I can hear. But, you know, some of it's good stuff.



Pius: Do you play "Alligator Stomp" live?

Ivy: Yes, we do.

Pius: And do people ever actually, you know --

Ivy: Do the Alligator Stomp? (laughs)

Pius: Yeah.

Ivy: In some places they haven't. It seems like it hasn't totally caught on. They do something, but it's not like what we think the Alligator is, this dance where you literally have to be on the floor and knock people down. It was a dance that was (laughs) semi-popular in Cleveland back when the Dead Boys and Pere Ubu were in a band called Rocket From The Tombs.

I think this guy David Thomas, who used to be Crocus Behemoth, I think he started it or something. But it was this Ohio dance. People were doing it there. It was called gatoring.

Pius: Cool. That's one of my favourite tracks on the new one.

Ivy: Yeah, it's fun. It's fun to play.



Pius: Is there any one place where you consistently have the weirdest crowds?

Ivy: Umm, golly... Spain is the weirdest, Barcelona. They're, ah (laughs), they're very high. We're told that they take mescaline there, which is something you don't hear about anywhere usually. It seems like Lux'll just do some minor gesture with his hand and a wave of people'll fall backwards or something. It's a really strange kind of energy and there's people sitting on each others' shoulders and stuff.

Their culture was very cut off for years under this Franco regime, and now they've just gotten the equivalent of London in the 60s, Swinging London. They're just, uh - all flaming youth there right now (laughs).

Pius: A lot of the bands I talk to say they prefer playing in Europe to America.

Ivy: We don't. We love playing America. In a way, we're happiest here. There's great crowds here and it feels more like home, like...(sighs). In some ways it's similar, but in some ways, Europeans understand our background more, the roots of our music. Oddly enough, most Americans don't seem to know their own history.

But, at the same time, somehow it feels better, just for the moment at hand, that America feels like it's got more of a rapport. It didn't at first, you know. I mean, it took Europe - popularity in Europe - to bring attention to us in America. But now that we've got it, it's... I don't know, I just love playing America.

Pius: Do you have a favourite place to play there?

Ivy: I really like New Orleans, cuz I like the city a lot too, and then I like the crowds. There's a club there called Tipatina's and it's always just like a sweat bath. It seems really hellish in a good way.

Some of the smaller places up north... We feel really excited about being in New York again, and it was good - but we were more excited the next night when we played Trenton, New Jersey. It was (laughs) like a wilder rock'n'roll crowd, and a grimier venue and everything, and it just felt like old times.



Pius: Is it important to you that your albums be available on vinyl? Are you a vinyl purist?

Ivy: I wish they were. The only way they're available on vinyl now is through import - because you can't really make the record companies here do it. They claim to lose money and I guess it's true, because they don't even have the outlets to sell it themselves.

It's just evolved to that point. I certainly do miss it. I think it's even more important that people see a 12" cover. That gives more importance. I think the package is important.

Pius: Do you prefer to buy vinyl?

Ivy: I love both. I do like the way some things can sound on CD, but in some ways I prefer vinyl. The one thing I do like about CD, it's not the format itself, but see - the CD market has caused record companies to reissue a lot of old blues and old material that probably never would've come out and never would've been possible for anyone to acquire on vinyl even, because it would just be too hard or collectible.

Now it's available, and I think that is influencing culture. I'm hearing a lot of bands... I keep wondering if that is why bands are getting into guitar more. Maybe it is giving young people a chance to hear that kind of music. So, you know, there's a good side to it too.



Pius: Are you still collecting?

Ivy: Any form. Vinyl, CD, everything we can get our hands on, at all times.

Pius: Can you just run down a few of the ones that have most impressed you of late?

Ivy: There's a Bo Diddley CD called "Rare & Well Done", it's quite good. Some stuff I'd never heard, and I'm a big Bo Diddley fan too. The Howling Wolf box set's real good. I'm trying to name stuff that people can find, you know.

I could name rare stuff, but - oh yeah, the Trashmen have CDs out. One's the Trashmen live, you know the Trashmen who did Surfin' Bird? One is a live performance on a CD, and another is some rare album or something that's come out on a CD. This label called Sundazed, they offered a CD called "Surf 'N' Drag". It's called "Surf 'N' Drag Volume One". It's been out like three years and there's no Volume Two but anyways, it's really good.

