The pop music show The Tube ran on UK’s Channel 4 for five years in the 1980s. Hosted by, among others, Jools Holland and Paula Yates, the program showcased live (as in actually live and not mimed) performances by three or four emerging bands every week, including, in March of 1986, some high badassery from the legendary rockabilly/horror/sleaze/punk band The Cramps.
This was a transitional time for the band. Since the departure of guitarist Kid Congo Powers, The Cramps—wildman singer Lux Interior, fuzzgrinding guitarist Poison Ivy Rorschach, and drummer Nick Knox—were unable to find a permanent replacement guitarist, and elected to add a bass to their lineup for the first time ever, only to find themselves unable to settle on a bassist. They were also tweaking their image, tilting their focus away somewhat from their ghoulish b-movie horror side towards a more colorfully cartoonish and kitschy hypersexuality. In accord with that change, representative song titles from that year’s A Date With Elvis LP include “The Hot Pearl Snatch” and “Can Your Pussy Do the Dog?” both of which are featured in their Tube set, along with the single “What’s Inside a Girl?” The bass player issue was settled, for their tour, at least, with the addition of Hollywood Hillbillies’ Fur Dixon, who’s seen playing in the videos below. She certainly fit the bill visually!
Previously on Dangerous Minds
Some new kind of kick: The Cramps live at the mental hospital, 1978
Bad music for bad people: The second best Cramps footage you’ll ever see!