The Cramps

The Cramps were an American rock band formed in New York in 1976 by singer Lux Interior (1946-2009) and guitarist Poison Ivy, the only members present throughout. Their music drew on rockabilly, punk and surf, and they are credited as the originators of psychobilly. The band stayed active until Lux Interior's death in 2009. Lux Interior and Poison Ivy met in Sacramento in 1972 and reached New York in 1975 by way of Akron. Alex Chilton produced their first singles in Memphis in 1977, and in 1979 the band went back to Memphis to record Songs the Lord Taught Us (Illegal, 1980).