The Cramps – A Date With Elvis

The Cramps – Live 1986

Introduction

The Cramps, the band that introduced the term ‘psychobilly’ and made stages unsafe with thrilling, energetic shows in which chaos and theatrics supported their raw music. The story of A Date With Elvis.

The Cramps

In 1972, Erick Lee Purkhiser and Kristy Marlana Wallace met in California. They shared the same artistic interests, collected records, and wanted to make music. They soon married and formed the band that became known as The Cramps. First, however, they changed their names. Purkhiser considered names like Vip Vop and Raven Beauty, but eventually settled on Lux Interior (“from an old car commercial”). Wallace chose Poison Ivy (inspired by “a vision she received in a dream”).

The band introduced the term ‘psychobilly’ to label their music, a mix of punk, rockabilly, and garage rock, with lyrics rooted in horror, science fiction, violence, sex, and humor. The band has also described their music as ‘gothabilly’ and/or ‘rockabilly voodoo.’ Either way, The Cramps were masters of these genres, in part due to their over-the-top styling and stage presentation. Singer Lux Interior performed in high heels, partially exposed, and with suggestive movements. He was known for his ‘microphone blowjob’: he would place the entire head of an SM-58 microphone fully into his mouth.

The Cramps – A Date With Elvis – Advertisement

After some wandering, the couple ended up in New York in 1975. The band soon performed at CBGB’s and Max’s Kansas City, at a time when the American punk scene was developing, with contemporaries like Ramones, Television, Blondie, and Talking Heads. In 1977, the band released two singles produced by Big Star’s Alex Chilton, which were collected in 1979 on the EP Gravest Hits.

The Cramps were discovered by Miles Copeland, brother of The Police drummer Stewart Copeland and founder of I.R.S. Records, where the band was offered a contract. After touring as the opening act for The Police, The Cramps recorded their debut album with Alex Chilton, Songs The Lord Taught Us.

After relocating to L.A. and recruiting Gun Club guitarist Kid Congo, the second studio album Psychedelic Jungle was released in May 1981. Following a lawsuit against manager Copeland, the live album The Smell Of Female was released. After several appearances on TV shows and even a feature film, the band gained a small but loyal following in Europe. After the departure of Kid Congo, and the release of the song Surfin’ Dead in the horror film The Return of the Living Dead, the band decided to introduce a bass guitar into their music for the first time.

The Cramps – A Date With Elvis

A Date With Elvis

The third studio album by The Cramps was released in February 1986. The album title, A Date With Elvis, was taken from the Elvis Presley compilation of the same name from 1959. The album was dedicated to Ricky Nelson, who had passed away on December 31, 1985. The band had covered his song Lonesome Town and included it on the 1979 EP Gravest Hits.

The album also is a tribute to Elvis Presley, who would have celebrated his 50th birthday in 1985. In Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?, the band references Presley’s Tiger Man with the lyrics “I’m the king of the jungle / They call me tiger man”.

The album was well received by critics and is considered by many to be the best (and most accessible?) release by the band. A Date With Elvis stands apart from other Cramps albums because it is the only album on which Poison Ivy can be heard as a vocalist.

Review

A Date With Elvis was the first Cramps album I bought. At the time, I had already read a lot about the band and their shows, but I wasn’t drawn to the term rockabilly, which was often used to describe their music. And yet, there was something that intrigued me. As I often did back then, I bought this album without listening to it first. Never regretted it.

On this album the band delivers a somewhat ‘lighter’ version of the previously mentioned ‘psychobilly.’ The horror element is less pronounced, but the simmering swamp atmosphere is still there, as clearly demonstrated by one of the highlights, Cornfed Dames, and also very audible on The Hot Pearl Snatch. The single Can Your Pussy Do The Dog? is another highlight, both musically and visually.

Highly recommended!

The Cramps – A Date With Elvis – Singles

Singles

The album spawned three singles.

• Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?
  (released in October 1985)
• What’s Inside A Girl?
  (released in April 1986)
• Kizmiaz
  (released in 1986)

The Cramps – A Date With Elvis – Back cover

Songs

All songs written by Lux Interior and Poison Ivy, unless stated otherwise.

• How Far Can Too Far Go?
• The Hot Pearl Snatch
• People Ain’t No Good
• What’s Inside A Girl?
• Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?
• Kizmiaz
• Cornfed Dames
• Chicken (Traditional)
• (Hot Pool Of) Womanneed
• Aloha From Hell
• It’s Just That Song (Charlie Feathers, Ramon Maupin)

Musicians

• Lux Interior – vocals
• Poison Ivy Rorschach – guitar, bass; vocals on Kizmiaz
• Nick Knox – drums, bongos

With help from

• McMartin Preschool Choir (including Fur Dixon) – vocals on People Ain’t No Good

The Cramps – Live 1986 – A Date With Elvis Tour

After A Date With Elvis

After the album’s release, the band went on tour. Their popularity was especially enormous in England. The band performed no fewer than six times at the Hammersmith, three times at the Odeon, and three times at the Palais, all in London. To emphasize the Elvis theme, the band opened each show with a cover of Heartbreak Hotel. With a total of 250,000 copies sold in Europe, the album was reasonably successful. In the U.S., however, the album was not released at all at first, as no record label was interested. A Date With Elvis was only released in the United States for the first time in 1990.

After the live album RockinnReelininAucklandNewZealandxxx, the fifth studio album Stay Sick! followed, which featured the hilarious single Bikini Girls With Machine Guns. Once again, it was a success in Europe. This was followed by Look Mom No Head! in 1991 and Flamejob in 1994. That same year, the band made its American television debut as a guest on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. In 1997, the seventh studio album Big Beat From Badsville followed, and in 2003 the final album Fiends Of Dope Island.

The band continued to tour throughout this period, and the shows remained spectacular and electrifying. In 2006, the band played their final show. On February 4, 2009, Lux Interior died due to a “sudden, shocking and unexpected” medical emergency.

In closing

What do you think of The Cramps and A Date With Elvis? Let me know!

Video/Spotify
This story contains an accompanying video. Click on the following link to see it: Video: The Cramps – A Date With Elvis. The A Pop Life playlist on Spotify has been updated as well.