I really dont like the Cramps
The_Hook_Up
8,182 Posts
listenin to the radio while I do a little work, and the Cramps are on and I guess I never got "it", I mean I get "it", but I dont get it, you know?
Comments
played them in years - the way I see it is like this -
in the 80's, when I was very into punk rock, the Cramps
did a great job of bringing together my 3 favorite kinds
of music: punk, 60's garage, and rockabilly ... for a kid
learning about music, that was a mix too potent to ignore.
I can't say they hold up over the decades, but I'll give
them props for doing what they do, and doing it well.
I wish Alex Chilton had done a better job mixing "Songs the Lord Taught Us," but he gets a pass because of his work in Big Star, of which all three albums are essential.
Have you seen the Cramps video where they perform in a psych ward?
long time ago...I bet that's on you tube...I like the cramps but I prefer the originals of the songs they covered
yeah, thats entertaining...theres actually a "cover version" of the video, a Cramps cover band recreated the whole video, with mental patients and everything...
Ha! The girl who is doing the radio show is now playing a song off a mix CD I gave her...ahhh...thats better...
shit, shes letting the mix CD ride... www.wevl.org click on listen now! and then click on the little old timey radio if ya wanna hear some Turkish fuzz...
I like them, but I wouldn't dismiss them like that.
I will admit, they spawned some godawful imitators - I can't call any names (because I can't remember them), but suffice to say that if there's a band around now that calls themselves "psychobilly," if they're not aping Rev. Horton Heat, then they're imitating the Cramps. And both ways they suck. But Heat and the Cramps themselves are okay with me.
***I Know You Fine, But How You Doin'
What is your favorite Chilton record? I have to go with "Radio City" as a front-to-back listen, although "Sister Lovers" has the greatest songs.
Have you heard Chris Bell's solo album "I am the Cosmos"? Despite some noodling, filler tracks, it's a strong album.
And does Chilton involve himself in hoola-hoops and hot rods rock records, or what? He's got the spirit in him. That Gories album sounds nasty.
Probably the Box Tops' first album, The Letter/Neon Rainbow. Their other sixties albums were wildly uneven, but even then, they still had strong tracks like "Cry Like A Baby," "727," "Yesterday Where's My Mind," "Lost," and (my #1 fave) "Soul Deep."
As far as Big Star, I love #1 Record and Radio City, and even that recent reunion record (In Space) has its' moments. Now, as far as that third album...didn't like it when I bought it in the early nineties and sold it long ago. Plus, one of my coworkers in a record store I used to slave at played that third album more than once and I was not entranced. But just the other day, I heard a little bit of it in another unrelated record shop...it took me by surprise and I thought it was half decent. But then again, I didn't stick around to hear it all, so who knows??
Have you heard Chris Bell's solo album "I am the Cosmos"? Despite some noodling, filler tracks, it's a strong album.
Haven't heard it, would like to get it - plus "I am the cosmos/I am the wind/But that won't get you back again" (or whatever that was he sang) is one of the greatest couplets ever.
Oh yeah, as much as I like the Gories' three albums, Chilton gave that one album a focus that the band didn't possess on their other two.
I dug Fire Of Love, but thought The Los Vegas Story was one big aural shit sammich.
I think that the Cramps are loved by folks that discovered them at a certain time in thier life and the chemistry and everything was just right and a love affair was bonded into place. At least that's how Cramps fans I have known have described it, and serious Cramps fans will fight to the death over their beloved heroes. I was the same way with The Fleshtones...when I first saw them on IRS' video show The Cutting Edge in '85, to me they were the perfect band and I wanted to be in a band like THAT. I think it's the same with folks who caught Lux and Co in 'UURGH! A Music War' way back when. They made quite an impression, but it tended to be either you 'got it' or you didn't.
I gotta say, I think you have to be a serious masochist to copy the Cramps, because you are REALLY going to pale in comparison. They are a complete victory of style over substance, but they know their schtick like few others.
As for the Gun Club, I am currently trying to find some magic in their catalog, but they sorta leave me cold, colder than the Cramps (but I am still trying). I prefer Kid Congo with Lux n Ivy, personally.
i like "garbageman" "human fly" and maybe one more tune. they had sick production.
Cramps have a record of hardcore garage covers, some of the bands covered had only released very tiny records on small indy labels. anyhow, one of the bands contacted the cramps after they learned about the Cramps covers record, wrote a letter saying that they liked the new version of the tune. The cramps never wrote the dude from the band back. Dude gets mad and sues cramps for $5000.
i forgot the name of the song, i'd remember it if someone posted up the tracklisting for the Covers lp.