Nervus Rex was an American new wave pop band, whose roots were in the New York City independent music scene, its members frequenting clubs such as CBGB and Max's Kansas City . After Lauren Agnelli answered an ad for a "CBGB type band" in The Village Voice , she and Shaun Brighton met one night at CBGB and discovered a connection in a mutual appreciation of bands such as Talking Heads , The Cramps , and The Velvet Underground . Agnelli was working at the time as a rock critic for The Village Voice and Creem magazine under the pen name Trixie A. Balm.
38-455: Soon joined by Miriam Linna , drumming for the Cramps at the time and later, Jonathan Gildersleeve, Nervus Rex started to develop an uptempo pop sound focusing on driving surf guitar twang and danceable rhythms. Their initial bass player, Lew Eklund, left the band shortly after Gildersleeve joined. Artist and Ohio transplant, Dianne Athey, took over on the bass after Eklund left, and soon added to
76-583: A Monster compilation album. Linna left The Cramps to join the new wave band Nervus Rex . After performing with the Zantees, Linna and Miller launched The A-Bones (named after a 1964 tune by The Trashmen ). The A-Bones released two 10" EPs ( Tempo Tantrum in 1986 and Free Beer for Life! in 1988), followed by four full-length albums between 1991 and 1996. The A-Bones regrouped after a short hiatus to perform in Spain with Little Richard , Andre Williams and
114-635: A band whose hit dance single "The Way of Life" on Canadian company Quality Records reached the No. 3 position on the Billboard Dance Chart, went to No. 1 on the regional New York charts, and fared even better in Canada. There are, in fact, at least six known different mixes of the song on vinyl and CD from various countries. The band toured briefly to major audiences but soon disbanded due to both internal disagreements and legal problems between
152-611: A biography of Texas musician Bobby Fuller , I Fought the Law , published by Kicks in 2015. Linna owns one of the world's largest private collections of vintage paperbacks including complete runs of Avon , Beacon, Signet , and others. Her collection includes over 500 juvenile delinquent paperbacks, and she featured the covers of some of them in her book Bad Seed: A Postcard Book , published in 1992 by Running Press . On May 15, 2009, she launched an autobiographical blog, Kicksville 66, documenting everything from Ashtabula angst to her days at
190-926: A landmark free concert for patients at the California State Mental Hospital in Napa, recorded on a Sony Portapak video camera by the San Francisco collective Target Video and later released as Live at Napa State Mental Hospital. Once back to the east coast, they played the revamped 1940s swing club "The Meadowbrook" in New Jersey, which had a huge stage and dance floor. Next they recorded two singles in New York City, which were later re-released on their 1979 Gravest Hits EP, before Chilton brought them back that year to Memphis to record their first full-length album, Songs
228-448: A live show. On January 10, 2001, Bryan Gregory died at Anaheim Memorial Medical Center of complications following a heart attack . He was 49. In 2002, the Cramps released their final album, Fiends of Dope Island , on their own label, Vengeance Records. That same year, Lux Interior did a voiceover for the lead singer character of the band The Bird Brains on the animated TV show SpongeBob SquarePants singing 'Underwater Sun.' The song
266-690: A rehearsal space with the Fleshtones , and performed regularly in New York at clubs such as CBGB and Max's Kansas City , releasing two independent singles produced by Alex Chilton at Ardent Studios in Memphis in 1977 before being signed by Miles Copeland III to the young I.R.S. Records label. Their first tour of Great Britain was as supporting act to the Police on that band's first UK tour promoting Outlandos d'Amour . In June 1978, they gave
304-752: A selection of mostly obscure cover songs from the 1960s. Norton released a follow-up LP, Down Today, in 2015. Linna's past magazine ventures include Kicks (co-edited with Miller), Smut Peddler, and Bad Seed . Her first fanzine in 1976 was The Flamin Groovies Monthly , which she inherited from Bomp Records founder Greg Shaw. Her lengthy liner notes for Norton and other labels display an unusual writing style of wild word play and imaginative humor. In 1997, Linna and Miller published (as "Kicks Magazine Photo Album No. 1") The Great Lost Photographs of Eddie Rocco . Rocco contributed to Ebony Song Parade and freelanced for Fort Worth's Sepia magazine, and
