Lux Interior, lead singer of The Cramps, died yesterday, February 3, of a heart condition.
We were lucky enough to see The Cramps a few times, most recently at the Vic Theater a couple years ago. Man, you always got your money's worth and then some when you saw them live. Lux, born Erick Lee Purkhiser, always put on a hell of a show. He was real, real gone.
I'll leave you with a couple videos to remember him by. The first is the video for their song Garbage Man, off their 1979 album Songs the Lord Taught Us. It's the original lineup, featuring their original guitarist Bryan Gregory. As the song goes:
"It's just what you need when you're down in the dumps
One half hillbilly and one half punk..."
The second video is a live performance of What's Inside a Girl, from their record A Date With Elvis. It's from the mid-80's, and it's my favorite Cramps record. It's exuberant and obscene in a really good way.
Thanks, Lux. I had a good time.
