Journey to the Centre Of The Cramps

Worth the price alone for the photo of Lux in his hippie days. I still like "Wild World of The Cramps" better, but supposedly the band hated it, so what do I know?Still, we can't have enough books about The Cramps, and I certainly hope Ivy is writing one right now.The early chapters here are the best, providing a lot of new info about the formative years.What else can I say about this iconic band? When they first appeared they made everything else seem too bright, too clean, too safe.I still think they were an important factor in the climate change regarding acceptance/promotion of exploitation/trashy films/music/culture for many reasons. The Cramps "got it" and they nailed it good until the hammer was nice and bloody.I can't be the only admirer of this band who felt a huge vacuum when Lux died. He seemed beyond human, but always brought the voodoo idol in him down to earth so us humans and subhumans could get at him and his band of delightful degenerates.

I’m looking forward to reading this one! I absolutely loved the Cramps as a kid and still listen to them decades later.Deducting 1 star for a few reasons:- It took nearly a week to be shipped and threeweeks to arrive.- The book is damaged (creased back cover corner, bent pages and crease on the spine).- It’s a paperback book that costs as much as a hardback, and the mediocre quality of the paper and manufacturing don’t justify it.

Product was new so no blemishes or bent pages

Very in depth but puts a lot of focus on the bands/songs that influenced The Cramps. Also the beginning of hbe book goes into a lot of detail but as the books goes on the amount of detail drops. Overall a well written biography.

There are a few too many lengthy detours into minutiae about minor characters here, but many good interviews with Ivy and Lux make this worth your time. They gave smarter than average interviews. Not enough detail about their stash of goodies at home for me either, but you can't have everything. At least this has readable prose. A more brutal, objective analysis of their musical qualities would have been in order as well, but it's no puff piece. You can't have what is (in part) a retro/novelty/comedy act and expect to be treated like Bob Dylan. Yet they spent a lot of time fighting against their image. There's probably still a lot more that could be said about The Cramps, but this is a good place to start.

Great to read small details of Lux and Ivy’s view of their experience. You get the in on every little influence that they have. Where there is too much detail is when Dick Porter goes off a rant about some connection who they recorded with that had a band and knew these guys and had a top 20 hit on so and so chart blah blah blah you get the idea. There’s a lot of that. I’ve skipped whole pages of irrelevant info. I came to read about the cramps! Same with Porters album reviews throughout the book. They all sound the same.

I own Dick Porters previous book on the Cramps and it was a good one. This new one though is much better. Much more fleshed out and up to date. Some really great pictures that I have never seen before.I was really happy to buy this as I love this band. They were truly unique, not fakes like some other bands that pretend to be eccentric.There will never be another Lux and Ivy in Rock 'n' Roll. They were really something special and they deserve much more recognition than they have received.If you want a good history lesson on the Cramps, then buy this book. You won't be disappointed. I was going to say they deserve to be in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, but they're too good for that dump.Would love to see Ivy play that guitar again but that probably will never happen. Hope she is doing ok.

I have the original hardcover of this as well. Is it complete? No. Is it definitive? No. Is it full of fun, interesting facts and anecdotes about The Cramps? Oh, yes! Whether or not you've read the other bios (fanzine comps, "Wild, Wild World ..."), you really ought to find something in here that will pique your interest or make you say, "I didn't know that ... "But then again, I'll read just about anything about the Cramps, including the Chic magazine interview from 1984! Yep ... it's a sickness that cannot be cured ...

A FAN FROM THE START I OWN OVER 50 FIFTY C.D.'S AND NINE DVD'S BY THEM (OFFICIAL AND UNOFFICIAL). I LISTEN TO THEM EVERY DAY. THEY WERE THE BEST ROCK AND ROLL BAND EVER AND I WANTED TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THEM SO I PURCHASED THIS BOOK. IT IS GREAT READING. I PARTICULARY WANTED TO KNOW WHY BRYAN GREGORY LEFT AND WHY KID CONGO POWERS WAS REMOVED, BECAUSE THEY WERE THE BEST LINE UP'S.GREAT DETAIL AND A RIVETING BOOK.

Tells the story but I got distracted by how many times the word 'weird' was used on each page to describe everything....Lux is weird, the music is weird, Bryan Gregory's hair weird, their car weird, both Kid Congo Powers and Ivy's guitar parts are weird in the same sentence. It just goes on....Great book otherwise of a fantastic subject but needs a good editor or some additional adjectives!

The book itself is a good read about a really unique rock band, fronted by a husband and wife team. She wrote the songs and played guitar. He sang and made Iggy Pop look tame. The rest of the band line up changed over the years but they all looked great. This is probably the best book about them. The delivery was slow but it arrived in good condition.

This is a great book. I just cannot put it down. After all these years I am finally getting into this great band and this book is the best around because in the past I have read very short badly written fan biographies of the Cramps but this is like the Bible of the band. So if you're discovering their music buy this book to help you on your way into new discovery !!

As a massive Cramps fan I find this book awesome. I even read things I never knew before and I am a fun since the very start of their career.