Pius: The new album was recorded in Hollywood. Do you still live there?

Ivy: Yeah, we do, yeah.

Pius: This is kind of a dumb question, it's just personal interest, but have you ever met Winona Ryder?

Ivy: No, I haven't. I like her movies. I really like her vibe. She seems kinda eerie. I really liked Beetlejuice, real kind of Charles Addams vibe to it.



Pius: Why did you decide to have Iggy Pop guest on "Miniskirt Blues"?

Ivy: Well, we got lucky with that. We'd desired to have him do it, this duet on that song, and we'd met him the previous year. Done some festivals together and found out he was also a fan of ours. We're of course big fans of his. And then later when we wanted to see if he'd be involved in the song, we couldn't get a hold of him because he was touring.

So we just went ahead in the studio in Hollywood. And when Lux went out to buy some wine, he ran into Iggy buying some beer! He was rehearsing next door at S.I.R. for some tour or festival that he was gonna be doing, and he came and stopped by the studio, and when he got there, he said, "is there anything you want me to sing on?" So we didn't even have to ask him, cuz we kind of weren't sure if we should. He just did that song real briefly, one take. Got outta there, said, "gotta run".

We just thought it would suit him cuz we were just trying to make a really heavy, grungy Stooges-kinda thing. That was fun.

Pius: I don't know if this is a touchy subject, but one of the funnier things I found in reading "The Wild, Wild World of The Cramps" was the various theories on what might've happened to Brian Gregory. Have you heard anything new, or --

Ivy: No, and a lot of that initial thing was hype from the record company, when they thought they still had him signed as a solo artist, and they were trying to hype a solo career cuz they thought he'd want to have one. It turned out, he - you know, I mean, that didn't, umm - no, I just, I mean, he had drug problems and stuff, and just faded away.



Pius: It's probably an understatement to say that The Cramps have some unconventional, albeit more pure, ideas about rock'n'roll. I always hear you really hate the idea of benefits or things like that, or politics. Would you mind talking for a bit about what rock'n'roll means to you?

Ivy: It isn't so much against benefits, just using rock'n'roll as a political platform is not the purpose of rock'n'roll.

I also am very suspicious of the motives of...celebrities who use their celebrity to promote that. It seems like what they're really trying to promote is their own celebrity. I think it's pompous, you know, besides being corny. Maturity begins at home, and I think you should really take care of what's around you first, and that no one should question that.

A lot of big causes, that "We Are The World" thing with Ethiopia - for all the money raised, they couldn't even get it to the people because of the politics in that land, you know? There's just so much going on in our own country. I almost think people would let someone starve who's sitting right next to them and not, you know...

Also, it's just not the purpose of rock'n'roll to sing about something like that. Rock'n'roll is a certain type of music and it celebrates being in the body now. It's Bacchanalian. Whatever we're concerned about, we should take care of, but I don't think it should be a public platform.

Pius: Do you consider rock'n'roll a lifestyle as well as a form of music?

Ivy: Seems to be, yeah. It's a real all or nothing kind of thing, it has to be. I mean, we're always The Cramps. We're at different intensities. We're at our most intense when we're on the stage, we're most concentrated. We're at a different form of intensity in the studio and maybe we're less intense on some other occasion. People say you have different sides to you, and I don't feel like that. I think it's just different intensities. It's just stepping on the gas here and there.



Pius: What do you think of the allegations a lot of rappers are making that white rock'n'rollers really ripped off blacks in the 50s?

Ivy: It's unfortunately naive and it's an example of Americans not understanding their own culture. I've heard that criticism about Elvis Presley in particular, which is really a shame. He didn't rip off anybody. He actually was incredibly original. He synthesized many styles of music in a very innocent way, and no one was doing what he was doing.

He was a freak, he was from outer space, he was a pioneer in his day. It's a shame that he's not recognized as that, that he's been trivialized so much. I think it's misplaced frustration to blame him for something like that. I can understand the frustration, but I think they're misdirecting their wrath. I just wish people understood the origins of rock'n'roll more than they do.

Pius: He's becoming a scapegoat.