342-556: A solo career with a CD release in 2004 on the BongoBeat label, "Love Always Follows Me." In 2011, she co-produces Small Town Concert Series with her husband in CT and they have a 5-piece Americana Group, Amalgamated Muck, who play frequent shows and are working on their first release. Agnelli also continues to write songs and record with Dave Rave as co-writer and co-producer. Shaun Brighton (now Shawn Brighton) went on to form The Puppets,
380-402: A style of music." Nevertheless, The Cramps, along with artists such as Screamin' Jay Hawkins, are considered important precursors to psychobilly. Critics and journalists classified the Cramps' sound as psychobilly, gothabilly, garage punk , rockabilly, horror punk , garage rock , punk rock and surf. The Cramps have been cited as an influence by musicians including 45 Grave ,
418-565: A time each: Knox, Fur, Ivy and then Lux before launching into their take on Elvis' "Heartbreak Hotel". The album featured what was to become a predominating theme of their work from here on: a move away from the B-movie horror focus to an increased emphasis on sexual double entendre. The album met with differing fates on either side of the Atlantic: in Europe, it sold over 250,000 copies, while in
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#1732802498960456-492: A whole style and look, which is what "psychobilly" came to mean later in the '80s. We also used the term "rockabilly voodoo" on our early flyers. — Poison Ivy Rorschach The Cramps' music is played at varying tempos, with a minimal drumkit. An integral part of the early Cramps sound was dual guitars, without a bassist . The focus of their songs' lyrical content and their image was camp humor, sexual double-entendre, and retro horror/sci-fi b-movie iconography. Their sound
494-536: A year while the dynamic new wave music scene flourished with talented contemporaries like the B-52's booming in popularity, the Nervus Rex debut release met with little success and the band continued playing in clubs for several more years before breaking up in the early 1980s. Nervus Rex played on double bills with The Pretenders , Squeeze , The Bloodless Pharaohs ( Brian Setzer 's first band), and Richard Hell and
532-691: Is part of the collective of musicians which emerged from the Cleveland, Ohio punk rock scene including the Dead Boys and Pere Ubu . When the re-formed Rocket from the Tombs performed in Hoboken, New Jersey , in 2003, singer David Thomas dedicated the band's signature song "Amphetamine" to her. Linna was a founding member of The Cramps , performing in the band from their first date on November 1, 1976 until July 10, 1977. She appears on their How to Make
570-570: Is under discussion. Miriam Linna Miriam Linna (born October 16, 1955) is a Canadian-American drummer who has run the Brooklyn, New York -based independent record label Norton Records since 1986, originally with her husband, the late producer and singer-songwriter Billy Miller . Her skill as a drummer earned her a "May I recommend?" nod from Bob Dylan on his XM Theme Time Radio Hour program (episode 37) in January 2007. Linna
608-468: The Ramones and Screamin' Jay Hawkins . Poison Ivy stated, "The failure of outsiders to acknowledge the influence of blues and R&B on The Cramps is an omission bordering on racism. Rockabilly is rooted in the blues and we consider ourselves a blues band." The band used the phrases gothabilly , psychobilly and "rockabilly voodoo" to market their music. The term "psychobilly" was first used in
646-477: The Strand Bookstore . It is illustrated with promo flyers, handwritten letters and photographs. The Cramps The Cramps were an American rock band formed in 1976 and active until 2009. Their lineup rotated frequently during their existence, with the husband-and-wife duo of singer Lux Interior and guitarist Poison Ivy the only ever-present members. The band are credited as progenitors of
684-555: The UK Albums Chart . The band appears in the 1982 film Urgh! A Music War . In 1985 the Cramps recorded a one-off track for the horror movie The Return of the Living Dead called "Surfin' Dead", on which Ivy played bass as well as guitar. With the release of 1986's A Date With Elvis , the Cramps permanently added a bass guitar to the mix, but had trouble finding a suitable player, so Ivy temporarily filled in as
722-745: The psychobilly subgenre, fusing elements of punk rock with rockabilly . The addition of guitarist Bryan Gregory and drummer Pam Balam resulted in the first complete lineup in April 1976. They released their debut album Songs the Lord Taught Us in 1980. The band split after the death of lead singer Interior in 2009. Lux Interior (born Erick Lee Purkhiser) and Poison Ivy (born Kristy Marlana Wallace) met in Sacramento, California , in 1972. In light of their common artistic interests and shared devotion to record collecting, they decided to form
