Died On This Date (January 10, 2001) Bryan Gregory / The Cramps
themusicsover Bryan Gregory
February 20, 1951 – January 10, 2001
Bryan Gregory is best remembered as the founding guitarist for influential psychobillyists, the Cramps. Formed while he and lead singer, Lux Interior worked together at a New York City record store, the band were instrumental in the development of the early punk scene whose centerpiece was the CBGB’s club. The band in those days also included lead guitarist, Poison Ivy and Gregory’s sister, Pam Balaam on drums. It was Gregory’s unique guitar sound and crazy stage antics that endeared him to early fans. He played on the band’s first two albums, Gravest Hits and Songs The Lord Taught Us before leaving in 1980. Gregory spent the next few years in a band called the Beast before playing a zombie in George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead and moving to Florida where he ran an adult book store. The early ’90s found him in Los Angeles where he formed the Dials and played in Shiver. Bryan Gregory was 49 when he suffered “multiple systems failure” after driving himself to a Southern California hospital emergency room. He had reportedly been in ill-health after previously suffering a heart attack, but official cause of death was not released.
What You Should Own
Lux Interior, lead singer of psychobilly stalwarts The Cramps died Wednesday, February 9, 2009. According to the band’s official press release, Interior passed away due to an existing heart condition in the early morning hours at Glendale (California) Memorial Hospital. Born Erick Purkhiser in Ohio, Interior eventually landed in Sacramento, California where he reportedly picked up hitch-hiking college student, Kristy Wallace. The two soon became soul mates over shared interests in obscure music and wild fashion and formed the nucleus of the Cramps. By 1975, the couple were in New York City helping define the original punk scene that also gave us the Ramones, Talking Heads and Patti Smith. But the Cramps sound was very different from the others. By combining equal elements of surf, rockabilly, camp, horror and fetish, along with Lex’s passionately reckless vocals and stage theatrics, the Cramps quickly built a legion of loyalists that would stay true to the band for decades to come. It should be noted that the Cramps are likely the only band in history who have performed at both the 