Ivy: He certainly is. What he did was phenomenal, no one else had done it (laughs). There wasn't anyone, black, white or purple, who was doing what he was doing. It's a shame that that's just one more way he's been trivialized.

You know, people focused on his health problems or his mortal failings to begin with as a way of putting him down. And now this is just one more new way. I think he was too intense for anyone to realise how significant he was. It'll probably take a hundred years for people to look back and realise.



Pius: A lot of the strength of rock'n'roll innuendoes - especially sexual innuendoes in the 50s and early 60s - came from the conservatism of the time. The Cramps have made an art of (lyrical innuendo), and I was thinking about this last night, and I thought it was really funny - because you've got things like 2 Live Crew, where people are being so blatant, and yet The Cramps are very subtle and I think it works. Do you ever think about that?

Ivy: Not consciously. I think what we do is natural. Sometimes I see bands being so blatant, I think they're trying to be outrageous. We don't try to be outrageous. We're just expressing ourselves in a natural way.

That blatant language (sighs) - it almost seems like, if you can't think of something to say, then that's a cheap way out or something. It's just easy to swear, and somehow it doesn't seem (laughs) romantic enough or something. We feel we're more traditional, like Howling Wolf or something. It should also be seductive. There's a point where something's so blatant it won't be seductive anymore.

Pius: Do you think that's why it still has that power? Because people still want that?

Ivy: I think so. I think that's why a lot of blues songs can appeal to me now, something that was from the 50s. Because of that same kind of innuendo that you're talking about. It's sexy, rather than confrontational. It's just more seriously about getting it on, rather than getting in a fight.



Pius: The Cramps have always had what I guess is a healthy fascination for serial killers. This may sound funny, but do you have a favourite?

Ivy: A favourite killer? Is that what you mean?

Pius: Yeah, yeah.

Ivy: For me, I would think Ed Gein. It sounds strange, but in a way he was just culturally different from the people in his area. He was reading a lot of books about cannibalism and headhunters and other cultures - the things that he did are actually common practises in some primitive cultures and in other countries, or maybe in another era. And since he was living alone, he was a total loner... In a way, you can almost look at it that that's what he was doing.

Then the thing that's amusing about him is that he never denied what he was doing. People would say, "gosh, we haven't been able to find Mary Hogan", and he'd say, "oh well, Mary's just hanging upside down in my shed right now". And they'd go, "ha ha, you're so funny", you know. And he knew that he could joke that way - so he had like a sick sense of humour (laughs) about the whole thing.

He was in a town full of really boring, dumb people and it's almost like (laughs) he had to amuse himself. Strange as that sounds, in a way it almost sounds like he did what he had to do. I don't feel that way about more vicious... There was just something about him that didn't seem vicious to me. He's just hunting for dear (laughs).

Pius: Have you ever heard of Starkweather? Charles Starkweather?

Ivy: Oh yeah. Yeah, I read that book. That's an interesting story. He ended up worshipped by all these girls.

Pius: I thought that might be a more Cramps type guy, cuz he was --

Ivy: Real, yeah, James Dean kind of era. And again, I think he was driven crazy cuz he was insulted so much for being short and having - didn't he have a speech impediment?

Pius: Yeah, and bow legs.

Ivy: So he was just ridiculed to the point...you know. I think he was driven beyond the brink.



Pius: Are you still really into horror movies?

Ivy: Oh yeah, all the time. Last night we watched "The Unearthly".

Pius: Have you seen any newer ones lately?

Ivy: I guess the last new thing we saw was "Naked Lunch", which we both liked a lot.

Pius: Do you go to the movies a lot, or rent them mostly?

Ivy: We go to them when we can. We don't get to see much when we're touring, but as soon as we get off the road, we like going to the movies. We liked "The Addams Family". It seemed like not many people did, but we thought it was good.



Pius: You and Lux met through hitch-hiking. Is this something you'd recommend?

Ivy: No, not now. And I know it sounds odd to say that, I was doing that. It was the mid-70s in Northern California. Even at that, looking back, I figure it might not have been that bright - but at the time it was pretty common practise. It seemed like a natural thing to do. It was kind of a time and place situation. No, I wouldn't advise, no. (laughs) Stay away from bars, pills and freeways.

