Lux Interior of the punk band "The Cramps" passed away in 2009  at the age of 61. Heart failure took him to the great gig in the sky.  The band had an incredibly memorable visit to Lubbock and I have the inside story for you. 

Back in the day most punk shows were just hype. For instance, the U2 show was a "punk show". Basically everything that came out at that time was either mainstream or "punk". There were actually very few touring bands that engaged in the type of bad behavior that the magazines and media liked to call "punks" out for.  The Cramps were the kind of band that was always in trouble.

My friends and I were at every show. We couldn't wait to eat up every bit of this explosion of new music and energy. The first thing I remember is that the tables were set up perpendicular to the stage (like a "T" with he stage being the top), which is kind of odd, but kind of makes sense. The show got underway and things got weird. The stage was full of those Jesus candles, the drummer had two-tone hair and one of the guitarists was a pissed off looking red headed woman who looked like she could kill you, EASILY. The singer was a maniac wearing black spandex pants with a tear in the front making it impossible to not see his unit while he writhed about (he also had a habit of just dropping his pants and rolling around with his junk out). During one part of the show he asked for a cigarette and everyone kind of held back. Finally someone threw a partial pack at him. He then took all the smokes out and jammed them all in his mouth and started chewing them up. He then started writhing like a snake down the center of the tables, knocking over beers and pitchers until he flipped over on his back and spit all of the tobacco into the air.  Now this may seem kind of cool and punk to you, but a lot of people were pissed their drinks got spilled.  The band performed a few more songs then Lux took one of the Jesus candles and slammed it into the wall. He then grabbed a couple of huge hunks of glass and started making criss-crosses on his chest............and nothing happened. My cousin Mark, thinking the guy was faking it, stands up and goes "you f@cking p@ssy" and threw the remaining beer from his pitcher on the guy. Well, you ever have one of those cuts that doesn't bleed for a while, then starts to bleed like crazy?  When the beer hit Luxes chest, blood started pouring all over. My cousin got thrown out and The Cramps just kept playing. Believe it or not, the club owner let my cousin back in after promising not to throw beer again (well, those were the days).  It was an incredible show that was forever burned into my memory.  Interestingly enough, that wasn't the end of the story. The next day Lux was arrested at the Airport for acting a fool. I don't remember anything other than he was being a "punk" around the stewardesses or something.

Rock has always needed people to push the envelope and to take things to far. There are still punk, rock, horror and rock-a-billy bands that carry on the Cramps legacy (Necromatix definitely come to mind).  Thanks to Lux Interior for not only paving, but starting a trail for them.

This video is from the same tour that I saw them on. It is some RAW stuff:

The band was also well known for putting on a show in an actual mental hospital (patients and all)

This video actually made it onto MTV on the alternative 120 Minutes show.

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