The Cramps

The Cramps are usually credited as the inventors of psychobilly, an amalgam of rockabilly, surf rock and punk that takes a tongue-in-cheek focus on themes of B-movie horror and sleaze.

The band were formed by Lux Interior and Poison Ivy, who have remained in place while several drummers and bassists have filled in. Their debut album Songs the Lord Taught Us (1979), produced by Big Star’s Alex Chilton, is one of the first defining documents of psychobilly. It was characterised at the time as neo-rockabilly, but so neat was the fit of the trashy themes with the music, this record and others by The Cramps influenced an entire underground musical movement.

Through the 80s The Cramps struggled for a US audience, although the sex-obsessed A Date With Elvis (1986) was very popular in Europe. Later, “Bikini Girls with Machine Guns” (1989) made the UK Top 40 and the Top 10 of the US Modern Rock chart. In the mid-90s Flamejob was released on major label imprint Medicine, and the band even made a guest appearance on teen drama Beverly Hills 90210.