Comments on: The Cramps and The Gun Club

The Cramps and The Gun Club

ornate insect — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:10:17 -0800

Give it up for The Cramps and The Gun Club. Two of the greatest bands to come out of the late 1970s/early 1980s punk scene, they (wikis here and here) shared a few things in common: guitarist Kid Congo Powers as well as a penchant for re-invigorating the raucous, carnal, primal spirit of American popular music--i.e. early garage rock and rockabilly (what the Cramps dubbed "psychobilly") and blues. Start with this screamer from The Cramps, and this blistering classic from the GC's first LP.

&featureHere are some other great distractions and mischief making from these two legendary, seminal bands: Cramps--Garbage Man, Cramps--Goo Goo Muck, Live at Napa State Mental Hospital, Cramps--Devil w/Blue Dress/You Got Good Taste, Cramps--People Aint No Good + Interview, Bikini Girls w/Machine Guns,.....etc Gun Club--Preachin' the Blues, Gun Club--Sex Beat, Gun Club--My Dreams, Gun Club--Moonlight Motel, Ghost on the Highway trailer, Gun Club--The Lie,......etc

By: Kickstart70

Kickstart70 — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:18:38 -0800

Love The Cramps. I saw them at the old Commodore in Vancouver, with Gorilla Gorilla (headed up by Bif Naked) fronting for them. During the concert I had my shirt ripped completely off and had to scrounge what was left behind after the concert for something to wear home. Good times...good times... ;-D

By: ba

ba — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:23:28 -0800

I'm gonna wear some pants like that (from the Tear It Up video) to work tomorrow!

By: kuujjuarapik

kuujjuarapik — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:27:34 -0800

RIP JLP

By: msalt

msalt — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:28:06 -0800

That first GC cut doesn't quite seem blistering to me. They had a great cover of "Run Through the jungle", though the live one on YouTube bites.

By: ornate insect

ornate insect — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:29:07 -0800

If anyone unfamiliar w/either band is wondering which recordings to start with, I would recommend starting with the early stuff: Cramps--Gravest Hits EP (Illegal Records/I.R.S. Records, 1979) Cramps--Songs The Lord Taught Us (Illegal Records, 1979) Cramps--Psychedelic Jungle (I.R.S. Records, 1981) Gun Club--Fire of Love (Ruby/Slash 1981) Gun Club--Miami (Animal records 1982) Gun Club--The Las Vegas Story (1984)

By: chupacabra

chupacabra — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:30:20 -0800

Woh...thanks for this post. Now I'm going to go home this eve and break out my old Gun Club vinyl and rock out.

By: ornate insect

ornate insect — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:31:47 -0800

msalt--they could be hit or miss live, but I beg to differ on that first Gun Club link; granted it's a little raw and the recording is less than optimum, for me it still conveys some of their energy.

By: DecemberBoy

DecemberBoy — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:32:05 -0800

I love The Cramps. "Songs The Lord Taught Us" is one of my favorite records, every single song absolutely screams, and the bonged-out mega-echo production by Alex Chilton is awesome. Listening to The Cramps is like reading old EC Comics while nodding out in in a door-less toilet stall in the bathroom of a sleazy bar. They are to music what John Waters is to film. Plus, Poison Ivy. Roooowwwwl! Hubba hubba!

By: Sailormom

Sailormom — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:36:18 -0800

For the Love of Ivy.

By: DecemberBoy

DecemberBoy — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:44:31 -0800

ornate insect- for a good overview of The Cramps, I'd say get the "Bad Music For Bad People" compilation, which compiles their material up to 1984. If you dig that, then go for "Songs The Lord Taught Us", then go from there.

