Gross, sexy, vulgar, wild, evil, cool... frightening.
Everything I ever wanted to be.
I didn't discover the Cramps until 1984. I was a midnight movie buff and caught "Urgh! A Music War" at Litchfield Cinemas one night and my life changed.
It was the wildest performance I'd ever seen and it was "Tear It Up". It blew my mind. It sounded like the boogie woogie music my daddy had played. I felt something mystical happen. The next day I went to the local record shop and picked up a 7" vinyl of "Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?". On the back of the record sleeve was a picture of the band that featured ex-Gun Club member Congo Powers standing with a movie poster behind his head that read:
"Liquor, Violence, Sex... The Unsatisfied"
Everything clicked in me. I saw The Cramps play many times after that. At my third show, sometime in '92 or '93 at the Roxy in Atlanta. Lux was kicking ass, he almost had sex with the monitor, it was wild. He busted his head on the microphone, and knocked the mic off the stand and down into the crowd. I dove as it fell and fought many security people and fans off me as I raised back up, with help from by my bassist Jeremy. I jerked up with the mic in my hand like the legendary sword Excalibur in my mind, and I quickly shoved the bloody thing in the crotch of my best leather pants and enjoyed the rest of the show.
After the show was over, we headed out back and caught Lux talking with some friends of mine at the backstage door. After politely kneeling to kiss Poison Ivy's hand, right on her huge ruby ring, I then turned to Lux and asked if I could give him a hug, to which he happily replied "certainly!" as his neck cracked while he turned to me and his bloody face smiled.
Afterwards we talked a while and I told him about the band's name and where we got it and he told me how much he loved that movie. I still have that bloody mic; even used it a few times...
Everytime I saw The Cramps, he kicked my ass. It was always a transcendental performance. It was all about the performance to me. It's kind of hard to believe he was older back then... than I am right now. It inspires to keep tearing up the stage everytime we get on it to do our thing. The Cramps just played Atlanta something like two years ago, with Lux still hitting the stage at age 60.
On February 4th 2009 Lux died. It was only 4 hours after he died that I got a call with the news and for the rest of the weekend text messages kept coming in and everyone was concerned and mournng. It was like he was family. And it was a strange feeling to know that Lux was no longer with us. There would be no future shows.
Lux Interior died at age 62 of heart failure, survived by his lovely wife and his legacy and legion of fans.
Everything I ever wanted to be.
Stay sick forever Lux. I'm dedicating this Friday's set to you.
LuvNBlood
EJS
The set this Friday night at JJ's Bohemia will be dedicated to Lux... See you there.