![\"CRAMPS](\"http:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/CRAMPS-CRAZY-COLLECTION.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAnyone picking up this monster compilation has probably already guessed that legendary schlock horror rockers The Cramps didn\u2019t get their chops from listening to Eagles LPs. Come to think of it, they probably didn\u2019t learn their licks here either, but the inspiration behind their scuzzy 60\u2019s rock \u2018n\u2019 roll formula lurks in the bit stream of this double CD.<\/p>\n
First up, one of the more familiar names of Rock n Roll history, Mickey & Sylvia treat us to their jittery, battle of the sexes washboard shuffle, \u2018No Good Lover\u2019. The Collins Kids\u2019 innocent-sounding name leads us into a false sense of security, ready for their licentious \u2018Whistlebait\u2019, with a strangulated boy (or is it a girl?) vocal. Skip Manning\u2019s basic Elvis grunt is enriched with fine distorted guitar on \u2018Ham \u2018n\u2018 Eggs\u2019, a slightly comical take on the \u2018We go together like\u2026\u2019 simile beloved of songwriters.<\/p>\n
Smokey Joe\u2019s Fats Waller-like croak provides a suitable voice for the crazy jungle rhythm of \u00a0 \u2018Signifying Monkey\u2019, a ditty that\u2019s less than the sum of its parts, although easily the best song title here. In our more sensitive age, we would probably baulk at \u2018Stutterin\u2019 Cindy\u2019s mockery, but it\u2019s easy to guess why Lux Interior would have liked this Charlie Feathers song.\u00a0 The familiar scrape of plectrum on steel guitar string signals the appearance of the great Bo Diddley, in a steady rocker, \u2018Congo\u2019, with a heady infusion of exotic jungle atmosphere.<\/p>\n
The hurtling comedy of The Aladdins\u2019 harmony piece, \u2018Munch\u2019 comes on like an even dumber \u2018Give Me Back My Bubble-gum\u2019, and with a crazy sax break cranking it higher. The sax is downright salacious on Joe Dodo\u2019s \u2018Groovy\u2019,\u00a0 but we get a chance to cool our heels and our ardour in Jim Backus & Friend\u2019s \u2018Delicious!\u2019, a sort of guffawing, Stateside take on Champagne Charlie furnished with an equally bibulous female companion. Sticking with the inebriate theme, we get a fairly standard country whine, \u2018Here I Am Drunk Again\u2019, from Clyde Beavers.<\/p>\n
Sparkle Moore\u2019s \u2018Skull and Crossbones\u2019 has our tough gal giving her man a good ticking off, and how easy it is to imagine the young Poison Ivy Rorschach hearing this little gem and filing it away under \u2018Personal Style\u2019. Rusty Draper\u2019s stammering vocal on the banjo-driven country stomp \u2018Tongue Tied over You\u2019 might have been a little too much for the age it was minted in, but has its moments. Charlie Ryan & The Timberline Riders\u2019 \u2018Hot Rod Guitar\u2019 is a steady roller with nimble fretwork, but there\u2019s not much here to elevate it above the usual fare.<\/p>\n
The Sheiks\u2019 \u2018Baghdad Rock\u2019 instro is an obvious Cramps favourite, with its \u2018The Walk\u2019 style beat and weird, haunting horn. The Duals\u2019 stormy \u2018Lovers Satellite\u2019 has a crystal clear guitar solo to clean the eardrums out, and The Invaders \u2018Shock Treatment\u2019 comes on like a lost Jo Meek track, all ghostly calls over a standard surf backing. Freddie & The Hitch Hikers\u2019 \u2018Sinners\u2019 makes good use of a not-so-heavenly chorus, in this sermon-infused chugger. It would be nothing but a low swindle to leave out \u2018Tequila\u2019, and it\u2019s \u2018The Three Suns\u2019 take which does the honours here.<\/p>\n
A solid hint of menace and some icy-cool guitar work in The Ventures\u2019 \u2018Green Onions\u2019, followed by a Billy Fury-like moody vocal performance from Gary Warren, in \u2018Midnight Rain\u2019, a memory song with a whispering chorus that provides two high spots in a row on this first disc. A genuine, murmuring blues with brooding guitar, in the form of Kenyon Hopkins\u2019 \u2018Let Me Out\u2019, takes us deftly into a crazy rocker with heavily distorted guitar and primitive lyrics in \u2018Hot and Cold\u2019 by Marvin Rainwater.<\/p>\n