By: ornate insect

ornate insect — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:53:08 -0800

DecemberBoy--yeah the "Bad Music" compilation is indeed a good start. Also recommended are the Songs the Cramps Taught Us CDs--which document (a la "Pebbles") many of the obscure garage tunes from the late 1950s and early 1960s that the Cramps were, as avid record collectors and dedicated revivalists, covering. The Cramps were in many ways the coolest cover band that ever played, since they specialized in warped and wild tunes that were unfamiliar to all but hardcore rockabilly and garage enthusiasts.

By: spiderskull

spiderskull — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:54:31 -0800

If you find yourself in the stupidly named SoMa district in San Francisco, look for a place called Black Market Music (I think). You can purchase the old Cramps drumkit if you say the right words. Although, come to think of it, I wouldn't advise buying anything from them -- it's mostly unwanted crap.

By: ornate insect

ornate insect — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:05:04 -0800

from the KCP interview linked to above, this excerpt helps explain some of the Cramps/Gun Club connection: MPP: Now you left very early on in the Gun Club's career...were you there for the recording of Fire of Love, or did you leave before that? KCP: I left about ten minutes before they recorded it, and got headhunted by the Cramps. (laughs) When I joined them, Jeffrey was like, "Please do it, we're playing to five people!" The Cramps were big rock stars to us: they had a record out, they went on tour. It felt like a huge opportunity, like, what 20-year-old, barely playing guitar person could even join a band like that? But I was there for most of the writing of Fire of Love and I was there for that formative period before the album, and so I still really feel a part of it, even though my actual guitar playing wasn't a part of it.

By: Large Marge

Large Marge — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:06:22 -0800

My uncle got kicked out of a Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention concert for being on too much acid and then somehow managed to go bareback horse riding later that night- and the most amazing thing about that night was "bareback! can you believe it??" When I told him I was going to see the cramps on halloween he said, "man, they put on one crazy show." and quickly changed the subject.

By: ornate insect

ornate insect — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:16:07 -0800

interesting anecdote from the first Gun Club-related (info/history) linked above: Debbie Harry (of Blondie: I hope she needs no introduction) appears, as a backing singer on various tracks on the LP ["Miami"] under the pseudonym "D.H.Lawrence Jr." JLP would regale original Gun club drummer Brad Dunning with tales of misery about his unrequited love for Debbie. He had slept on her floor throughout his parents' divorce; he was also the head of her L.A. fanclub. The Blondie reunion album No Exit contains a track about Pierce in the shape of "Under The Gun."

By: ornate insect

ornate insect — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:30:43 -0800

And, as a related aside that deserves mention, if there's one band that came up in the mid 1980s that best possesed the spirit of the Cramps and the Gun Club, I would say that band was the Flat Duo Jets. Like the demented offspring of Hasil Adkins and Charlie Feathers, guitarist Dexter Romweber packed (packs) a manic rockabilly punch.

By: mattoxic

mattoxic — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:31:22 -0800

The Cramps yeah, why not, good shock value. I live the clip in Urgh where Poison Ivy gives Lux Interior a look of UTTER derision- one of rock's great sneers. Gun Club? I used to love em back in the early eighties, and was lucky enough to see them in backwater Brisbane. I was having a nostalgia trip the other day and dragged our a whole lot of vinyl, and gotta say, they ain't as amazing as I remember.

By: ornate insect

ornate insect — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:34:12 -0800

mattoxic--for me The Gun Club LPs still hold up to scrutiny: I think Fire of Love, Miami, Las Vegas Story, and even Mother Juno are all still very solid listens.

By: ornate insect

ornate insect — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:49:13 -0800

for those who are maybe not hearing what made the GC so great, give this song a listen. Entitled "Mother of Earth" from the Miami LP, it's one of my favorites by them.

By: invitapriore

invitapriore — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:49:17 -0800

I'm seconding Bad Music for Bad People as a great introduction to the Cramps. That's what got me introduced. I owe them big for introducing me to Hasil Adkins, too.

By: ornate insect

ornate insect — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:53:39 -0800

invitapriore--all hail Hasil Adkins. I had the pleasure of seeing him in Athens, GA in 1990 (Southern Culture on the Skids opened) or so.

