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The Cramps

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(1976 – present)

The Cramps, originally formed in 1976, are an influential and long-lived band credited with founding psychobilly, a fusion of punk, rockabilly, surf rock, and goth rock. Their music is mostly in blues form, played at varying, (though usually fast) tempos, with a very minimal drumkit. An integral part of the early Cramps sound is dual guitars, without a bassist. The content of their songs and image is sleaze, trashy Americana (much in the style of filmmaker John Waters), sexual fetishism, clever bad jokes, and cheap, horror B-movie clichés.

Their line-up has rotated much over the past couple of decades, with husband and wife Lux Interior and Poison Ivy—the lead singer and lead guitarist, respectively—as the only permanent members.

They were part of the early cbgbs punk rock movement that had emerged in New York, although they had formed several years earlier in California. The band is credited as a prominent factor in terms of influence on the gothabilly genre.

Their sound was heavily influenced by early rockabilly and proto-rock’n’roll like Link Wray and Hasil Adkins, 1960s surf music acts such as The Ventures, The Surfaris and Dick Dale, 1960s garage rock artists like The Standells, The Gants, The Trashmen, The Green Fuz and The Sonics, as well as the post-glam/early punk scene from which they emerged. They also were influenced to a degree by The Ramones as well as Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, who is often credited for having pioneered their style of theatrical horror-blues.

Tagged as:

psychobilly, punk, rockabilly, garage rock, post-punk
See more…

1	Human Fly full track	841
2	Goo Goo Muck full track	513
3	Garbageman full track	439
4	I Can't Hardly Stand It full track	309
5	TV Set full track	300
6	I Was a Teenage Werewolf full track	284
7	New Kind of Kick full track	265
8	She Said full track	254
9	Fever full track	239
10	Bikini Girls With Machine Guns	233
11	Zombie Dance full track	215
11	Love Me full track	215
13	The Way I Walk full track	212
14	Drug Train full track	211
15	Sunglasses After Dark full track	203

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VannyZero wrote:
last week

I saw them in 2003! that's something I will never forget! download for free my debut lo-fi/garage/blues album here http://www.lastfm.it/music/Vanny+Zero/Love+Is+A+Serial+Killer or on www.myspace.com/vannyzero

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mrsticker wrote:
last week

Everyone must see The Cramps perform at least once before they die!!!

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Cints wrote:
last week

i desperately need some new kind of kick!

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punkcherry wrote:
16 days ago

my fav eva version of fever

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Valentism wrote:
18 days ago

the best

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hndsomedevil wrote:
21 days ago

best song on top

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[deleted-user] wrote:
21 days ago

Definately one of the coolest goth rock bands ever. Right after Type O Negative and Christain Death.
theansweris42x wrote:
last month

You look just like an Elvis from hell!

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kaireeleponey wrote:
last month

thank god i was born

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EnriqueEscalona wrote:
last month

¡Mi banda favorita!

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HeWhoSmellsBad wrote:
last month

this is good music, and it opened me up to some great stuff.

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Mokami wrote:
last month

Houseparty music!

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dyNaMiKa wrote:
last month

♥

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silvyarotter wrote:
last month

love love love

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Lux_inferior wrote:
last month

Monos- That gig at the London Astoria was in August 2003, never been to these shores since as far as I know :( I'd kill to see The Cramps live............

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Rod_S wrote:
last month

Any news on an album or - gasp - tourdates?

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GraemeShelton wrote:
September 2008

the whole idea of musicians ripping off other musicians is bullshit. good musicians realize that. all you have to do is look at any music written more than 70 years ago to see it blatantly

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wizard_of_ahhhs wrote:
September 2008

a rip off? I guess he doesn´t get The Cramps.

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horse_glue wrote:
September 2008

if you really think it's a rip off you're missing the point. the cramps cover and reference a lot more than just link wray.

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crappycamper91 wrote:
September 2008

Anyone noticed that 'I Was A Teenage Werewolf' is a rip-off of 'Rumble' by Link Wray

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Recent Activity

ColdFear87 added The Cramps to ColdFear87’s library. 23 minutes ago
BlackNocturne tagged The Cramps with ‘post-punk’ and ‘psychobilly’. 1 hour ago
mentSinnott, TheHeShes, simontheboy and 2 other people added The Cramps to their libraries. 2 hours ago
Voggi tagged The Cramps with ‘rockabilly’. yesterday afternoon
BigFreeze68, MarcJohnHenry74, AdenHarrow and 2 other people added The Cramps to their libraries. yesterday afternoon
hussein2 tagged The Cramps with ‘garage rock’. Friday evening
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Toffolo tagged The Cramps with ‘sleazerock’. Friday afternoon