LAIF LAMF

LUX AND IVY'S FAVORITES is a series of great music compilations assembled by KOGAR THE SWINGING APE

http://kogarsjunglejuice.blogspot.com/

Patrick Bainée recently spoke with Kogar about the series for DIG IT. All you ever wanted to know about LUX AND IVY’S FAVORITES
The best compilations ever made, a must have for fans
of The Cramps or anyone (or apes) with ears.

Interview by Patrick Bainée

Kogar's Top Ten of the Lux and Ivy's Faves

1. The Musical Linn Twins - Rockin out the Blues

2. The Symbols - Do the Zombie

3. Jan Davis - Watusi Zombie

4. The Original Starfires - Fender Bender

5. Link Wray - Genecide

6. The Electro-Tones - Ghost Train

7. Link Wray - The Fuzz

8. Bob Taylor - Thunder

9. The Saxons - Camel Walk

10. Davie Allen and the Arrows - Theme from the Unknown aka U.F.O.


If you only know 4 or 5 from this list, don't cry, it's normal. Then read this and go dig into those fabulous Lux & Ivy's faves: they're for free, thanks Kogar.

Patrick : Kogar, you’ve heard that question a lot of times.

So let me explain that the idea of your Lux & Ivy’s favorites compilations emerge after you read this book « Incredibly Strange Music », from 1993 (on Re-Search), featuring (among others) a long interview of Lux & Ivy speaking about their favorite records.

Even if there are no songs by the Cramps on your LAIF, those compilations celebrate the tastes of Lux & Ivy in music. What made you become a Cramps addict ?

Kogar : Well, I was a big fan of horror movies and comic books as a kid and when a friend introduced me to The Cramps in my early 20’s, I immediately fell in love with them and their sound. Since then, I’ve been a cramps fanatic…

P : Of course, LAIF can be considered as bootlegs, but on another hand, there should be a statue in your honour. I mean you brought to peoples’ ears music that they never have heard otherwise. Anyway, most of the labels of the records featuring on LAIF have disappeared. What’s your point of view about that ? (LAIF being a bootleg, rights …)

K :I really don’t consider the series a "bootleg" series, but a fan made compilation. There is a difference. To me, bootlegs are just a way for someone to make money. I in no way want to make money off these, ever. In fact, I probably wouldn’t have done this interview at all if it weren't for my relationship with you. I have always done this for the love of the music and for Lux and Ivy, and not for any notoriety or money.

P : The first two volumes of LAIF were cool comps you made only for your own ears. What gives you the idea of making other volumes (a total of 13 so far!) ?

K: Well, originally it was, as you mentioned, from that RE/search book, but soon, other sources popped up and it went from there. I always have a list of songs that i am looking for, etc. Every time i read an interview where they mentioned a song, i would add it to the list. The list would get longer and longer.

P : Can you explain the exact concept / philosophy of LAIF to us …

K: Well, the only real philosophy is that i try and be true to the theme. I really try and include songs they mentioned or played before shows, or put on a tape. People try and suggest things all the time, but usually i don’t include anything like that, because they are just guesses.

P: Volume 1 was mostly 50’s oriented when volume2 was a mix of 50-60’s era, right ?

K : It just happened to work out that way, because of the book’s concentration on exotica, and music from that time period…

P : Most of the other volumes are more eclectic. Is there always a major idea in the construction of the other LAIF ?

K : There usually isn’t a theme of any sort, except volume 12 because it happened right after Lux’s death, otherwise i just keep a list of songs and when i see that i am nearing 30 or so songs, i get to work on sequencing them, etc. I do take some time to sequence the songs so they flow together in what i think are a good way.

P : Since this book "Incredibly Strrange Music", what are your other sources of reseach :
Interviews, songs played before Cramps shows, what else ?

K : Mostly interviews with lux and ivy, tapes that they have made etc. I even went so far as to try and memorize songs they played before there live sets !

P : Did you identify songs mentioned by Lux that in fact never existed (Nasa & the Sputniks …)

K : Well, let me explain that a bit. I believe Lux started making some songs up and throwing them at interviewers just to mess with them! The DJ Mad Mike, from Pittsburgh used to do that all the time, make up song titles and bands that didn’t exist, just to confound his listeners.

I believe that nasa and the sputniks doesn’t exist, but if there’s anyone that’s reading this that can disprove this theory, contact me immediately! The same goes for “ubangi, me bangi too” by Stacey Bengal (another record mentioned by Lux that I can’t find mention of ANYWHERE). Was he referencing Mama Ubangi Bangi? I don’t know….

P : There are a lot of songs you got from those Vip Vop tapes that remain unidentify
I imagine it’s a lot of work / deduction to identify them ... ?

K :Yes, there are a bunch of songs that remain to be identified. But, believe it or not, its been kind of enjoyable identifying these songs over the years. The joy of hearing a song you’ve been looking for pop up on my ipod, or on an internet radio show, can be a religious experience !

P : Do you know the full story of those "Vip Vop Tapes" compilations made by Lux for friends ?

K : I really don’t know the full history; Apparently, Lux made a lot of tapes back in the day (Forbidden City Dog Food was originally booted from a tape of Lux’s). I stumbled across someone years ago who had 2 tapes called the “vip vop tapes”. Apparently they were made by Lux to be played at parties etc. The quality isn’t that great, and there were no track listings, so as I identify songs they are added to the LAIF series (there are still about a dozen that remain to be identified).

P : Also, for non 100 % bonafide Cramps fans, could you remind where the nickname Vip Vop comes from. There's also a song …

K : It’s from a Marvin and Johnny song (NDA : only available on an album by the Isley Brothers featuring Marvin & Johnny). Lux at one point had his name legally changed to Vip Vop back in the early 70’s.