Pius: Do you ever see a time when you won't want to do The Cramps?

Ivy: Not that I can think of. We don't plan our future as much as a lot of other bands, but I think that makes us enjoy what we're doing right now more. Maybe that makes us last longer - because we're digging it. That was the thing, getting the new members, we just wanted to make sure we were digging it right now.

Put Another Foot Up

"ABOUT DRUGS, PEOPLE AND POPULAR CULTURE"

Here's an interesting site about just what it says up there. The name kinda rings a bell, too.

http://drugtrain.net/

"Site is not affiliated with the Cramps or trains."

MORE of the CRAMPS HALLOWEEN WEEKEND SPECIAL: Horsepower

SEATTLE TIMES
Saturday, July 16, 2005 - 12:00 AM
By Jennifer Sullivan
Seattle Times staff reporter

ENUMCLAW WASH. -- Authorities are reviewing hundreds of hours of videotapes seized from a rural Enumclaw-area farm that police say is frequented by men who engage in sex acts with animals.

The videotapes police have viewed thus far depict men having sex with horses, including one that shows a Seattle man shortly before he died July 2, said Enumclaw police Cmdr. Eric Sortland. Police are reviewing the tapes to make sure no laws have been broken.

"Activities like these are often collateral sexual crimes beyond the animal aspect," said Sortland, adding that investigators want to make sure crimes such as child abuse or forcible rape were not occurring on the property.

Washington is one of 17 states that does not outlaw bestiality. Police are also investigating the farm and the two men who live on the property to determine whether animal cruelty � which is a crime � was committed by forcing sex on smaller, weaker animals. Investigators said that in addition to horses, they have found chickens, goats and sheep on the 40-acre property northwest of Enumclaw.

Officers talked with the two men, but neither has been arrested. Neither man could be reached yesterday for comment.

According to King County sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart, the farm is known in Internet chat rooms as a destination for people who want to have sex with livestock.

However, authorities didn't learn about the farm until a man drove up to Enumclaw Community Hospital on July 2 seeking medical assistance for a companion. Medics wheeled the man into an examination room before realizing he was dead. When hospital workers looked for the driver, he was gone.

Using the dead man's driver's license to track down relatives and acquaintances, authorities were led to the Enumclaw farm. Some earlier reports had said hospital-surveillance cameras were used to track down the driver.

The dead man was identified as a 45-year-old Seattle resident. According to the King County Medical Examiner's Office, he died of acute peritonitis due to perforation of the colon. The man's death is not being investigated because it did not result from a crime, Urquhart said.

The Seattle man's relatives said yesterday they never suspected he was involved in bestiality. They said they were surprised when they learned he had purchased a Thoroughbred stallion earlier this year. The man told his relatives he boarded the animal with some friends in Enumclaw.

While the man's relatives were unsure how many horses he had boarded at the property, one Enumclaw neighbor said the Seattle man was keeping two stallions there.

Police and neighbors said the people renting the property have also had dogs and bull calves on the farm. Yesterday there were several horses and ponies grazing near a barn.

Two neighbors, a married couple who declined to allow use of their names, said yesterday they had no idea what had been going on at the farm. They said they've known one of the men who live on the farm for years.

On Thursday, police showed the couple videotape seized from the farm showing men having sex with horses. The couple identified one of the horses as belonging to them, Sortland said. The couple also said it appeared at least part of the tape was filmed in their barn, which left them shocked and angry.

"We couldn't believe what we were seeing," said Sortland. "In the rare, rare case this happens, it's the person doing the animal. I think that has led to the astonishment of all of the entities involved."

Thursday night, in reaction to the man's death, Susan Michaels, co-founder of Pasado's Safe Haven, posted a letter on the local animal-rights organization's Web site calling for people to e-mail legislators in an attempt to change state laws.

"This [the death] gives us credence of getting a bestiality law passed," said Michaels. "It's not natural for animals to do this."

State Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn, said she plans to draft legislation as early as next week making bestiality illegal in Washington.

"This is just disgusting," Roach said yesterday. "It's against the law to harm children; it should be against the law to violate an animal."

