Cramps founder and punk pioneer Lux Interior dies
By ANDREW DALTON, Associated Press Writer


LOS ANGELES – Lux Interior, co-founder and lead singer of the pioneering horror-punk band the Cramps, has died, the group's publicist said. He was 60.

Interior — whose real name was Erick Lee Purkhiser — died Wednesday of a pre-existing heart condition at a hospital in Glendale, Calif., publicist Aleix Martinez said in a statement.

Interior met his future wife Kristy Wallace — who would later take the stage name Poison Ivy — in Sacramento in 1972.

The pair moved to New York and started the Cramps with Interior on lead vocals and Ivy on guitar. The group was a part of the late `70s early punk scene centered at Manhattan clubs like CBGB, alongside acts like the Ramones and Patti Smith.

Their unmistakable sound was a lo-fi synthesis of rockabilly and surf guitar staged with a deviant dose of midnight-movie camp. Some called it "psychobilly."

The pale, tall, gaunt Interior appeared shirtless with black hair and tiny, low-slung black pants, looking part zombie, part Elvis Presley as he crawled, writhed and howled his way across the stage.

The group had the raw intensity of punk, but took the music in new directions by incorporating theatrical elements, often horror-themed, in songs like "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" and "Bikini Girls With Machine Guns." Their breakthrough debut EP was 1979's "Gravest Hits."

The band made a notorious appearance at a California mental institution, Napa State Hospital, in 1978. The performance, whose video is still popular on YouTube, was a punk-era echo of the Folsom Prison concert of Johnny Cash, one of the band's influences.

Interior was widely rumored in 1987 to have died from a heroin overdose, and his wife received flowers and funeral wreaths.

"At first I thought it was kind of funny," he told the Los Angeles Times at the time. "But then it started to give me a creepy feeling."

The Cramps' lineup changed often through the decades but Interior and Ivy remained the center. Their bluesy, trebly sound — the group didn't have a bass guitarist — resonates in modern minimalist groups like the White Stripes and the Black Lips.

The band's last release was the 2004 rarities collection "How to Make a Monster." They were still touring as recently as last November.

Jello Biafra will be real sad today.

I thought for sure Lux was gay. So he was married to Ivy.. hmm

2freaky4church1 said:

i don't think he was homosexual, but he was queer as a catfart.

i love the fact that in the cramps, ivy was the kick-ass lead guitarist, and lux was the chanteuse.

You will be missed Lux, RIP . Weird, the Hospital where he passed away is only a few miles from where I live. Their albums are great, but as a live act they were a totally different animal, great, raw, RockNRoll. I mean , just check out the Napa Mental Hospital gig DVD from 1978, like something out of a John Waters film. I hope in tribute, their albums are reissued and more old footage gets released.
[Edited 2/5/09 8:48am]

I was never a big fan--I only have the obligatory Bad Music For Bad People comp--but they had a great attitude and style.

RIP

Punk rock stars are now going...to sad...

The Surfing Dead.

He was really Raw. He wore these really low leather pants and would put his hands down below. They put on a wild show. Kids would Slam Dance.

Wow, this is out of the blue.

The Cramps were effortlessly cool. Lux and Ivy's marriage was one of the most enduring in showbiz and their live gigs were just freakin' wild.

RIP, Lux.

It's so sad... 2009 is not off to a good start.They put on a couple of the most intense gigs I ever saw.

You got to beat it with a stick
You got to beat it till it's thick
You got to live until you're dead You got to rock till you see red
Now do you UNDERSTAAAAAND?
Cuz I'm your garbage man!

I saw The Cramps way back in 1989, during their Stay Sick tour. It was one of the most outrageous concerts I've ever seen to this day. Lux was wearing nothing but a latex g-string, black patent leather pumps, and an oozing head wound he gave himself early in the show when he threw the mic in the air and caught it with his forehead. One of my friends joined the mosh pit and at the end of the show she had some head wounds of her own. We were all alarmed and asked if she needed to be looked at, but she just smiled and said "someone stomped on my head with their Doc Martens at a Cramps show - trust me, I'm doing just fine."

Good times.

Anxiety said:

I particularly enjoyed when he'd stick the mic in his mouth. Also: at the show I saw here, there were some sound problems, so - at the end of the set - Lux bent all the mic stands.

My favourite Cramps song? "Bend Over, I'll Drive", of course!

Anxiety said:

I love all that about them too - Ivy and Lux had incredible chemistry.
I've been a fan since high school and have been bummed out about this since I heard. Lux was a true original.

One of my faves:

Anxiety said:

Oh shoot - this takes me waaaaay back.