760-487: The 1990s and 2000s, for various labels. When the band signed to The Medicine Label, a Warner Brothers imprint, in 1994 – the label made the announcement via a limited edition (500 copies) 12" live album of the Cramps' first two Max's Kansas City shows, given away to all ticket holders as they exited a secret CBGB show in early January of that year. In 1994, the Cramps made their national US television debut on Late Night with Conan O'Brien performing "Ultra Twist". In 1995
798-621: The Cramps appeared on the TV-series Beverly Hills, 90210 in the Halloween episode "Gypsies, Cramps and Fleas". They played two songs in the episode: "Mean Machine" and "Strange Love". Lux Interior started the song by saying "Hey boys and ghouls, are you ready to raise the dead?". In honor of the success of the Cramps, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has on display a shattered bass drum head that Lux's head went through during
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#1732802498960836-570: The Cramps. Lux took his stage name from a car ad, and Ivy claimed to have received hers in a dream (she was first Poison Ivy Rorschach, taking her last name from that of the inventor of the Rorschach test ). In 1973, they moved to Akron, Ohio , and then to New York in 1975, soon entering into CBGB's early punk scene with other emerging acts like Suicide , the Ramones , Patti Smith , Television , Blondie , Talking Heads , Mink DeVille , and fellow Ohio transplants Dead Boys . The lineup in 1976
874-656: The Great Gaylord. Linna also played drums on Maureen Tucker 's 1994 album Dogs Under Stress . Linna and A-Bones bassist Marcus "The Carcass" Natale guested on a 2007 recording session by the proto-punk band Figures of Light , produced by Miller; she played drums on Figures of Light's 2011 album Drop Dead , produced by Mick Collins of The Dirtbombs . In 2014, as "Miriam", Linna released her first solo album on Norton Records , Nobody's Baby, produced by Sam Elwitt. The album features Linna singing over distinctly Phil Spector - and Jack Nitzsche -inspired arrangements of
912-611: The Lord Taught Us , at Phillips Recording , operated by former Sun Records label owner Sam Phillips . The Cramps relocated to Los Angeles in 1980 and hired guitarist Kid Congo Powers of the Gun Club . While recording their second LP, Psychedelic Jungle , the band and Miles Copeland began to dispute royalties and creative rights. The ensuing court case prevented them from releasing anything until 1983, when they recorded Smell of Female live at New York's Peppermint Lounge ; Kid Congo Powers subsequently departed. Mike Metoff of
950-633: The Pagans (cousin of Nick Knox) was the final second guitarist – albeit only live – of the Cramps' pre-bass era. He accompanied them on an extensive European tour in 1984 (that had been canceled twice because they could not find a suitable guitarist) which included four sold out nights at the Hammersmith Palais . They also recorded performances of "Thee Most Exalted Potentate of Love" and "You Got Good Taste" which were broadcast on 'The Midsummer Night's Tube 1984.' Smell of Female peaked at No. 74 in
988-461: The U.S. the band had difficulty finding a record company prepared to release it until 1990. It also included their first UK Singles Chart hit: "Can Your Pussy Do the Dog?" It was not until 1986 that the Cramps found a suitable permanent bass player: Candy del Mar (of Satan's Cheerleaders), who made her recorded debut on the raw live album RockinnReelininAucklandNewZealandxxx , which was followed by
1026-626: The Voidoids . After the band's demise, Agnelli joined the Washington Squares , a new generation beat folkgroup who released two LPs and earned a Grammy nomination. She went on to play with the Dave Rave Conspiracy in the U.S. and Canada as well as the duo Agnelli & Rave, and was co-writer and featured vocalist on "Kiss of Fire," an album released in the U.S. and Japan, by Brave Combo . More recently she has enjoyed
1064-653: The band's bassist. Jennifer "Fur" Dixon joined them on the world tour to promote the album. Their popularity in the UK was at its peak as evidenced by the six nights at Hammersmith in London, three at the Odeon (as well as many other sell out dates throughout the UK) and then three at the Palais when they returned from the continent. Each night of the tour opened with the band coming on one at
