This interview is essential for truly understanding the mythos of The Cramps.
Yes, The Cramps made amazing music, and amazing contributions to the
history of music, but to really get a good idea of where they are coming
from, is to listen to the music that inspired them. If you think its
all crazy rockabilly, you're wrong.
Now, here are Lux and Ivy's Favorites. Let's start off with a note I put
in one of the volumes to give you a background on the series.
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Lux and Ivy's Favorites!!!
Ok, I got kind of sick of repeating this story 1000 times. So figured
I'd include this in the latest volume. I'm the guy who compiles the Lux
and Ivy's Favorites Compilations.
It started as a way to keep track of some of the songs Lux, and or Ivy,
mentioned in THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE MUSIC BOOK. It was never really
intended as anything but a way for a friend of mine and me to have 2
really kick ass compilations.
So we went about the arduous processof finding all the songs
mentioned in that interview. It took a loooong time. We used the file
sharing program, Napster, as well as our own personal collections. So,
one thing lead to another and when word got around that these
compilations were out there, they started being traded from fan to fan
to fan. So, at some point I decided to put them up on Napster and let
anyone who wanted them have them. As the years went buy, more interviews
with Lux and Ivy kept popping up, and the list of songs they mentioned
got longer and longer. This resulted in new volumes.
People have asked why songs from THE PURPLE KNIF SHOW have appeared, or why a song or two have appeared that are on the SONGS THE CRAMPS TAUGHT US
3 cd set. Well its simple. The songs that are on TPKS are in less than
stellar quality, and some are not featured in their entirety. So, I
figured I'd feature them as part of LAIF. Volume one and two of LAIF
"came out" or were compiled before STCTU appeared on the scene.
Other people have asked why these haven't appeared as proper releases.
The answer to that is easy. I'm not in this to make any money. Like I
said above, I just wanted to make compilations for myself with some of
the most amazing music ever put to tape. If other people enjoy them,
great, but don't expect to see these in stores or on ebay (unless
somebody starts bootlegging them, but there is no need since they are
easily available thru Soulseek and other file sharing programs).
When
the series started I was working mostly from downloads. It was only
really meant for a friend of mine and me. This was started in the mid
nineties and I wasn't very computer savvy at all. Over the years many of
the originals have been acquired, either on vinyl or cd. It has always
been my intention to go back and "re-mix" some of these tracks because
the quality isn't all that spectacular. Some volumes are better than
others. Either way the intent was there, I hope some of the audio flaws
aren't too annoying.
Without further ado, here we go!
here's some shit from Vice i had to put in just to piss everyone off
As you may have heard, Lux Interior died this morning.
I was never
that into the Cramps, but I am deeply indebted to Lux for putting
together The Purple Knif Show, a one-off radio special that aired
out of Hollywood in 1984 and landed on vinyl shortly thereafter.
- i mean, that's a joke, right? - ed.
Lux's
DJ set is a groovy grab-bag of the songs that influenced his band:
primitive 60s garage rock, early punk, some soul 45s, one-off novelty
tunes, surf jams, and familiar staples from old gods like the Trashmen
and Link Wray.
The show/album is also a tribute to Cleveland
television personality Ghoulardi,aDada-drenched, beatnik, and mad
scientist, partial to cheesy psychotropic visual effects, and interrupting
the schlocky horror films on his program with way-out rock 'n' roll
overdubs and outright mockery.
Among his popular catchphrases were "STAY
SICK!" and the observation that "The whole world is a purple knif"--a
knif being a fink in reverse, or something.
Lux himself holds forth like
Wolfman Jack on Mars, growling and joking in deadpan through a thick
layer of echo, busting in on songs with Ghoulardian glee to imitate a
rocket launch or loose a space-age sound effect on the primitive life
forms tuned in at home.
Taken as a whole, The Purple Knif Show is
a perfect little capsule of the primordial goop from which Lux, the
Cramps, and an entire school of punk rock staggered forth.
The radio
station is his laboratory, the show is a hootenanny voodoo Frankenstein,
and the lucky listeners are its willing victims.
Hope you enjoy it as
much as I did.
- is that just some millennial Vice-writer bullshit that i'm not hip enough to get? - ed.
THE GUY JUST DIED, AND YOU START OUT WITH HOW MUCH YOU DON'T LIKE THE CRAMPS - GET ANOTHER FUCKING WRITER, VICE! - ed.
This is an amazing interview with Lux and Ivy that Rex Doane conducted for his show, Fool's Paradise, back when HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER came out.