Supercharged Cramps Discography Part Two

Criswell here! Drop yer cocks and grab yer socks, fright fans! Time to quit yankin' yer cranks, and start groovin' with this ginchiest of guides to that phucking phantastic phenomenon that was and is and will be THE CRAMPS! Here, for your putrid perusal is PART TWO of the SUPER FUCKADELIC ELVIS FUCKING CRAMPS DISCOHAGIOGRAPHY! From the far reaches of mankind's filthiest restrooms, from the VERY LIMITS of the slatternly, inflamed, toadstool-infested atrocities of the nastiest, most damp and neglected corners of the babbling, blubbering, blistered human mind, we bring to you what can ONLY be described as "this right here."

So astounding is it that some of you may fart! Some of you may feel irresistibly compelled to sodomize the nearest domestic animal or shiny kitchen appliance! Go with that! Let it all hang out! Monsters to be pitied! Monsters to be despised! What the fuck am I talking about? I don't know, and neither will you! Are you ready to blow your minds? A mind is a wonderful thing to blow, don't you think?

1983
SMELL OF
FEMALE

1 "Thee Most Exalted Potentate of Love"
2 "You Got Good Taste"
3 "Call of the Wighat"


4 "Faster Pussycat" (Bert Shefter)


5 "I Ain't Nuthin' But a Gorehound"

6 "Psychotic Reaction"

THE CRAMPS contributed an original song-- Surfin' Dead-- to the soundtrack for the 1985 film "Return of the Living Dead," a sort-of-but-not-really sequel to George A. Romero's 1968 classic "Night of the Living Dead."

When a bumbling pair of employees at a medical supply warehouse accidentally release a deadly gas into the air, the vapors cause the dead to re-animate as they go on a rampage through Louisville, Kentucky seeking their favorite food, brains.

Starring Clu Gulager, Don Calfa, James Karen, Linnea Quigley, and a few hundred rotting cadavers. Directed by Dan O'Bannon.


"Send more paramedics..." ...Hehe! This movie, which puts a twist on Night of the Living Dead, is full of grisly images and humor. If you can appreciate the humor involved with a pack of zombies munching police officers, then grabbing the radio and asking for backup. Everything starts out with Frank showing the FNG a group of barrels stored in the basement. Seems that they contain bodies, the U.S. Army had cleaned up a chemical spill and put all the contaminated parts into the barrels, due to a small mistake in shipping the darn things arrived at Burt's warehouse. Barrels, filled with toxic chemicals and rotting bodies show up on the doorstep, what would you do? Burt kept them. Bad Burt. Frank just has to slap one of the things to prove how sturdy it is and gas floods out, both guys drop like stones while the vapors permeate everything. They do not wake up in Oz, it's still the same drab warehouse, but now the split dogs (Veterinary thing.) and frozen cadavers are running amok. Burt's bright idea number two is cremating the zombies, when rain contaminated by the smoke starts soaking the graveyard all heck breaks loose. On the off chance you didn't read the character descriptions, don't grow attached to anyone, they're either zombie chow or fallout. Even Trash, she has the misfortune of experiencing her greatest fear, being stripped down naked and eaten by old men. Not that nudity frightens her, I'm still trying to decide if the girl was wearing a leotard carefully blended with her skin or if she was darn good with a mirror and razor.
-- by Andrew Borntreger
http://www.badmovies.org/movies/returndead/

*"SURFIN' DEAD"

1986
A DATE WITH
A Date with Elvis is the seventh fucking album by the American garage punk band The Cramps. It was released on Big Beat Records. It was recorded in the fucking fall of 1985 and engineered by Steve McMillan and Mark Ettel at Ocean Way Studios Hollywood, CA. The Cramps reissued the fucking album on their own Vengeance Records in 2001 with the fucking bonus tracks "Blue Moon Baby" "Georgia Lee Brown" "Give Me A Woman" and "Get off the Road," which were a bunch of fucking b-sides and shit. The album was dedicated to Ricky Nelson, who had a fucking hit with the song "Lonesome Town", which was also covered by The Cramps and is available on their first fucking EP Gravest Hits and compilation album ...Off the Bone. (FUCKIPEDIA)

SIDE ONE

* 1 "How Far Can Too Far Go?"

* 2 "The Hot Pearl Snatch"

3 "People Ain't No Good"

4 "What's Inside a Girl?"

5 "Can Your Pussy Do the Dog?"

