Lux Interior, R.I.P.
Cramps frontman Lux Interior passed away yesterday morning in Glendale, Calif., from complications stemming from an existing heart condition. Interior, real name Erick Lee Purkhiser, founded the Cramps with his wife Poison Ivy (née Kristy Wallace) in 1973, and they quickly became fixtures of New York’s emerging punk scene after playing their first CBGB show in 1976; their deft combination of surf-rock melodies, rockabilly swagger, and horror-film iconography was hugely influential on a lot of bands that came in their wake. Lux Interior and Poison Ivy were the only two constant members of the band, which stopped touring in 2004. (A comprehensive timeline of the Cramps’ history is here.) A couple of videos after the jump.
“The Way I Walk” (Live at Napa State Mental Hospital)
“Bikini Girls With Machine Guns”
Interior was 62.
Cramporama [Noisezone Magazine]