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Mon, 05 May 2008 18:15:50 -0800

The Gun Club also featured - for a while - Patricia Morrison on bass. She went on to join Andrew Eldritch in the second incarnation of The Sisters of Mercy (Gift & Floodland albums), and played a rather nice femme fatale role in the noiresque film clip for This Corrosion, set in sunny Petra. What I didn't know until now was that she went on to marry & have a kid with David Vanian of The Damned. Gothic royalty, indeed.

By: ornate insect

ornate insect — Mon, 05 May 2008 18:24:51 -0800

Yet more stuff on The Cramps here and on The Gun Club here

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Mon, 05 May 2008 18:29:44 -0800

and for all you trainspotters out there, Jeffrey Lee Pierce does a great song with Die Haut on the album Head On (other guest vocalists include Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, Alan Vega of Suicide, Debbie Harry aka Blondie, Blixa Bargeld of Einsturzende Neubauten / The Bad Seeds, Anita Lane - Bad Seeds again, and Lydia Lunch of Lydia Lunch). Headless Body in Topless Bar is also pretty good; Nick Cave's on that one, along with Mick Harvey, Kid Congo Powers & Anita Lane. And then there's Burnin' the Ice, with Nick Cave on vocals throughout.

By: ornate insect

ornate insect — Mon, 05 May 2008 18:33:26 -0800

uburoivas--and for those who don't know, KCP is the connection between Cramps, Gun Club and Bad Seeds, having played with all three. Here is his website.

By: brevator

brevator — Mon, 05 May 2008 18:48:38 -0800

I like the cramps and the gun club.

By: DecemberBoy

DecemberBoy — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:06:26 -0800

Debbie Harry aka Blondie Debbie Harry of Blondie. Blondie is the name of the band. Debbie Harry is their singer. Sorry, it's a pet peeve of mine.

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:08:45 -0800

This multiple vinyl bootleg owning Cramps-at-the Jockey-Club-1986-we-drank-the-place-dry superannuated punk rocker says YESSSSS. BZZZzzzzz. You know what would be cool? An interview with Lux and Ivy about Hasil.

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:09:57 -0800

Oh, and I heart Dexter, too, by all means.

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:23:27 -0800

And finally, I wholeheartedly endorse this list. Both bands had touring and recording interruptions circa 1983-ish that the Cramps weathered with greater success. As a result there were several compilations of Cramps material released at the time whiche were often rereleases of stuff that had come out relatively recently. Rule of thumb: pre-"Date with Elvis," you will be buying songs heard elsewhere, but (and this is the genius part) YOU CANNOT GO WRONG. Please allow me to note that I love the Gun Club just as much as the Cramps. Yet the limited recording output - even slimmer than that of the Cramps - and the less hooky opportunities to market Mr. Pierce's remarkable vision meant I listened to it less than the Cramps back in what I'm told are the imprinting years. Thus, the Cramps remain a crucial touchstone of my listening habits and I monthly consume entire albums whole, while I'm much more likely to mix the Gun Club into a set of old-time blues artists. I have thought about this a lot and concluded that it has much to do with the artists. Pierce was famously a problem child and it limited opportunities to record and perform. Lux and Ivy, no less aggressive as performers, were more, what's the word - settled, and that meant when they got back in the saddle they were a reliable touring and recording act, while JLP was, whaddya call it, dead.

By: ornate insect

ornate insect — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:45:07 -0800

mwhybark--thanks for the Hasil Adkins link. In lieu of a recent GG Allin thread at MeFi, I note that this part of the link you provided compares them: "He makes GG Allin look like Merv Griffin." -Julien Nitzberg (The producer of the Wild World of Hasil Adkins and associate producer of the Dancing Outlaw)

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:27:39 -0800

Haw. I'd have to dispute the comparison, but for sure the lineage is there. I'd rather have dinner with the Haze than GG any day, despite his threats regarding cranial refrigeration.