P : Do you have any help from guys all over the world ?

K : Yes, i’ve had an amazing amount of help over the years. Rex Doane of wfmu’s FOOL’ S PARADISE, Howie Pyro from the INTOXICA podcast, Paul from the UK who was partly responsible for the wavy gravy/mello jello compilations. Dan from the slickee boys, Ben from Chicago Dirk ungawa, you, Rich and Mic from the Sickidz, and many more i can’t remember off the top of my head !

P : Do all the records from this list exist on vinyl ?

K :Pretty much, 45 ‘s 33’s and 78’s. But i’m guessing Lux and Ivy’s preffered format is the 45 rpm record. (NDA : in fact in Rock'n'Folk interview 2003, Ivy said that for her the best are 78 RPM 'cause the sound is rich, warm and alive).

P : Some must be very pricey …

K : That ‘s the thing ; some are, and some aren't. You could spend a few thousand dollars on some of these records, or you could find some of them in the dollar bin. Some are priceless, like "Stormy Weather" (NDA : by the Five Sharps – read the story about this record here : http://musicmasteroldies.blogspot.com/2009/09/stormy-weather.html), i think there’s only like 2 known copies or something…

P : 13 volumes of LAIF so far gives a total of almost 400 songs. About 80 % are from the 50-60’s, 10 % from an early era, and 10 % more recent (Gories, Guitar Wolf …). Most of the songs can be classified in the rock’n’roll, blues or garage category. But there’s also novelty tunes, exotica stuff … What else ?

K : One of my favorite catagories is vocal group or doo wop tunes. Some of the songs on the series really blew me away like "FLAMINGO" by the charades. I think people tend to think lux and ivy only listen to crazy rockabilly, but it’s much more than that, and i’m glad the series can show the wide range of music they dig.

P : What’s the craziest song from those LAIF ?

K : Well, crazy is in the ear of the beholder.

P : Considering your top ten, your tastes go for the 50’s / early 60’s period, right ?

K : Yes, i love 50’s and 60’s music, 70’s and early 80’s punk and the glorious times of the early to mid 90’ s garage scene…

P : Do you like all of the songs on LAIF ? Or are there some you don’t like that much, or even not at all ?

K : Yeah, there are a few that really aren’t up my alley. Like some of the "drop in" type novelty records.

P : Did you already skip songs that Lux & Ivy mentioned. I mean, I read once (Rock’n’Folk, 2003) that they were found of Michael Jackson’s "Thriller".

K : Well there is a difference between songs they’ve mentioned and songs they loved. I vaguely remember the "Thriller" reference. Did they mention a particular song ?

P : No, so let’s forget MJ.
To me all those "semi instrumentals" like "T-Bone" by Larry Collins, "Red Headed Flea" by the Caps or "Tarzan’s Monkey" by the Apes (a guy saying "me Jane, you Tarzan", and a girl answering "hihihi, no, you Tarzan, me Jane" for all lyrics) are timeless, you never get rid of that kind of stuff. Do you agree ?

K : Yeah, those are great timeless songs…

P : Also, I guess that it must be a real pleasure to find out that one of your personal long time fave is among Lux & Ivy’s ones too. Does it happen a lot ?

K : It does happen every once in a while. One of my favorite songs of all time is "WATUSI ZOMBIE" by Jan Davis. It popped up on one of the vip vop tapes and i was thrilled that lux had included that one because to me it’s on of the most perfect records of all time ! And being a fan of mad mike too, i was happy to find that Lux liked songs like CAMEL WALK etc.

P : Can you name a few songs that MUST be among Lux & Ivy’s faves but that you never saw mentioned anywhere ?

K : I really don’t like to guess at what their favorite songs might be. This is all about them, not me….

P : What would you think of a volume called "Songs Lux & Ivy Should have liked" or else.

K : I really don’t like that idea, because it’s every tom dick and harry could "come out" with something like that. To try and guess at a song that they might like is a futile exercise.

P : Do you see LAIF as a compliment of more or less official releases like (explain the comparison or differences, please) Born Bad (the only one issued before LAIF); Forbidden City Dog Food; Purple Knif Show; Songs The Cramps Taught Us …

K : I guess i would look at my series as a compliment to those mentioned above. Born Bad an d STCTU as mainly songs the cramps borrowed bits from to create their own songs. Over the years, i have included songs from the purple knif and FCDF because the quality on those bootlegs are not that great. As better quality versions are found, i throw them on the LAIF series. Especially if i’m trying to "fill" the edition and "release" it.

And let’s not forget none of those are official releases. They are outright bootlegs that people put together or make money off of the Cramps name. That’s why, i try to go out of my way to make these free for fans of the cramps or just fans of good music in general.

P : A lot of the songs on LAIF aren’t available on the ones mentioned above, or even on any other compilations. Do you know how many songs from original singles are ONLY available on LAIF ?

K : Not really sure. There are many songs that i’ve had to rip from 45’s because they aren’t available on any other compilations.

P : Is the name LAIF inspired by that video tape made by the Cramps in 1984ish ?

K : Nope, just came up with the name because it was the best way to describe the series.

P :Do you ever think of compiling Lux & Ivy favorites movies ?

K : I have thought of that, i just haven’t really been able to seriously take a look at it. I have started incorporating songs from the movies they like, like « the green slime » etc. On the upcoming LAIF 14, i will be including 5 minutes to live by Johnny Cash because that was listed somewhere as one of their favorite movies.

P : Do you feel those LAIF help to keep the flame of the Cramps alive ?
(I mean – there won’t be any new Cramps album - maybe "Gravest Gravy" DVD one day)

K : I don’t think anything I could do would keep their memory alive, Lux may be gone, but the Cramps music and legacy will live on forever.