Pussy is an English word meaning cat. It may also refer to the female genitalia in slang, or be used as a pejorative term that implies cowardice or weakness. Used in conjunction with "some", the phrase "some pussy" refers to sexual intercourse itself. Most dictionaries mark the anatomical meaning as "vulgar" or "offensive" and its use is frowned upon in polite company.
The origins of the word are unknown. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) says that the word puss is common to several Germanic languages, usually as a call name for the cat — not a synonym for cat, as it is in English.The medieval French word pucelle referred to a young adolescent girl or a virgin, although this comes from a slang term for virginity puce (= flea) rather than referring to cats (but cf. French chatte (female cat), a current vulgarism for the female genitalia).
In the 17th century, the term was also used to refer to women in general. Philip Stubbs, an English pamphleteer, wrote in his 1583 book "The Anatomie of Abuses" that "the word pussie is now used of a woman". The German form is cognate (Fotze; compare "Puss-y" to "Fotz-e" [in the style of Futs-sy]), and the (vulgar) French term is "chatte" (literally a female cat). (PUSSIPEDIA)

6 Kizmiaz

Take a magic carpet to the olden days. To a mythical land where everybody lays. Around in the clouds in a happy daze in Kizmiaz...Kizmiaz. Flamingos stand easy on bended knees. Palm trees wave over tropical seas of azure waves and lazy breeze in Kizmiaz...Kizmiaz. Over raspberry skies spires of the Shaz. Point to the heavens that this place has. You would swim all the way from Alcatraz to Kizmiaz...Kizmiaz. It lies on the horizon in a golden haze. No one believes their eyes the legend says. Held hypnotized in a frozen gaze on Kizmiaz...Kizmiaz. The vibrations kiss the ships would pass. Kizmiaz...Kizmiaz.

SIDE TWO:

1 Cornfed Dames

2 Chicken (Traditional; arr. by Interior and Rorschach)

Mike the Headless Chicken (April 1945 – March 1947), also known as Miracle Mike, was a Wyandotte rooster that lived for 18 months after its head had been mostly cut off. Thought by many to be a hoax, the bird was taken by its owner to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City to establish its authenticity. On September 10, 1945, farmer Lloyd Olsen of Fruita, Colorado, had his mother-in-law around for supper and was sent out to the yard by his wife to bring back a chicken. Olsen failed to completely decapitate the five-and-a-half month old bird named Mike. The axe missed the jugular vein, leaving one ear and most of the brain stem intact. Despite Olsen's botched handiwork, Mike was still able to balance on a perch and walk clumsily; he even attempted to preen and crow, although he could do neither. After the bird did not die, a surprised Mr. Olsen decided to continue to care permanently for Mike, feeding him a mixture of milk and water via an eyedropper; he was also fed small grains of corn. Mike occasionally choked on his own mucus, which the Olsen family would clear using a syringe. Yummy! (HEADLESSCHICKENPEDIA)

http://www.miketheheadlesschicken.org/index.php

*3 (Hot Pool Of) Womanneed

4 Aloha from Hell

5 It's Just That Song (Charlie Feathers, Maupin)

1990
STAY SICK

Stay Sick! is the ninth album by the American garage punk band The Cramps. It was released on Enigma Records. It was engineered by Steve McMillan and recorded at Music Finder, Hollywood California. It was self-produced by Poison Ivy. The Cramps re-released the album on their own Vengeance Records in 2001 containing the bonus tracks "Bikini Girls With Machine Guns" (live), "Beat Out My Love," "Jailhouse Rock" and "Jackyard Backoff."

Kiss kiss! Bang bang! Everything Goes! ;D
August 14, 2003

By	Pamela Scarangello (Middletown, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