By: whatever

whatever — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:29:12 -0800

For a bizarre, even for the Cramps, experience check out The Cramps: Live at Napa State Mental Hospital (recorded June 1978).

By: ornate insect

ornate insect — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:30:27 -0800

whatever--thanks for the link; it's also linked in the post above. But it is a seminal performance.

By: whatever

whatever — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:31:31 -0800

And of course, it's posted on YouTube.

By: whatever

whatever — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:36:43 -0800

OOPS...thanks for the post, I love the Cramps.

By: theperfectcrime

theperfectcrime — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:13:11 -0800

I'm a huge fan of the Cramps; among the best performances I've seen. Last time I saw them, maybe six years ago, Lux and Ivy looked incredible and blew it out with such ferocious energy and raw-ass intensity that a newbie would never guess they'd been doing it this long. True performers who have honed their craft to create an elevated experience. Please please see them live if you have a chance!

By: memewit

memewit — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:26:24 -0800

Yeah, gotta love the guys even if they did almost get my entire 1984 senior class expelled in college. We hired them for our graduation party (I went to art school) and Lux topped out the end of the show by pouring a beer down the 100-year-old functioning pipe organ in the hall we had rented out. But it was so punk, you know?

By: theperfectcrime

theperfectcrime — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:30:39 -0800

I also knew Terry Graham of the Gun Club peripherally in Texas. I don't remember talking to him much about his GC and Cramps days, but I saw him last spring, and he's written a book called Punk Like Me, for which, as far as I can google at the moment, he's apparently looking for a publisher.

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Tue, 06 May 2008 00:16:04 -0800

Debbie Harry aka Blondie Debbie Harry of Blondie. Blondie is the name of the band. Debbie Harry is their singer. Sorry, it's a pet peeve of mine. well, if yr going to nitpick, DecemberBoy, that's why i used "aka" - also known as - because Debbie Harry is commonly also known as "Blondie"; incorrect or not, that's the way most people think of her.

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Tue, 06 May 2008 03:45:45 -0800

now that i have access to youtube, it turns out my memory failed me. Dominion was the filmclip i was thinking of. the one for This Corrosion is the kind of poxy Mad Max kind of clip that could only really have ever come out of the late 80s.

By: merocet

merocet — Tue, 06 May 2008 06:04:20 -0800

The Cramps make me happier the older I get. Now they make me very happy, so I must be very old. I still want to give them all a big kiss for just being great. With toungues.

By: signalandnoise

signalandnoise — Tue, 06 May 2008 08:05:25 -0800

What a great music thread. The Cramps, Hasil, Gun Club, and Flat Duo Jets. Add Roky Erickson and Dead Moon in, and that's pretty much my favorite playlist.

By: shmegegge

shmegegge — Tue, 06 May 2008 10:06:40 -0800

this may be the best meatafilter thread of all time.

By: dirtdirt

dirtdirt — Tue, 06 May 2008 12:46:20 -0800

From the "New Record Out Now" link on the first link: You'll actually hear a dope deal going on in the background during their third ever live gig at Max's Kansas City! HA!

By: klangklangston

klangklangston — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:52:34 -0800

For a newer band that updates the Gun Club sound, check out Gallon Drunk (also with Bad Seeds connection, through James Johnston). Their cover of Silver Apples' "Ruby" is a favorite of mine, but I don't see it on YouTube (in fact, most of the stuff on YouTube is kinda lame...).

By: homunculus

homunculus — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:33:24 -0800

There are a bunch of videos from the Napa performance. I posted about it a while back, but I could swear there were more of them then.

By: jack_mo

jack_mo — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:28:57 -0800

Great post. I probably listen to the The Songs The Cramps Taught Us LPs more than The Cramps these days, so this is a good nudge to dig them out. Also, here's an old post of mine about Kid Congo Powers, with links to the scrapbooks he kept when playing in The Cramps.