I’ve always looked at the series as a companion piece to be enjoyed by cramps fans who wish to delve deeper into their mythos. Like if you like the cramps, you might really get even « more » out of them if you check out some of the things that influenced them.

P: Tell us about some of the songs on LAIF, anecdotes about the songs, or the bands, or … whatever you’d like to say

K : yeah, I could really think about something to say here, its all in the other parts of the interview

P : Some of the early volumes features downloaded / MP3 songs. Do you plan a "remixed" version of some of LAIF based on originals records that you found lately.

K : I have been making a concerted effort to find better quality versions of some of the songs, especially from the earlier volumes. Some of the early songs had the ends chopped off, because they were the only mp3 i could find. Plus those early volumes were only really meant to be heard by a few people. Quality wasn’t really high on my list. Just hearing these songs at all was pretty cool, who cares if they were in less than steller quality ? but over the years, its really started bugging me.

P : Have you heard about Lux and / or Ivy being aware of LAIF
They used to say that good music is for share, that people shouldn’t have to pay hundreds of $ to hear such or such great song, only available on 7’’.
So I think they took LAIF as a celebration of their (good) taste

K : I get the feeling that if they knew about them, they probably wouldn’t be too happy about them. But i would hope they would understand that its just a labor of love by a fan, and that originally, they were really only meant for me and my friends. Then, all of a sudden i’d run into people at parties and they’d mention the series (not knowing that I had made them) and say how cool they were. I usually would pretend i didn’t know about them and say i’d check them out !

What i didn’t know was that people had started making copies for other people and that they grew from there. Then i put them all up on soulseek for anyone to get…THEN after that, WFMU found out about them and with my consent put them up on their BEWARE OF THE BLOG page.

P: Apart from soulseek, where are those LAIF "available"?

K : All the remastered volumes will be available on my blog, all the existing volumes as they are available thru the WFMU BEWARE OF THE BLOG page.

P : Some volumes can be found on your blog (http://kogarsjunglejuice.blogspot.com)

K: This is where all the remixed volumes with covers will appear.

P : Do have an idea of how many people downloaded LAIF, or how they will sell if they were available in shops / the Net ?

K : I really have no idea. I do know that they have sort of a life of their own now. And again, i have no desire to have these available for purchase, etc. They are meant to be free and to be enjoyed by people who have the desire to find them on the ‘net.

P: Would you like to see some volumes issued on vinyl ?

K : Absolutely not. If they were to appear, you could well be sure i had nothing to do with it, and further more, you would probably never see another volume from me, or if you did, it would be in a way to dissuade bootleggers (like i would keep the titles off the mp3’s, etc)

P : As each volume of LAIF is a full CD, it’ll have be a concept, like an exotica one ?
Or a special compilation like "LAIF tearjerkers: sad songs for sad people", this one will be based on songs like "The Bells" by Billy Ward & the Dominos ?
I think someone has to issue that before other people rip off your concept, as it already happened recently.

K : Yes, someone issued a cd in the uk (NDA: it's called "Bad Music For Bad People, Songs The Cramps Taught Us"). If this keeps happening, get ready for a radically different edition of LAIF. Like each volume not having the tracks identified. Anyone paying for that cd is just being ripped off. Like why would someone buy something that is obviously a bootleg, when you can download the cd’s for free on the internet. It’s not like anyone is supporting the artists by buying that UK cd. I assume it has been put out by people that copied my compilations. To me that’s just incredibly opportunistic.

P :About LAIF covers : Joaquim Costa, the early Portuguese rocker who died a couple of years ago and with whom you were in contact, thought LAIF were so great that he planned to design covers. Can you tell us the story about this ?

K : I had been in contact with one of the guys who put together the PORTUGUESE NUGGETS lp’s and had heard these incredible recordings by Joaquim Costa that really blew me away. Afonso sent me the Joaquim 45 and was pretty close with Joaquim and he told Joaquim how much i loved the 45. He had also given Joaquim copies of the LAIF series and he flipped for them. Joaquim was the first rock and roller in Portugal (and i highly recommend his 45, though I can’t recall the label its on- NDA : it's on Groovie Records), and one of the things he liked to do was design record covers for records that he had. So say he bought a record and he didn’t like the cover. He would throw the offending artwork away and MAKE HIS OWN COVER !

Afonso told me he had wanted to make covers for all the LAIF volumes and had began the process (even going so far as to find the original 45’s and scan the labels), but he passed away before he could finish the project. I have no idea how far he got, or if he finished anything, but it was a real missed opportunity to have this amazing guy contribute to the series. I think Lux and Ivy would have approved. I think its safe to say, this guy was kind of like the Portoguese Hasil Adkins .



P : The two latest Vol - # 12 & 13, have great covers, with a returning frame : this "stay sick, turn blue" logo. Tell us about the origin of this logo.

K : This is called, for the lack of a better term, the memento mori frame. Memento Mori translated from latin means « remember you must die », which i think lux used to translate into « too bad you’re gonna die » which appeared in some old cramps flyers.
The actual skull and bones framework was taken from (i believe) a book that came out that published a list of the dead from the black plague. Somewhere along the line, Lux co-opted the design for their old flyers. So it was a no brainer on my part to incorporate that design into the covers for the LAIF series.

P : Will previous volumes get their own cover too. Who will be the designers ?

K : Yes, they will all have covers. Well, first and foremost the guy who actually puts them together is Adam Fitch, a friend of mine from college. He basically takes my ideas and makes them a reality. He does amazing work and I can’t thank him enough.