1989's "Stay Sick!" is another energetic rock album that clearly marks the highest point of the Cramps' musical creativity. Interestingly, the songs of this particular CD have rejuvenated lyrical elements of the band's outrageous obsession with cheesy science fiction films and off-the-wall frightfests (which were temporarily lost in 1986's "A Date with Elvis.") In fact, the title of "Stay Sick!" was once a spooky catchphrase spoken by Ghoulardi, an early television horror host who became popular in Lux Interior's home state of Ohio. As a whole, this record is fueled by twisted rockabilly tunes, simplified chorus hooks and groovy pop rhythms. Supported by Poison Ivy's raw, vibrating guitar strings, Lux the frontman adapts an audio persona more warped than ever before; while belting out his vocals, he emits a fury of bestial growls, puppy dog yelps and strangely sexy croons. "Stay Sick!" has, of course, quite a few highlights. The CD's upbeat single "Bikini Girls with Machine Guns" is an underground party hit heavily drawn from alcohol binges, psychedelic drugs and a whole other variety of forbidden excesses. "All Women are Bad" is definitely the most well written track here, as it briefly explains how enticing vamps in history led men to their ruin (and why we all love them for it!). In "Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon," (obviously dedicated to the Hollywood monster of the same name) good ol' Lux shimmers his hips in a hilarious Elvis Presley spoof! Speaking of the King, the Cramps' dizzying cover of his celebrated hit "Jailhouse Rock" can best be described as a hyperactive noise riot done after swallowing one too many Twinkies! Beware, freaks and riff raffs: the sexual content on "Stay Sick!" is the most explicit ever presented (other than 2003's "Fiends of Dope Island"). There is no doubt in my mind that it was intended to press the panic buttons of mainstream censorship. "Everything Goes" is a throbbing country tune where Lux pushes fetishism to its most absurd level! "Mama OO Pow Pow" is a naughty barnyard ditty about spankings, bondage and other acts of kinky behavior. However, one of the CD's bonus tracks, a nostalgic cover of Carl Perkins's "Her Love Rubbed Off," is probably the ONE Cramps track that officially crosses the invisible line of obscenity. Snatch this incredible album...IF YOU DARE! ;)

Side one

1 Bop Pills (McNatt, Macy Skipper)
Originally by Macy Skipper

An obscure Rockabilly singer, born September 2, 1920 in Saint Louis but based in Memphis. Macy (Skip) Skipper did some demos in the mid 50's for Sun and issued a single in 1957 on Light, then a single for Stax in 1961 (Goofin' Off / Night Rock). He died on April 17, 2001..

2 God Damn Rock & Roll

3 Bikini Girls With Machine Guns


It is the dawn of the '90s (memo to Wardrobe Dept.: stock up on plaid flannel!) and we find our heroes, the Cramps, facing censorship by MTV. The clips in question were the tunes "Creature From the Black Leather Lagoon" and "Bikini Girls With Machine Guns."

"Well, 'Bikini Girls,' I didn't understand," says Ivy, "I thought it was such a quaint thing. There's a scene where I'm shooting the machine gun, and the vibration makes my panties fall down." The camera showed nothing but the panties around her ankles, but that was enough to make MTV's top brass spit their Perrier out on their Gucci loafers. Doing the only honourable thing, The Cramps proceeded to make an even more offensive video. "For some reason, our boss at Enigma Records just said put in everything they wouldn't want. We thought, 'Well, he's paying for it, okay.'" Inspired by the teen riot that opens shlockmeister H. G. Lewis' film Just for the Hell of It, the band found an empty house, filled it with thrift-shop junk and then promptly trashed it. "There's stuff in there, like Lux huffing glue from a paper bag, or me sitting on his face. But I think what got them was smashing the TV with a sledgehammer."

4 All Women Are Bad

Adam and eve, sittin' in the woods, eve said 'man i got somethin' real good - it's in that tree, you'll get smart fast!' adam said 'sure, satan my ass - i don't see no snakes but all women are bad'



[chorus:] all women are bad, all women are bad, that's what he said, all women are bad, groovy wiggly tails, horns on their head, all women are bad, all women are bad...

Samson and Delilah, talkin' bout groomin', delilah said 'sam, you don't look human!' took some scissors, went snip-snip, said 'now everybody's gunna think you're hip' sam felt his head and said 'all women are bad'

there's one with you, lookin' so sweet, but she's just a wolf dressed up like sheep, secret gadgets up under their clothes - stuff you hear about but nobody knows, and it ain't no use...all women are bad


save me the label of that perfume on the table, so i can remember what made a wreck of me
all women are bad, all women are bad, that's what he said, all women are bad, groovy wiggly tails, horns on their head, all women are bad, all women are bad...

