Album · The Cramps
Songs the Lord Taught Us by The Cramps
Songs the Lord Taught Us is an album by The Cramps, released in 1980. 3 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 4 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Garbageman”, on 2 lists with a best position of #837.
Songs the Lord Taught Us, the Cramps' debut album, came out in 1980 on I.R.S. Records in America and Illegal in Britain, with Alex Chilton producing. It's the founding document of psychobilly: Lux Interior and Poison Ivy, with guitarist Bryan Gregory and drummer Nick Knox, splicing rockabilly's twang to punk rock's snarl and dragging the lot through a drive-in horror double bill.
Everything sounds like it was recorded in a flooded basement at midnight: reverb-soaked guitars, primitive thud, and Lux yelping and gargling like a man possessed. "Garbageman" is the trashy strut, "TV Set" and "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" pure B-movie delirium. Rolling Stone later put it on its list of the best albums of 1980, praising its gleefully trashy garage sound.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Songs the Lord Taught Us on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Garbageman | 2 | #837 | – | 1991–2003 | |
| 2 | TV Set | 1 | #1796 | – | 2003 | |
| 3 | I Was a Teenage Werewolf | 1 | #1894 | – | 2003 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.