aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser
#016– The Cramps – ‚Blue Moon Baby’ (Big Beat Records ’78)
Hello friends,
It occurred to me that this series isn’t really in favor of our carbon footprint, is it? I mean, we flew to Australia for The Church, headed back to England for The Clash … and now we proceed to the States for The Cramps. Then again, let’s be honest: by and large we don’t care all too much in real life, do we, so why should we care here and now?!
Furthermore, The Cramps are worth it! Let’s face it: they were – without a shadow of a doubt – the scariest band on the planet! Why? Well, because they really lived it—it wasn’t just about being cool or rebellious, but about going through life by your own rules. Loads of weirdos made garage rock that sounded like the stuff the Cramps cranked out, but only the Cramps made being creepy goth freaks an entire lifestyle. And if you ever had the chance to see them on stage, you will know what I mean – their sets were meant the way they were presented, there was no false demand for attention!
Within their career The Cramps released numerous brilliant records and amongst those were quite a lot of equally brilliant 7” singles. It would in fact be a hard task indeed to number those down to one and decide for this one to be the best of the lot. But I have one advantage: from their beginnings, The Cramps occasionally covered their favourite songs from the 50’s, perhaps most notably The Trashmen’s “Surfin’ Bird”, put out as a 7” in 1978. And somehow I have always been very fond indeed of these old tunes, at least when having been modified to impact strength by Lux and Ivy!
But “Surfin’ Bird” wasn’t the only cover the Cramps released. They also put their own spin on “The Way I Walk” by Jack Scott, punctuating the verses with shrieks to give it some B-movie flavor. Other songs they covered include Jimmy Stewart‘s “Rock on the Moon,” Dwight Pullen‘s “Sunglasses After Dark,” Elvis Presley‘s “Jailhouse Rock,” the Sonics‘ “Strychnine,” and Little Willie John‘s “Fever.” None of which I chose though today.
No, my favourite is this, friends:
mp3: The Cramps – Blue Moon Baby
The original was written and performed by David Fatalsky, or, as you and I know him better, Dave “Diddle” Day, in April 1957. And again, I went for a B-Side, the B-Side of “Can Your Pussy Do The Dog” from 1985, the A-Side being absolutely ace as well …. so better let’s finish for today before I think all of the above over and change my mind about my song choice ….
See you soon, take care, all the best, enjoy, etc.
Dirk
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
Smell of Female is one of my favourite albums
A classic! I loved the Cramps but I never thought of the them as scary–Lux was too goofy. But they were a whole lot of fun. Of the sort we could really use these days.
I’ve been hammering A Date With Elvis and Big Beat From Badsville a lot lately. They really were the realest of all the super creeps. Bless ‘Em.