Play The Cramps Radio

The Cramps

3,276,796 plays (166,489 listeners)

Listening now: dspurgeon86

584 shouts

Add to my Library Share

Sacramento, United States (1976 – 2009)

The Cramps were an American band formed in Sacramento, California in 1976. The band is influential in founding , a fusion of , , , and . Their music is mostly in form, played at varying, (though usually fast) tempos, with a very minimal drumkit. An integral part of the early Cramps sound is dual guitars, without a bassist. The content of their songs and image is sleaze, trashy Americana (much in the style of filmmaker John Waters), sexual fetishism, clever bad jokes, and cheap, horror B-movie clichés.

Their line-up has rotated much over the past couple of decades, with Lux Interior and Poison Ivy—the lead singer and lead guitarist, respectively—as the only permanent members.

They were part of the early punk rock movement that had emerged in New York, although they had formed several years earlier in California. The band is credited as a prominent factor in terms of influence on the genre.

Their sound was heavily influenced by early rockabilly and proto-rock’n’roll like Link Wray and Hasil Adkins, 1960s surf music acts such as The Ventures, The Surfaris and Dick Dale, 1960s garage rock artists like The Standells, The Gants, The Trashmen, The Green Fuz and The Sonics, as well as the post-glam/early punk scene from which they emerged. They also were influenced to a degree by The Ramones as well as Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, who is often credited for having pioneered their style of theatrical horror-blues.
Read more… Edit

Top Albums

See more

Top Tracks

1 Play
Human Fly full track
953
2 Play
Goo Goo Muck full track
590
3 Play
Fever full track
450
4 Play
Garbageman full track
394
5 Play
368
6 Play
330
7 Play
TV Set full track
324
8 Play
New Kind of Kick full track
302
8 Play
She Said full track
302
10 Play
The Way I Walk full track
288
11 Play
Love Me full track
240
12 Play
239
13 Play
234
14 Play
Domino full track
229
15 Play
Drug Train full track
228
See more

Shoutbox

Leave a comment. Log in to Last.fm or sign up (it’s free).
See all 584 shouts

Videos

See more

Listeners

See more

Recent Activity

Related Journals

See more

More Information

Links
Band Members
Labels