Slim Gil DeLuxe has done the art for volume one and two, which are still on the back burner for right now until i can get the mp3’s up to snuff.

Michael Deforge from canada has done a super space alien psychedelic cover from volume 6 that has to be seen to be believed ! It’s really amazing. Do a search for his artwork on the net under KING TRASH.

I’ve got some other stuff in the works, but nothing’s been finalized so i’d rather not talk about it right now….

P : What’s your fave volume of LAIF so far ?

K : Probably volume 12. It’s my aural tribute to Lux and the way it came together was sort of magical in a weird way. Things just seem to come into place.

P : Did you get material for a volume 14. If yes… when will it be issued ?

P : I’m working on it right now, and if certain things that i’ve been sort of waiting for come to pass, it should be a pretty cool volume. There’s no telling when it may be « out , maybe sometime this summer.

P : Do you ever think of someone writing a book based on your Lux & Ivy Favorites ?

K : No.

P : Well, I imagine it could be something like "Vinyl Junkies" with guys speaking of how they based the best part of their record collection with your help (personally, the Cramps made me re-discover the fabulous 50’s music, but without your help, thru your research to complete the LAIF serie, I would never have bought all those incredible original singles).

K : Well that’s nice of you to say. I really look at this stuff as a way to help people deepen their love of the cramps. You can listen to the cramps and totally love them, but to appreciate them on a deeper level, you should check out the people that influenced them. Like hearing a riff in a Link Wray song and making that connection to a cramps song is great. Listening to the cramps opened up this world of fantastic music to me. Now, it might have happened anyway at some point, but they are pretty much the reason i’m the music fanatic i am today.

P : Anyway, I can’t think of a concept being such an endless river of gold. So, go on Jim, we want more LAIF.

K : Thanks…

***********

P : You live near Boston, is it still a good place to find cool records

K : I live about an hour north of boston in New Hampshire (the hometown of Gene Maltais !). Boston still has a few great record haunts ; i highly recommend weirdo records, cheapo records, and In your ear records.

P : Tell us about your others compilations.

K : I’ve been making tape and cd compilations since the late 80’s. There is just something so cool about doing your own compilations. They are great snapshots in time. If you listened to my tapes back in the late 80’s early 90’s you would hear punk bands like FEAR and the DEAD KENNEDYS, but now you would hear rare 60’s instrumentals and crazy rock and roll from the same time period.

I’m also working on a 3rd volume of my vip vop tape tribute series called Kogar’s Big Thrill – 0 – Rama Trash Show that should debut sometime this year either on my blog or over at the WFMU ICHIBAN page. It is a series of compilations in the vein of the vip vop tapes (songs mixed and sequenced with horror movie radio spots in between the songs.

http://wfmuichiban.blogspot.com/

P : Is Kogar the Swinging ape name based on a song out of LAIF ?

K : No, my name was taken from the greatest film ever made !

P : You mean «RATPFINK A BOO BOO». And about your group, thee Monkey Butlers.

K : Not much to say….we played for about 5 or 6 years, played a bunch of shows, opened for Sky Saxon once and now are on a « prolonged » break !

(oh and if you really want to hear our music, you can download an EP we recorded back in 2004 thru the dirty water records link over at E-Music)

When Good Art Happens to Bad People

Here are some more of the images I have collected over the years. I've included credits and info where possible, but with many of them, I have no clue.

(Above) By kingpopgun

(Above) All three of these are by Jennifer Steffey.
http://www.jennifersteffey.blogspot.com/

(Above) From Emily Hughes:

I was quite moved by the passing of Lux Interior this year, not even 2 miles from my home in Echo Park. You see, he taught me to dance, I was 13 when I first heard The Cramps, combat boots and a mohawk, I just started twisting my hips and all the boys smiled. He made it so easy, to be sleazy.
Anyhow, in my mourning, I came across this photo of Lux, god he was hot, and it eerily reminded me of this oil painting of a dead sailer, titled “peace after the storm”, by Ferdinand Schauss, 1896. I hope Lux found some of that.
Man, I would give my left arm for an oil painting of a writhing Lux Interior asphyxiating on a mic cord on stage in the stink of a 1970’s New York- … Heaven. Then I’d give my right arm to be in Greece with Anna and Bart… armless in Greece.

http://www.annasheffield.com/blog/category/blog/muse-blog/emily-hughes/

I'm not clear on who actually did the above two, but I found them here:
http://brainsteakbikini.blogspot.com/2009/09/things-cramps-taught-us.html


Pretty wiggy! You can see more such at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/terriblyodd/

Ivy

Flame Job Your Meat with the Cramps
Kurt Schellenbach & Niko Courtelis interview Poison Ivy
From PLASM Magazine

http://www.plazm.com/magazine/features/all-articles/the-cramps

K: Have you ever chewed on tinfoil?
I: No, but my cats do. Do you get some kind of buzz from that?

K: Uh, yeah. Ever been to a rodeo?
I: No.

K: Ever wanted to?
I: No, they smell bad, and, I don’t know, it seems like the animals would get hurt.

K: When you played your first show in at the Marquis quite a few years ago, Lux came out on stage carrying a bone. What kind of animal was it from? I: I remember the Marquis, it was very exciting, but I don’t know what kind of bone it was. A lot of times fans will hand us stuff we don’t know where the hell it came from: a cow, a human, or whatever.

K: Did you ever meet somebody in who gave you a Rat Fink model?
I: Is that where I got it? On the last tour, somebody set one of those on-stage, near where I was playing—a fully completed model all painted—and he didn’t put his phone number or name on it to thank him.It was fragile, all glued and painted, and I didn’t want it to get smashed or anything.

