Wednesday, February 11, 2009

A friend remembers Lux...

Look, they were and are my all-time favorite band, so you're gonna hear about 'em for a little while. I'm in mourning. So is Roger Armstrong, a friend of the Cramps:
''Lux was a rock (‘n’ roll) star without a doubt, but also without the hubris, and without the, all too often, disengagement from reality that too many ‘Stars’ suffer. The Cramps dealt in reality, in many ways of their own creation, but also grounded in humanity, and a genuine need to communicate Cramps World. This was a complex place that evolved from a stew of films, exotic, noir and just plain “interesting”, and a taste for ‘out there’ records second to none.''
''There were many who got the big picture beyond the glib notion of the ‘cartoon’, ‘cult’, ‘ retro’ band that they were too often portrayed as. The Cramps were the most complete contemporary artistic expression of Rock ‘n’ Roll that it was possible to create. They lived it at the same time as performing it in the most extreme way. They have been and will continue to be a massive influence, but there never has been and never will be another Cramps, no one else could be that glamorous.''
Here's a really nice post by Kid Congo Powers, who played in the Cramps and the Gun Club:
''During the always chaotic rendition of "Surfin Bird" Lux climbed on the stacked drum monitors, peeking out of a slit in the long black velvet curtains so that all you saw was his bleached blond head glowing beautiful and grotesque, I saw the always cool Poison Ivy look up and start laughing with appreciation and love. At that moment I was incredibly touched and so thankful for The Cramps.''

And here's a really touching interview with Lux's kid brother, Mike Purkhiser from the Action:
''I just thought he was the greatest, he was so inspiring and so alive. It's hard to think of him as dead right now because he was so alive. It just seems like he was somewhere else right now. And it's the same with Ivy, I swear I never heard those two down.''

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