1102-541: The book collects many of his previously unpublished 1950s and 1960s images, including shots of Ruth Brown , Esquerita , Roy Orbison , and The Treniers . In 2004, Linna co-edited Sin-A-Rama: Sleaze Sex Paperbacks of the Sixties (Feral House) also contributing an article, "Ron Haydock aka Vin Saxon", about the twisted career of novelist-musician Ron Haydock . In 2009, her paperback book company, Kicks Books, launched with
1140-563: The group musically and in terms of image. In 1978 the band released a single on the Cleverly Named Record Company, a 45 RPM "Don't Look" b/w "Love Affair." Two years later, Blondie producer Mike Chapman and his partner, Nicky Chinn (Chinnichap), signed the band to the Dreamland label. Nervus Rex only released a single album on Dreamland, the 1980s self-titled Nervus Rex. That release, having been on hold for
1178-562: The lyrics to the country song " One Piece at a Time ", written by Wayne Kemp for Johnny Cash , which was a Top 10 hit in the United States in 1976. The lyrics describe the construction of a "psychobilly Cadillac using stolen auto parts." The Cramps have since rejected the idea of being a part of a psychobilly subculture, noting that "We weren't even describing the music when we put 'psychobilly' on our old fliers; we were just using carny terms to drum up business. It wasn't meant as
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1216-572: The producers, Quality Records, and Shawn Brighton as to ownership issues. Dianne Athey's band after "the Rex" was The Riddles, led by Karen LeSage (formerly of The Gloo Girls). The Riddles worked from 1999 to 2004, playing gigs and recording. She currently works as a fine art painter and graphic artist for Town & Country . In 2010, Brighton moved to Miami Beach, where he works as an art dealer, creates art and continues to write songs. A possible musical reunion with Agnelli, Brighton, and bassist Athey
1254-465: The publication of Sweets and Other Stories by Andre Williams . Subsequent books include This Planet Is Doomed (2011), a collection of Sun Ra 's poetry; Pulling a Train and Getting in the Wind (2012), previously uncollected short stories by Harlan Ellison ; Lord of Garbage by Kim Fowley ; Benzedrine Highway by Charles Plymell ; and Gone Man Squared by Royston Ellis . Linna also co-authored
1292-590: The studio album Stay Sick in 1990. It spent one week at No. 62 in the UK Albums Chart in February 1990. Candy del Mar and Knox left the band in 1991. The Cramps hit the Top 40 in the UK for the first and only time with "Bikini Girls with Machine Guns"; Ivy posed as such both on the cover of the single and in the promotional video for the song. The Cramps went on to record more albums and singles through
1330-427: Was "sudden, shocking and unexpected". The Cramps weren't thinking of this weird subgenre when we coined the term " psychobilly " in 1976 to describe what we were doing. To us all the '50s rockabillies were psycho to begin with; it just came with the turf as a given, like a crazed, sped-up hillbilly boogie version of country . We hadn't meant playing everything superloud at superheavy hardcore punk tempos with
1368-594: Was Poison Ivy Rorschach, Lux Interior, Bryan Gregory (guitar), and his sister Pam "Balam" (drums). In a short period of time, the Cramps changed drummers twice; Miriam Linna (later of Nervus Rex , the Zantees, and the A-Bones and co-owner of Norton Records ) replaced Pam Balam, and Nick Knox (formerly with the Electric Eels ) replaced Linna in September 1977. In the late 1970s, the Cramps briefly shared
1406-831: Was heavily influenced by early rockabilly , such as Jerry Lott AKA The Phantom, whose 1958 single 'Love Me' they covered, rhythm and blues , and rock and roll like Link Wray and Hasil Adkins , 1960s surf music acts such as the Ventures and Dick Dale , 1960s garage rock artists like the Standells , the Trashmen , the Green Fuz and the Sonics , as well as the post- glam /early punk scene from which they emerged, as well as citing Ricky Nelson as being an influence during numerous interviews. They also were influenced by
1444-608: Was written and composed by Stephen Hillenburg and Peter Strauss. The Cramps played their final shows in Europe in the summer of 2006 and their last live show was on November 4, 2006, at the Marquee Theater in Tempe, Arizona . On February 4, 2009, Lux Interior died at the Glendale Memorial Hospital after suffering an aortic dissection which, contrary to initial reports about a pre-existing condition,
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