21.10.1949 - 04.02.2009 Lux Interior

One year ago was a very sad day. One of too many in 2009. Lux Interior, singer  of the Cramps and one of a kind lyricist passed away.

Like to so many others the band was very important to me and introduced me to many great songs I maybe wouldn't have known without them because the Born Bad compilations would not have been made. What artist do you think of when someone says 'Goo Goo Muck'? I think of the Cramps. And then maybe the name Ronnie Cook pops up in my brain. What band made me care about the music of a Russ Meyer movie? The Cramps. Even when the music of many of their own songs was taken from old 50s and 60s tunes, the lyrics Lux wrote were awesome. He sure had a way with words. Also the visual side of the Cramps was unique, especially in their video clips. No matter if 'Garbageman' or 'Ultra Twist', they made quite a few outstanding ones. I hope a collection of them all will be available one day.

I bought my first Cramps album 1984 (Songs The Lord...) and from that day on I was hooked. I tried hard to get everything else they had released and also searched the record fairs for bootlegs. And those were the times when bootlegs cost twice or three times as much as a regular LP. Being such a big fan, knowing I wasn't alone and that many bands had been influenced or inspired by the Cramps I thought it was time for a tribute. So I contacted a bunch of bands from around the world and waited three years till all songs had finally arrived(bands can be SO slow...). Some songs that had been recorded to be included on the album I sadly never got because the record company didn't do as they promised. That's why there suddenly were Cramps coversongs on Mad Sin and Klingonz releases. All songs published on the album were recorded especially for it but some bands used their recordings on their own records later like the Hellbillys, Monsters and Rattlers. I named the album 'Songs The Cramps Taught Us', following the band's debut album of course, and pressed 500 LPs and 1000 CDs, the CD having 7 bonus tracks. Both are sold out for ages but especially the LP is hard to find as 300 of the 500 copies went straight to Japan and another 50 or so went to the bands. The pictures used on the LP sleeve, front and back, were taken by me in 1986 when I saw the band live for the first time. For the CD version I only used the front sleeve picture. A close up of Lux when he was standing at the edge of the stage.

To honor the man and his music make sure to play all your favorite Cramps songs today, have some glasses of red wine on him and make a legal download of the 1993 Jungle Noise tribut album HERE.