N: Still have it?
I: Yes, I do. I keep it on a table on the tour bus so it won’t get all beat up, but well, I do thank him for it, whoever it is. He was the anonymous Rat Fink artist.

N: What can you tell us about art cars?
I: You mean art cars like Wild Wheels? I love that movie. It’s great. We have a 56 Dodge that has a leopard interior, but I don’t think that’s quite an art car. It’s pretty stock.

K: About one of your songs “Eyeball In My Martini,” what was your influence for the title of that song?
I: Uh, from Martinis. Influence came from ingesting Martinis.

K: Are you familiar with a book by Jim Shaw called THRIFT STORE PAINTINGS?
I: Oh yeah, I’ve seen that book. It’s really cool.

K: In that book is a painting of a pink elephant holding a Martini, and in the Martini is an eyeball.
I: No!

K: Yeah. I: I think we wrote that song before we saw the book because we saw it at that Robert William’s exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in Iowa.

K: It’s good to know that your songwriting is at the same level as a thrift store painter.
I: Yeah, that universal unconscious mind.

N: Ivy, I was reading about another song “Naked Girl Falling Down The Stairs.” You own a Duchamp, is that correct?
I: Yeah, well, Lux is really into Duchamp. He has read every biography and autobiography written. I think if Duchamp hadn’t died in Lux’s lifetime, I’d think that Lux was reincarnated as Duchamp.

N: And you own the original is that right?
I: It’s an oil painting. It’s amazing. I don’t know.

N: And that’s on the new album?
I: Yeah, "Naked Girl Falling Down The Stairs" by Marcel Duchamp.

N: Is Lux ever going to exhibit any of his 3-D photography?

I: I think so. It’s amazing. It’s beautiful stuff…and all those album covers were shot in 3-D. We haven’t used both of the slides to actually print them in 3-D, but they can be shown in 3-D. We make a view master reel to look at them.

N: What about taking a look at the political climate when you started the band, as opposed to now. In this respect, is it more of a challenge or more interesting, now, for you to write the kind of songs you write? Do you think you balance out the right?
I: I don’t know. I guess things, now, are politically more up-tight than when our band started out, musically, not politically but musically. I think things were more oppressive when we started out. We never set out to shock, but we were shocked in spite of the sound of our music. And there weren’t women in bands, and that made us seem very strange in the 70s. Now, I think there’s a lot more variety in music, but yeah, politically, the climate is a lot more repressed now. Still, I think we’re too strange. I think we’re confusing to those repressed types. We haven’t been hassled, if that’s what you mean. I’m not afraid of being incarcerated or anything.

N: I guess what I mean is: there is a need, now, with the Helmses and Newts of the world to push it, go even further.
I: Yeah, I don’t know. I guess I’m in a band so I could stay out of politics.

N: So, it’s not your motivation?
I: No, they don’t scare me.

K: What’s the best music to clean house to?
I: Maybe Esquivel.

K: You live in the Burbank area, right?
I: Glendale, right near Forest Lawn.

K: My daughter had her Christmas pageant at Forest Lawn Cemetery.
I: I love Forest Lawn. It’s like an amusement park. It’s very pretty, and with a gift shop.

K: I hear a rumor you were kicked out of Disneyland with Lux. Is that true?
I: Yeah. That was really stupid of Orange County. We didn’t look that flamboyant or anything. But we were there with a bunch of friends, and we did a bunch of mushrooms, and then we were trying to walk into the place, and they wouldn’t admit us. We weren’t behaving strangely or anything. But it was frustrating because we had just…you know…already eaten all these mushrooms. Kinda all dressed up and no place to go. And so that was just all very frustrating. They said we were wearing these costumes—because we were wearing black clothes, because the men were wearing earrings. And they said that me and June couldn’t enter because of our make-up, that it was considered a costume, which I thought was really insulting. I guess we had too much eye makeup on? And sometimes I wear eyeglasses, and they have rhinestone frames. They were prescription eyeglasses, I needed them to see, and they called that a costume, and they won’t admit people in costumes.

K: So what did you end up doing while you were beaming on mushrooms?
I: We went to the Tiki Ti bar in LA. We were supposed to see the Ventures at Disneyland, and Lux was going to do a phone-in review of the show to Rodney Bingenheimer, a radio show, live on the spot. So, instead he did a review of what it might have been like.

N: We were thinking of having you and Lux fill out job applications for McDonalds. I: OK, you can fax it to me.

THE CRAMPS: STRONG SPIRITS OF HALLOWEENS PAST

I was a teenage werewolf Braces on my fangs I was a teenage werewolf And no one even said thanks And no one made me stop I ran a two-minute mile I had to blow my top In the teen full moon No one could make me stop No one could make me stop A teenage werewolf Parallel bars A teenage girlfriend Got her lot of scars Somebody please make me stop Ohhh please… You know, I have too many rights And I have too many wrongs No one understood me All my teeth were so long And no one made me stop A Midwest monster Of the highest grade All my teachers thought It was growing pains, oh no no Somebody stop this pain, ohhh…

1983

1988

(ABOVE) From Bay Area Backstage- The Cramps Play every Halloween in the Bay Area. We were on location a few years back and just unearthed this Rare Bay Area Exclusive. In fact we lost this footage with the move to digital format playback at the Comcast HQ. It was on 3/4 reel Live Concert footage. My Brother is the upclose Camera operator. Lux and Ivy and The Cramps were amazing. This will prove The Cramps Live Halloween Show will have you twisting and Pulp Fiction style Dancing with Ghoulmaster Lux Beltin out the Vocals. Ivy rocks with the Kick of a Roger Corman sex kitten and the musical chops to Out Riff any wannabe.


1989

Lux advises viewers to traumatize children.



