Artist · chart history · #321 in alternative artist polls
The Cramps
Band New York United States Active 1976–2009
The Cramps formed in 1976 in New York, United States and was active until 2009. The Cramps has 37 chart appearances on 16 radio countdowns from 11 stations on RockLists, spanning 1988–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Goo Goo Muck”, which appears on 7 lists with a best position of #95. The station that charted The Cramps most often is Fred (XM 44) (XM Satellite Radio (national)), with 19 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1990.
The Cramps came crawling out of 1976 like something that escaped from a drive-in double feature, and they have never been anything but the band of Lux Interior and Poison Ivy: he sang, she played guitar, and they were the only members who stayed for the whole ride while everyone else rotated through. Bryan Gregory was in on the first full lineup in April 1976, and Nick Knox held down the drums from 1977 to 1991, with Kid Congo Powers, Candy Del Mar, Jim Sclavunos and Harry Drumdini among the others who passed through.
What they play is rockabilly dragged through punk's back alley, and they get the credit for inventing psychobilly in the process: swampy, reverb-soaked guitars, a stomping beat and vocals pitched somewhere between a croon and a cackle. Gravest Hits (1979) got things going with "Human Fly" and a gleefully deranged "Surfin' Bird". Their debut album, Songs the Lord Taught Us (1980), added "Garbageman" and "TV Set", and Psychedelic Jungle (1981) followed with "Goo Goo Muck", "Caveman" and "The Crusher".
They kept the B-movie flame burning for decades, through A Date With Elvis, Stay Sick! and its "Bikini Girls With Machine Guns", Look Mom No Head! and Flamejob. The band ended in 2009, when Lux Interior died.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by The Cramps on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Goo Goo Muck | 7 | #95 | – | – | |
| 2 | Human Fly | 5 | #154 | – | – | |
| 3 | Bikini Girls With Machine Guns | 5 | #98 | – | 1990 | |
| 4 | What's Inside a Girl | 2 | #408 | – | – | |
| 5 | Ultra Twist | 2 | #573 | – | – | |
| 6 | Mama Oo Pow Pow | 2 | #334 | – | – | |
| 7 | Route 66 (Get Your Kicks On) | 1 | #759 | – | – | |
| 8 | Garbageman | 2 | #837 | – | – | |
| 9 | Caveman | 1 | #1108 | – | – | |
| 10 | Lonesome Town | 2 | #665 | – | – | |
| 11 | Miniskirt Blues | 1 | #1439 | – | – | |
| 12 | The Crusher | 1 | #1568 | – | – | |
| 13 | Surfin' Bird | 1 | #1664 | – | – | |
| 14 | TV Set | 1 | #1796 | – | – | |
| 15 | I Was a Teenage Werewolf | 1 | #1894 | – | – | |
| 16 | Green Door | 1 | #791 | – | – | |
| 17 | The Natives are Restless | 1 | #1983 | – | – |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
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