Hank and the Electras\u2019 \u2018Get Lost Baby\u2019 is a tepid little number, in spite of its great title, but redemption is on the way with The Bikinis\u2019 \u2018Crazy Vibrations\u2019 a rattlesnake-like sound, with tinkling piano behind and a snaky, pumping sax with deep twangy bass fattening up the beat. Those of you with a taste for low-end comedy will love Jerry Neal\u2019s \u2018I Hates Rabbits\u2019, but we\u2019re soon into the truly inspired \u2018Twistin\u2019 In The Jungle\u2019, Buddy Bow\u2019s near-horror movie soundtrack with its bonkers bongos and brass.<\/p>\n
James and Septette\u2019s \u2019\u2018Congo Elegy\u2019 comes on like a perverse Bobby \u2018Boris\u2019 Pickett out-take, with a mambo struggling to get out of the piece, and desperate, salacious lyrics. A standard Bill Haley-o-like beat for \u2018Tarzan\u2019 from Glen Reeves & His Rock-Billys, and to end this disc, two songs entitled \u2018Voodoo Doll\u2019. The Interiors (dig that name\u2026) piece is an R \u2018n\u2019 B chugger and Glenda and Glen\u2019s has an unnerving female vocal and random raindrop sound in the bass that does the job the more effectively of the two. (Heard that name before somewhere, too.)<\/p>\n
The innocent sounding Buddy Holly-ish performance of \u2018Straight Skirt\u2019 by Gene Summers that opens the second CD belies the rather lecherous subject matter. The Ventures are in fine form in \u2018Bumble Bee Twist\u2019, picking their way precisely through a \u2018Man of Mystery\u2019 style riff. The Romans\u2019 \u2018Uh Huh\u2019 is every bit as primitive as the title suggests a crazy piece of exotica, chugging guitars and exclaiming sax. Art Wood\u2019s hillbilly hiccupping on \u2018My Jib\u2019 is a little too stereotypical to satisfy. The fast, jazzy rock \u2018n\u2019 roll and sax craziness of Sil Austin in \u2018Fallout\u2019 is far more pleasing to the ear.<\/p>\n
Charlie Feathers\u2019 \u2018Wild Wild Party\u2019 shuffle has its moments, as does Gene Simmons and the Rebels\u2019 \u2018Twixteen\u2019, an Eddie Cochrane-a-like treatment of a tale of perilously young sexual allure. Martin Denny\u2019s \u2018Misirlou\u2019 uses creepy woodwind and drum brushes hissing their snakeish rhythm in a very different take on the classic tune.<\/p>\n
The Forbidden Five show us why they\u2019re called so, with their bongos, animal noises and weird Eastern\/Western rhythms in \u2018RFD Rangoon\u2019,\u00a0 and continuing with the Eastern stylings, Preston Love and Orchestra serve up a tasty slice of exotica in \u2018Ali Baba\u2019s Boogie\u2019. The Bambinos\u2019 \u2018Algiers\u2019 is another entry in the downright disturbing category, and Marvin Rainwater\u2019s distorted echo sounds like it was produced with some species of elastic band, on his bizarre \u2018Boo Hoo\u2019. Dick Penner\u2019s \u2018Cindy Lou\u2019s slightly mocking guitar notes and sinister twang perfectly suit this borderline suggestive song. Skip Manning\u2019s \u2018Devil Blues\u2019 is more big band than bottleneck, with its \u2018behave or face the consequences\u2019 message.<\/p>\n
The Red Callender Sextet offer up more exotica in \u2018Voodoo\u2019, and Garry and Larry\u2019s hard driven \u2018Garlic Bread\u2019 is by way of total contrast.<\/p>\n
Moving into the Red Zone, The Blenders\u2019 \u2018Don\u2019t F*ck Around With Love deliver the doo-wop\u00a0 song sweetly, making the profanity all the more of a surprise, but The Empallos\u2019 \u2018Hi Cups\u2019 mighty sax creep is true instro-salaciousness.\u00a0 The Midnighters\u2019 rock \u2018n\u2019 roller \u2018Sexy Ways\u2019 fully lives up to its name.<\/p>\n
\u2018Gumbo\u2019 by Shades of Rhythm has a loose, crazy feel, and The Voxpoppers \u2018The Last Drag\u2019 has a screechy-voiced treatment with the faint air of Fats Domino about it. Roland Janes\u2019 \u2018Guitarville\u2019 has the fabulous spacey twangy bass and subtle, tapping drums of a surf classic. The Ventures\u2019 \u2018Ginchy\u2019s faintly Neo-Classical high-note guitar workout pleases, and Spot Barnett\u2019s loud, brash, Rock \u2018n\u2019 Blues \u2018Sweetmeats\u2019 is enlivened by a wavering sax. For my money, the standout track here is \u2018Young William & The Jamaicans\u2019 urgent, echoed \u2018Limbo Drum Part 1\u2019. Ike Turner Orchestra\u2019s \u2018Cuban Get Away\u2019 seems a little too far removed from Ike to be all his work. Our CD selection closes with Bobby Rhines and the Rogues\u2019 call-and-response\u00a0 festival, \u2018Port Zibee Part II\u2019 and Tommy Mercer and the McBrides\u2019 \u2018Volcano Rock\u2019, a left-field rock \u2018n\u2019 roller with enough sound effects to make even Joe Meek blush.<\/p>\n
What\u2019d\u2019ya mean, you\u2019ve got \u2018em all?<\/p>\n