1996



1997
Here is a review from the Hollywood Reporter of the Cramps' annual Halloween show back in 1997, by a reporter who might possibly have been vaguely aware of who the Cramps were. I don't know how the hell "Surfin' Bird" qualifies as the Cramps' "one actual hit."

Concert Review: The Cramps at The Palace, Hollywood

Publication: The Hollywood Reporter Date: Thursday, October 30 1997
By Daina Darzin

Back for their annual Halloween show, the Cramps were -- well, Cramps-like. The veteran punkabilly cult favorites have refined their gleefully surreal trash 'n'
horror shtick to a science. It's worked for them since the early 1980s, and they're sticking with it.

The Cramps may be a novelty attraction, but they're one of the best ever: the Screaming Jay Hawkinses of their generation, they're an influence on everyone from White Zombie to neo-rockabilly artists. Dressed in head-to-toe purple glitter spandex, frontman Lux Interior was as manic as ever, brandishing his mike stand like a weapon, jumping around the stage and writhing on his ever-present zebra-striped rugs. "I'd like to inform you what you're missing on TV at this moment," he announced. Then he went on to read the TV Guide description of "The VH1 Fashion Awards" in a hilarious tone that redefined the term "dripping with sarcasm."

Interior happily suggested himself as Most Fashionable Artist, then showered the audience with torn-up bits of TV Guide. Poison Ivy provided her usual minimalist, deadpan vibe, a perfect counterpoint to Interior's chew-the-scenery approach. The Cramps recently released a new disc; new material included "Queen of Pain," an ironically jaunty honky-tonk tune. "Thank you, masochists," Interior quipped afterward. Overall, the Cramps' new material seems to be heavier and more atonal -- more punk, less billy.

The Cramps also ran through their reliable stable of oldies, including their cover of "Psychotic Reaction," "The Creature From the Black Leather Lagoon," "What's Inside a Girl?" and of course, the Cramps' one actual hit, "Surfin' Bird." The sold-out crowd was enthusiastic throughout.


1999




2000

2002

2006

For the Love of Ivy

(Not a terribly original title, I know. But what the hell else was I gonna call it?)

By Chuck Miller
September 24, 2009

Like a lot of people I know, I took the death of Lux Interior pretty hard. The thing about Lux is, you either GET him or you don't. In order to really GET him, you have to be a certain kind of person, and there just ain't that many of us. If you're reading this at all, chances are you know exactly what I'm talking about. To say that Lux was my favorite singer would be like a Christian saying Jesus was their favorite guy that got nailed up on a cross. Technically true, but missing almost all of the emotional subtext.

We mourn his passing, and rightly so, for he was a rare bird whose like will never be seen again.

But leave us always remember and never forget: What Lux was to a set of vocal chords, Ivy was/is to an electric guitar.

The Cramps without Lux Interior would be like Elvis Presley without Elvis Presley. However, as Lux himself knew full well, there is no "I" in Cramps but if there were, it would stand for "Ivy." That doesn't make much sense, but sense is not what I'm shooting for. I'm trying, in the most roundabout way possible, to say that the Cramps were, essentially, a duo. Drummers and bassists and second guitarists could come and go-- and there were some great ones-- but in order to have the Cramps, you hve to have Lux AND Ivy.

Now, we only have Ivy. And we must continue to cherish her. The Cramps are no more and will never be again. But we still have a kick-ass nasty red-headed guitar heroine by the name of Poison Ivy Rorschach.

Back in about 1990, I had the very great good fortune to interview Poison Ivy for a little entertainment paper I worked for at the time. When I say "little," I mean just that. It was extremely local, given away for free at libraries, laundromats, college campuses, etc., in Mobile Alabama. Not exactly Vanity Fair, it was almost as prestigious as the Thrifty Nickel. Most of the writing was as boring and crappy as the small, parochial "music scene" it covered. (I also played guitar in a band called the Church of the Chainsaw, which might just as well have been a Cramps tribute band.)

So, I had a grandiose idea. I was going to try and get an interview with someone who was actually famous. I selected a few artists I really liked and wrote to their record companies or publicists. The Cramps, of course, were on the list. The very top, in fact. Some time went by and I heard nothing from anyone, which I had more or less expected. I had almost forgotten the whole business when one day, while I was at work, the phone rang. I answered, a female voice asked to speak to Chuck Miller, I admitted I was him. The caller said, "This is Poison Ivy of the Cramps."

Since reaching adulthood, I have never once shit in my pants. But if I had, that would have been it. I knew It was not a joke because any of my friends would know that they'd be signing their own death warrant with such a stunt. I got my shit together, got a tape recorder, and we talked for more than an hour. It was the highlight of my journalistic career, if not my whole fucking life. I wish I still had that tape.

Another thing I've never done is have a religious experience, but, again, that came very close.

I have interviewed a few more celebrities since then, but that was the only time I ever came away from it feeling that I had just talked with someone who genuinely appreciated my interest and who thought I was just as important as she was.

Years later, I got to meet both Lux and Ivy face-to-face, for all of about 15 seconds, at a club in New Orleans while they were making their way to the stage. I seriously doubt she actually remembered me, but she very sweetly pretended that she did.












I always had the impression that Ivy was the brains of the outfit. But not in a creepy Colonel Tom kind of way. More like an "I know that what we are doing is some incredibly great and unique shit, and I intend to take good care of it" way. She built and maintained the framework that allowed Lux to be the magnificent beast that he was. She was his foundation. Had there not been an Ivy, right now there might be only a handful of people mourning the death of that weird old Mister Purkhiser who ran that used record store out by the airport. Would young Eric ever have found the freedom to gleefully bounce around nearly naked on a stage in a pair of high heels? Maybe, maybe not. And had he not, how much poorer our lives would have been.

