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Track of the Day - 8/13/2007
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The Cramps - I Was a Teenage Werewolf Listen to I Was a Teenage Werewolf on Rhapsody We have talked about the psychobilly genre here before, as well as the often confusingly similar yet different horrorbilly and gothabilly.  Much has been made about the fact that the term "psychobilly" was first used in the Johnny Cash song One Piece at a Time, but other than introducing the term into the English language, it really had little influence over the musical style to come.  That credit goes to a band that hailed from Sacramento, California.  Not only were The Cramps one of the major influences of the coming sub-genre of music, they were one of the first to use it to describe their music. To be fair, there is a difference between The Cramps and the musical genre that would become known as psychobilly.  The Cramps were definitely an offshoot of rockabilly, but their music is more inclined to incorporate the 12-bar blues structure, albeit at a very fast pace.  In fact, there music is probably more closely aligned with the sub-genre of gothabilly, of which they were also a primary influence. The Cramps started out by moving from city to city, before settling into New York City where they started to gain notice by making regular appearances at the popular nightclub CBGB's.  Their first full-length album release came in 1979 with Songs The Lord Taught Us and regularly released albums throughout the 1980s.  They have been a little less proactive throughout the 1990s and this decade, with only sporadic releases. I Was a Teenage Werewolf was actually on Songs The Lord Taught Us, but this version comes from their most recent release, the compilation How to Make a Monster.  The album featured their early rehearsal tracks, demos and even a few previously unreleased tracks.  In typical Cramps fashion, I Was a Teenage Werewolf was a tongue-in-cheek homage to the 1957 tongue-in-cheek AIP film of the same name, which launched the career of Michael Landon. You know, I have puberty rights And I have puberty wrongs No one understood me All my teeth were so long And no one made me stop The version here can definitely be described as a very "raw" recording, but in a way - it perfectly suits the music of The Cramps.  The band is one of those classic examples that despite the obvious influence they had on future bands, their own success has remained rather fleeting.  They have scored only one minor billboard hit in their career, yet at the same time has managed to built a strong reputation and a close fan-base.  Fortunately for all of us, they are still hard at work bringing their mayhem to all.
Filed under: Music, Track of the Day	August 13, 2007, 5:49 pm | Permalink | 0 Comments
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