Lux Interior, The Cramps frontman, Dies

Dear readers, I am so very sad to make this post. Lux Interior was gifted, talented, sincere and truly lived the rock star life with his wife of 37 years, Poison Ivy.

I first heard The Cramps while visiting a fabulous gay friend who was living in a divey hotel. Goo Goo Muck was the perfect soundtrack for those humid heady days. The Cramps were burned into my head and heart right then and there as I drove away in big blue Monte Carlo headlong into trouble.

Live The Cramps were consistently one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. No lasers, no inflatable flying pigs, no giant video screens. Just a man in a g-string and pumps crawling up stacks of amps and his lovely wife shredding away on guitar. They looked great for thier age, healthy, fit, freee of bad plastic surgery and they oozed energy and charm. Even when I saw them for the first time they were easily twice my age and could totally kick my ass.

The Cramps invented their own sound, a very American, slightly southern,  energetic melange with smart, snarky, darkly playful lyrics.  Some press has said they invented “psycho billy.”

The RE:Search book series, Incredibly Strange Music profiled Lux and Ivy and it’s a must read for ANY music fan.  Not only did the dynamic duo collect found and outsider vinyl, they “re-discovered” Hasil Adkins and brought  him to New York City to play some shows. It was Easter Sunday and Hasil was angry he could not find hot pants with New York City emblazoned across the seat in rhinestones to give to his girlfriend as a souvenir. That was just one of the many mad cap adventures that seemed to happen every day in thelife of Lux Interior and Poison Ivy.

Media accounts differ, but Lux was 62. As a member of the Jukebox Zeros remarked, “Lux’s 62 is 91 for anyone else.” I agree. RIP Lux. My heart goes out to his widow and survivors.

R.I.P. The Cramps’ Lux Interior
www.exclaim.ca  |  2/5/2009 | By Cam Lindsay

Lux Interior, founding member and singer of garage legends the Cramps passed away yesterday (February 4) when he succumbed to a previously existing heart condition in a Glendale, CA hospital. He was 62.

Born Eric Lee Purkhiser, the ghoulish looking Interior was known for his flamboyant (he felt comfortable in PVC and pumps) and nihilistic performances that introduced acts of fetishism, violence and fearlessness. He began the Cramps with his wife Poison Ivy Rorschach (real name Kristy Wallace) in 1976, two years after they met when Interior picked up Ivy – as a hitchhiker. Though they emerged out of NYC’s punk scene and played CBGB’s regularly, the Cramps found themselves forging a new sound out of garage, punk, surf and rockabilly using elements of horror, trash, gender-bending and sci-fi, which they called “psychobilly” – a term they arguably coined.

Known for their revolving door line-up, Interior and Rorschach saw many members come and go throughout the last 33 years, but managed to create some of the most stirring music in that time, namely the 1981 classic, Psychedelic Jungle and 1983’s essential live album Smell of Female. However, they left their mark with such unforgettable hits as “Goo Goo Muck,” “The Way I Walk,” “Bikini Girls With Machine Guns,” “Ultra Twist” and their signature tune, “Human Fly.”

Their publicist released a statement yesterday, reading: “Lux was a fearless frontman who transformed every stage he stepped on into a place of passion, abandon, and true freedom. He is a rare icon who will be missed dearly.”

Link to this article with a clip of them performing at the Napa State Mental Hospital in 1978