Today, Rock music has lost another one of the great ones. Lux Interior was perhaps one of the most original talents in Rock and Roll history. But, as much as he contributed, it seems a suprising few knew who he was.
If you're unfamiliar with him, here's a little blurb I wrote.
Rock and Roll will never die. But in the late 1970's it came pretty damn close. With the popularization of the disco craze, and the rise of "AM Rock," it seemed the genre was doomed. Rock, it seemed had lost it's edge. Rising out of London, a new sound came about. Raw, loud, angry, it was a kick in the teeth to the mellow watery music in the mainstream. Punk was born, rock's new phoenix began to emerge.
Enter the Americans; Ramones, Misfits, and arguably the best band to represent sex drugs, and Rock and Fuckin' Roll, THE CRAMPS. A mix of surf, punk, and blues, it sounded like someone took Dick Dale, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and threw them in a blender, and poured the concoction in a glass smeared with 1950's horror, and threw it in your face.
The Cramps paved the way for so many sub-genres of music, I couldn't possibly name them all. Without them, there would be no Tiger Army. There would be no Horror Pops. There would be no Nekromantix. They have been imitated, mimicked, and plagiarized, but never matched. to this day, the Cramps sound is as fresh as ever, and continues to shake asses all over the world.
If you don't know them you should. Let me know, I'll make you a mix.
Love to all,
--VF
