The Camel Cigarettes show ay Gray's Armory was an amazing experience. It was definitely 1997. The crowd was better and more in to them at the Odeon show which was only a week or two before. The Camel show for those of you that don't know was a "thank you" show to all of the bars in the area that became exclusively Camel Cigarette carriers. Only Camel bar owners and employees were given tickets to this event. I begged Amneh, our Promotions Director at the time to get her hands on some tickets for that show. Somehow, she did and I got in. Camel decked the hall with rave gear from the day. It was very space ship and Alien themed. Two long tables extended the length of the hall filled with tons of food (good stuff, not just pizza), beer and liquor. Cigarette Girls circled the hall offering packs of smokes to anyone that wanted them. All of this was free for the guests. I suckled upon the teat of Big Tobacco and I loved every minute of it. The Cramps came out and played a great set. The attendees, were not all hardcore Cramps fans but the Cramps still put on a great show. Later that night, I staggered back to the station and hung out with Mark Doremus and Harry Palms who were doing Mark's last episode of the Graveyard Shift.
I have a copy of the Cramps show at the Odeon from one or two weeks before the Camel show (I was able to wrestle away the DAT recorder from Dricore for the night). Look for it in the push box this week. That show was on Nov. 20, 1997.
I'll miss Lux. He was a great showman. He always looked and played the part of a zombie rock 'n roller. The last time the Cramps came through town, he looked like he was peeled off the cover of a Back From the Grave album - [
tinyurl.com] Even then, he was still climbing the stacks of speakers and jumping all over the place, deep throating his mic and making obscene guttural noises and wailing out great music. He was a byproduct of North East Ohio's pop culture of his youth. Ghoulardi, The Mad Daddy and bad horror movies and were all huge influences on him. If he grew up anywhere else, the music would probably not have been as good. His distinct link to Cleveland and Akron even though he hadn't lived in the area for decades is why he is going to be missed. He tapped in to the sick psyche that many of us share.
Roll on
Rock on
Raw Bones
Well I still got all the rythem in these
Rockin' Bones
I wanna leave a happy memory
when I go, I wanna leave something
to let the whole world know,
that the rock in roll daddy has
a done passed on, but my bones
will keep a rockin' long after I've gone
Roll on
Rock on
Raw Bones
Well I still got all the rythem in these
Rockin' Bones
Well when I die don't you burry
me at all, Just nail my bonesup on
the wall, Beneath these bones let
these words be seen, "This is the
bloody gears of a
boppin' machine"
Roll on
Rock on
Raw Bones
Well I still got all the rythem in these
Rockin' Bones
And I worry about tomorrow just
thinkin' about tonight, My bones are
getting restless and I do it up right,
A few more times around a hardwood
floor, Before we turn off the lights and
close the door
Roll on
Rock on
Raw Bones
Well I still got all the rythem in these
Rockin' Bones
Rock on, Lux!
Scruggscorp Syndicated Radio
Sunday Nights, Midnight- 2 AM