Now, I am not seriously suggesting that anyone here is likely to forget or even discount her. But with everything that has been written about Lux, a lot of it by me, I want to take the opportunity, now that some time has passed, to express my gratitude, admiration and appreciation to the Cramps' other half.

I have a friend in California with three daughters, all under the age of 15. They are lucky kids indeed because they all got to see the Cramps in 2006. The youngest was less than a year old. The two older girls were enthralled with Ivy. She touched something deep inside them. There is still a lot more sexism in the music world than anyone wants to admit. There are a few basic molds into which most female performers squeeze themselves. There are way more Pussycat Dolls than there are Girlschools or Runaways. Where can a young girl look to find a guitar heroine of her own? Not many places. But one of those places was the stage before which those girls stood on that day. And they will carry that with them for the rest of their lives.

IVY on MEETING LUX:

"We met in 1974 in college in Sacramento, California. Under the guise of the Art Department there were classes like "Art and Shamanism," which was really a study of amanita muscaria; the textbook was The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross. The class was real loose; the teacher would ask you, "What grade do you want, an A?" He would gravitate toward certain students and invite them to "heavier" classes at his home--he had this fabulous spread. Lux and I met in his class, although actually we met hitchhiking. We talked and discovered we were going to see each other again in this teacher's class. Actually, the first kiss was in this instructor's house--we'd taken mushrooms, I think."
(From Incredibly Strange Music Vol. I)

Poison Ivy- Kristy Wallace (born Kristy Marlana Wallace February 20, 1953, San Bernardino, California), better known as Poison Ivy (or Poison Ivy Rorschach), is a founding member of the American garage punk band The Cramps. Wallace was married to Cramps' singer Lux Interior (Eric Purkhiser), with whom she had been for 37 years, until his death on February 4, 2009. Instruments played: guitars, echo-theremin. The band was formed when Lux Interior and Poison Ivy met during a college course on art and shamanism. The name originated in a dream and was initially "Poison Ivy Rorschach", the Rorschach referring to the Rorschach ink-blot test, however over the years it has been contracted to plain and simple "Poison Ivy". Her stage persona is best defined by as being the bad-girl vixen from next door; this is underlined by the sexually explicit cover-art which she has frequently posed for the band's albums. (Wikipedia)


From the KILLER KITTENS FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE Blog:
http://killer--kittens.blogspot.com/2009/02/happy-birthday-poison-ivy-rorschach.html

February 20, 2009-- A very special baby girl was delivered unto this Earth in Sacramento, California on this day in 1953. The babe's parents named her Kristina Marlana Wallace, but you can call her Poison Ivy.

Poison Ivy Rorschach is easily one of the hottest women in music. For the last 3 decades, she has been rockin' n' shockin' onstage with psychobilly pioneers The Cramps, alongside her larger than life husband, Lux Interior. Sadly, when Lux departed this mortal coil on February 4, 2009, he took the future of The Cramps with him. Now that the irreplaceable frontman is gone (but never forgotten), the amplifiers have fallen silent, the drum beat no longer keeps time, and the adoring fans stand perfectly still before the stage.

Thank gods for the 15 album legacy The Cramps were thoughtful enough to leave behind.

Bonne fête, Poison Ivy... Rock n' Roll Goddess.


AN INTERVIEW WITH IVY FROM
http://www.geocities.com/jackyardbackoff/ivyguitarinterview.html

Stay Sick!, the first Cramps album to come near the mainstream, positively slithers with the procreante urge. Poison Ivy's distorted rockabilly riffs cover Lux Interior's monstrous, monotone vocals like cool Calamine, maximum reverb and tremolo, please. While Lux lampoons images of smoking poodles, drag racers on acid, and women swimmin' in chilli, Poison Ivy plays the straightwoman, creating 50s-approved guitar parts that pay tribute to the likes of Link Wray, Paul Burlison, and friends. Seldom has psychobilly been so appealingly packaged.

The Cramps finally seem to be crossing over into the mainstream.

Or are they crossing over to us?

Has your image or over-the-top performances style caused you trouble?

Not too much. Not anymore than most bands. In fact, lately not too much at all. We used to get in fights and stuff; people tried to pick fights with us. We haven�t been arrested . I think we've been pretty fortunate. It's great that this band has been a success for us on whatever level its been at. I don't think Lux and I can do anything else (laughs). I'm not sure we're even employable doing something else, so it's good we're allowed to do it.

Has your audience evolved?

Every time we play there are newer, younger people. When we started out in New York at CBGB's and Max's Kansas City, fixtures would always be at the show, but since then its changed. I actually see more variety at our shows than I do at other people's shows. I think there's these facets that reach different kinds of people. Some people like us for the instrumental aspects and someone else will like us because we're dangerous or scary.

How do your shows compare to the records?

They're different. Some people think that we don't get that thing we have live onto our records, and I don't agree. They'd feel different if they heasrd a tape of a show which I do a lot of times, because we tape all our shows. They don't always sound that great, and I think people get confused by the visual things that are going on. You have to be there. But when they talk about the wild aspect not being on the record, I think they're just wrong. They're just remembering how they felt, or maybe they were loaded at the show when all that stuff was going on. It's different. It's not sloppier live, but even if we play the same songs every night, they're never the same way twice. I suppose with recording, we do try to concentrate on the ultimate arrangement, the ultimate impact.

Do you record live?
Some songs on the new album had to be recorded live - Muleskinner Blues, Shortnin Bread and Her Love Rubbed Off couldnt be recorded any other way because of the way we have to interact with each other and Lux singing. Other ones, though, were tracked with drums and bass first, although we do that together. We try to track the rythym together; it makes it easier to record songs.