5 The Creature From the Black Leather Lagoon


6 Shortnin' Bread



Originally a traditional Negro plantation song in the southern USA. First generally popularized by Lawrence Tibbett in the early 20th century. Then sung by Nelson Eddy in 1937/38. In 1938 it was a big charted hit for The Andrews Sisters. Then done by many others like Fats Waller (1941) and Paul Robeson.
In the 1950s, rock and roll singers started picking it up - The Collins Kids, Tony Crombie ...
The reason it attracts so much attention now is the hard rock recording by Paul Chaplain and his Emeralds in 1960. It wasn't a big hit but has now rightfully become a legend. The Bellnotes also released a rock version that year.
Meanwhile back in England it achieved better hit status sung by the vocal trio The Viscounts.

Side two

*1 Daisys Up Your Butterfly

2 Everything Goes

3 Journey to the Center of a Girl

4 Mama Oo Pow Pow

5 Saddle Up a Buzz Buzz


6 Muleskinner Blues (Jimmie Rodgers)

"Stay Sick" was, along with "Turn Blue," a trademark ejaculation of GHOULARDI, who was born Ernie Anderson, but saw no reason to stick with that exclusively.

Nice Obit

LUX INTERIOR
by The Indie Dad
http://www.sicmagazine.net/articles/114/obituary-lux-interior-1946-2009

On February 4, 2009 Erick Purkhiser died. If I’d read that I wouldn’t have batted an eye lid. But Erick had the alter ego Lux Interior. Erick died of a “pre-existing” heart condition (whatever the Hell that is). But Lux, well you gotta imagine someone lifted the coffin lid and plunged in a stake. And just like Dracula, Lux won’t stay dead – because every time someone hears a Cramps record it’s like the curse of the Vampire will spread.

Lux could have been known to the world as Vip Vop. “I had Vip Vop on my driver’s license and every time I got stopped by the cops they would hassle me: “Vip Vop – I oughta give you a ticket just for that!”

In terms of commitment to a pure seam of Rock & Roll The Cramps can have few equals and only The Ramones could be said to surpass them. But no-one could accuse Da brudders of being SEXY (well, maybe Dee Dee). The Cramps – the constant being Lux and Poison Ivy – are, like The Ramones…. flawless. Show me a bad Cramps song? No, you can’t. Some maybe more throw away than others but not bad. BAD maybe but not bad. They took the base elements of R&R – booze, drugs, fucking and leather, added b-movies – and kept them base. When you listen to a Cramps’ song you are lifted to a higher state of being (though getting fucked up too doesn’t hurt).

Jeez, even the titles make you feel better. “Bikini Girls With Machine Guns”, “Most Exalted Potentate Of Love”, “Aloha From Hell”, Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?” Get to the lyrics and it’s time to grin like a monkey. What’s Inside A Girl? – “There’s some things baby I just can’t swallow, Mama told me that girls are hollow”.

As well as writing some damn exciting music Lux & Ivy were archivists, delighting in collecting Rock & Roll and Exotica records. They spent a lot of time driving round thrift stores and warehouses buying unbelievable stuff, Sun label stuff for a nickel.

I took a damn long time but just managed to see The Cramps in 2006 at the Astoria. I ended up getting a ticket from e-bay as it had sold out long before I got wind of it. And the audience of the faithful was all you might hope – freaks in the best sense, a tattoo convention full of greasers and outlandish ladies in fetish gear. A smattering of uninitiated gawpers like me who knew the spectacle would be superb. Lux, then 60, was all over the stage, drinking red wine from the bottle by holding the neck in his teeth and putting his head back. Then spraying it out like a blood mist. Clearly he had arrived on our shores in a casket full of Ohio earth. “It’s good to see so many of you out on a full moon… It’s when I like to feed!”

In a very Mark Twain sidebar, Lux had been reported as dying from a heroin overdose in 1987 and so had already seen something of the reaction his death might find.

Quiet apart from a 34 year career in R&R, Lux had a 35 year partnership with his wife and co-founder Poison Ivy. That’s a Hell of a long time – and I bet it was a Hell of a time. Maybe Ivy can take some comfort from this Mark Twain quote –

“Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.”

THE CRAMPS: SPACE MADNESS!!!