David Corio

The Cramps

Bedford College, London, UK
(1979)

Regrets? We’ve all had a few and this was one of mine. This was the first London show for the original US psychobilly band. There had been a lot of hype over their mix of punk and rockabilly and the show was one of those packed sweaty gigs with a buzz of high expectation.
The band looked good but after staying for most of the set, I left. I really couldn’t stand their music. By then an air of disappointment had permeated the crowd who had realised that this band was maybe not the future of rock and roll. When I dropped the prints off at NME the next day I got a bollocking from the photo editor. He couldn’t believe I’d not been there during the encore when lead singer Lux Interior had dropped his trousers and waggled his arse at the crowd.

THE CRAMPS 03
The Cramps