www.members.shaw.ca/thecramps (fan site)

The Cramps are the longest surviving punk rock era band in the world and in November 2001 celebrated their silver jubilee. The reason for their longevity is that founding husband and wife team Lux Interior and Poison Ivy share an enthusiasm for living life on the edge. They have been together since 1972.

Some may think their penchant for satanic motifs and leather may indicate that they’re into morbidity and death – which they deny, saying that they’re very much into "blood-boiling life".

The Cramps are definitively queer – they honestly embrace elements of cross-dressing, gender identity, sado-masochism and bondage & discipline - and all with a sense of joy that leaves everyone in their audience begging for more.

I first saw The Cramps on video as they performed "Tear It Up" in the 1980 Miles Copeland film "Urgh! – A Musical War". Ivy sneered and casually chewed gum, while Lux deep-throated his high-ball microphone and writhed or lurched around the stage, all the time just managing to keep his scant knee high leather pants from exposing his genitals. You had to love them.

Their first Brisbane show at The Roxy drew a crowd so large and vibrant that condensed sweat reportedly rained from the ceiling. Lux and Ivy were last in town for the ’94 "Flame Job" Tour, when they were accompanied by Harry Drumdini and Slim Chance.

With music strongly based in rhythm & blues and rockabilly, they’ve produced songs that should’ve given the top 40 a shake and videoclips that would make your mother faint (the birthing scene at the start of "Creature From the Black Leather Lagoon").

Their song titles alone tell you The Cramps have a special right to be in any queer persons collection: "Two Headed Sex Change", "Bend Over I’ll Drive", "Queen Of Pain", "Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?", "It Thing Hard-On", and especially "I Want To Get In Your Pants".

Brisbane alternative film and music identity Phillipa Berry spent a dream day with her friends Ivy and Lux at their Hollywood home last October. They took her to lunch at Frank & Mussos (photo). Phillipa’s many other friends can visit her at The Cobra Bar, Tote Hotel, Collingwood, Melbourne in her new incarnation as The Cobra Woman.