Where did your idea of the marrige of rockabilly and punk originate?

Well we didn't think of it as that; others call it that. What happened was that Lux and I were living in Ohio, just finding wild records. At the time, the only way you could find rockabilly was on the original 45s; there weren't any reissues of it. We were finding some incredible records around the Akron area because a lot of people from the South had moved up North to work in the factories and dumped their records. So we were hearing all this stuff, and at the same time there were contemporary bands we liked. We loved the New York Dolls and the Stooges, so we were excited by that. We had boring jobs, we were taking speed, and with the combination of those things, we ended up going to New York. There was no place in Ohio where you could have an original band, and we knew that CBGBs was starting to happen. We even bought a P.A. -- we thought you needed to own your own P.A. in New York. I mean we didn't know anything about having a band. We'd written songs, so we got together with several various configurations before we actually played CBGBs. When we moved to New York, we saw the Ramones several times and it was all a combination of our excitement. We knew that rockabilly and the kind of music we were listening to was what everybody in the world wanted to hear! At the same time we were really moved and inspired by punk-rock bands that were happening in New York at the time. We didn't have any concept about putting it together; it just happened kind of naturally. Who we were was more out of control than some of the music we were listening to, and we were just shoved on in there.

What are the essential elements of the Poison Ivy sound?

Live it's always pretty much the same. My main live guitar is a 1958 Gretsch 6120 with the pre-patent Filter-Tron pickups. I play it through a Fender Pro Reverb with a blackface that's kind of unique - it has one 15� JBL that appears to have been done at the factory. I don�t know if someone had it custom ordered or what. I found it that way as a used amp. The big speaker sounds really great with that hollowbody guitar. I've started using a modern pedal, an Ibanez delay computer. It's pretty cool. And then I use two distortion units, A Univox Super Fuzz, that's the fuzz sound of the Cramps, and a pedal called (Tube Works) Real tube, whuich supposedly simulates overdrive, but it doesn't really. I don't use it on many songs.

Do you play any styles that might surprise your fans?

Not anything unusual, like, you know, classical.

You're not a closet bluegrasser?

Well, actually maybe some of the more country styles - you know some fingerpicking country that's not quite bluegrass. It's a simple, pure country style just when I'm foolin' around. I do straighter blues stuff too.

Do you practice?

I should. Not as much as I like. Most of the practice I get is onstage. Seems like I get spread thin doing other things. I'd be happy if all I did was play guitar, but I don't get an opportunity to. I'm not working on improving anything specific about my playing. I'm always listening to records and watching people. As I go along, things kind of become unveiled or revealed to me. After years of wondering what was gong on, things that seemed unfathomable sometimes become clear. It's kind of fun, and I guess that happens with any guitar player. That's going to happen for the rest of my life.

Do you always have a guitar around at home?

Oh yeah. The one I have at home-- I never play it live-- is a 1952 Gibson ES295. It's gold guitar and even has ivy on the pickguard. It's that famous Ersel Hickey guitar that everyone copies for the classic rock profile. It's a really great guitar. The neck is hard for me to play; it's really big and bulky, but it's a great-sounding guitar.

What's the best way to get a visceral tone in the studio?
Mainly just try to get the recorded sound as close to what you're gonna want it to be before you mix, just through miking it. I play loudly on really small amps; almost the whole Stay Sick album was recorded on a Valco amp from 1959 or '60. This one has a tiny 10' speaker. The less processing the better.

You seem to have a tougher sound this time.

Yeah, well it worked (laughs).

Where did rockabilly guitar come from?

Oh, God, I don't know. I don�t know why rock and roll even happened. I mean, it was a product of the '50s, even though people will argue it was invented in the '20s and '30s. Well, it wasn't. It was a phenomenom of the '50s. I don't know if it had something to do with the atom bomb or Sputnik or what. I just think people were thinking really big. Electric guitar came to life in the '50s. It was just like dynamite in the hands of these players who were mainly teenagers. They were capturing electricity, making this music out of it. Have you ever seen this movie, Carnival Rock? James Burton is backing up both David Houston and Bob Luman, who were both Louisiana acts. Burton is just a kid, but oh, man, he's incredible.

Besides Cliff Gallup, James Burton, and Scotty Moore, who are some of the must-hear 50s cats?
Link Wray. Even though he's known, he's not credited well enough. He had the most apocalyptic, monumental sound I ever heard-- real emotional and so simple and so violent. That stands for rock and roll, which is supposed to be violent and dangerous, and have this dangerous sound. Ike Turner isn't that well-known for his guitar playing -- he's more known for his associations with Tina, I guess. But he had an incredibly wild, unique guitar style, and he was also responsible for being a producer and an A&R man in the '50s.

Have you encountered much sexism in the business?

Anything negative has been pretty much trivial, like, I go into a guitar store and they call me sweetheart and tell me how to hold the guitar. I actually haven't had any obstacles. The main thing that's been sexist, I guess, is that if I am recognized or credited, people will say I play as tough as a guy. In a way that's insulting, because for one thing, I play different. It's got nothing to do with guys. No guy taught me how to play. I taught myself. And you,d be surprised how much you can learn yourself, just listening to a lot of records and watching people play and hanging out with a lot of players, rather than having someone show you his cliched way of playing. Try something original. And I'm sure there's even something about being a girl that has an original flair to it, and women should try to allow that to come out in their playing. And that can be something pretty scary, too. People expect us to be timid, and it can be the other way around.

Do you do anything special to keep your sanity on the road?

No, I'm hopelessly insane. It's too late now.

Any special messages for guitarists?

Just stay sick and turn blue!