Dead Elvis and his one man grave.......................What's Behind The Mask ?

37 years dead.......or is he ?

We all know what happened in the privy that fateful day in August 1977, the result of too many banana and bacon burgers. The morphine, quaalude and valium enemas that probably didn't help too much either and the zip getting stuck on the white, rhinestone jumpsuit, right at the crucial moment....the timing couldn't have been worse, as Elvis simply exploded !      Or did he ?

Working part time in a chip shop !

Fast forward 29 years to a secret location known only as 'Disgraceland' (rumoured to be anywhere from a grow house on the outskirts of Rotterdam or Eindhoven to a disused 'Gris Gris' shrine in Port Au Prince) take a scarey looking dude like your man from the James Bond movie (Live and Let Die), a ouija board, a truckload of mescaline and the mortal remains of the king himself, procured no doubt from a reputable source on Ebay......Then, to the strains of  Screamin' Jay's 'Alligator Wine'.....'Mix it all up in a dish', 'Toss it over your left shoulder'....and you got a Dead Elvish ! or so they would have us believe !

An enigma in a riddle wrapped up in a conundrum.

More mysterious than 10 Bermuda triangles and even more elusive than an honest politician, the reanimated corpse of the artist formerly known as 'Mr Presley' suddenly reappeared sometime late 2006, spurred on from beyond the grave by the likes of the Masked Asthmatic Avenger, Bloodshot Bill and his right holiness, The Rev Beatman. Our cadaverous crooner sacked the band and set off on a world trek, belting out his classic signature tunes, only he didn't because Sony threatened to sue his arse for breach of copyright so he had to write a shedload of new songs. It was around this time that someone noticed the smell !...............

If 'The Sun' says it's true......!

It would appear that due to matters of personal hygiene (The stench of a rotting corpse can, at times, be a little off putting) no-one would play with him and so he had to go down the Hasil Adkins route of playing all of his own instruments himself.....Teaming up with the ghost of Jack Starr they worked on his guitar technique and made him a rubber mask as his face was falling away and dropping off in bits. Bet you didn't know Jack Starr was a make up artist for El Cheapo horror movies after releasing that classic 'My Love For You Is Petrified' ?

Uhuhahuh Uhuh !

Anyways, as he was dead the contract with RCA was gone and the fans were clamouring for his new output so he had to find someone who'd be up for releasing a few tracks....he didn't really have to look far as the German label (who were Austrian at the time) Squoodge Records were kind/daft/mad enough to put out a couple of singles and include him on a compilation or two during his '07 comeback again' tour. His entire and upto date (as of Sept 2014) discography can be found here: http://www.hisonemangrave.com/main.htm






 

Kind of inevitable really

The years rolled by and Deadelvis's lonely one man band existence was slowly but surely eating away at him (or it could have been just straight forward decomposition). He had been taking care of business and looking after the ladies in all the far flung corners of the planet, from Japan and China, to South America to Bergen in the (nearly) North Pole and even had the foresight to start his own label 'Monster Mash Records' and it was just after this when he initially met Thee Gravemen.......The unholy alliance between Dead Elvis & Thee Gravemen was a natural and obvious progression truth be told and it wasn't too long before it actually happened, the union bringing forth a first EP in 2013 and this, I am assured, will in all likelyhood be followed up with more offspring from this odd coupling in the coming years.

The latest vinyl platter from the undead king.

In the meantime, grab yourself a copy of the album while you can as it's really limited and check where he's playing next.......Hell, he is even coming to Ireland next year !

Monster Mash Records and a ton of other goodies :  http://www.monstermashrecords.nl/

Website, merch, tour dates and everything else you need to know is here: http://www.hisonemangrave.com/main.htm

Tons of vids on Youtube but here's a cool taster : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BZJ7exRBWs


Ladies & Gentleman....................Dead Elvis has left the cemetery !

Cramps Re-issues, Back From The Grave Vol 9 & 10, Messer Chups Tour !

Yowsa !  New artwork too, out on 28th Oct 2014

Great news on the vinyl front !  Looks as if the majority of The Cramps album back catalogue is getting re-issued through Vengeance (and Vinylissimo), with both 'Stay Sick' and Fiends Of Dope Island' getting revamped artwork.

We've gone monochrome for this re-edition.

All of the Vengeance re-issues should be in the shops and available by mail order from the 28th October, no indication as to if there are any coloured or ltd editions so if anyone knows, do drop me a quick email...... At the moment it only looks a if they'll be available from USA based outlets or the American mail order company Midheaven : www.midheaven.com 

More great news and this time from the label that just keeps on delivering the goodies...Tim Warren's CRYPT.  Amazing that there could be enough unknown/unheard material out there to fill another 3 (Yes ! Three) volumes of the seminal Back From The Grave compilation series.....I lifted the artwork from a post on the Garagepunk Hideout site (so a big thank you to Kopper).

Three, Yes 3 new volumes !

Before you get over excited, not all three volumes are coming out at the same time, a tentative release date for vols 9 and 10 is the 20th Nov 2014.....and no idea for when vol 11 (Eleven) will be out. I would have loved to have been able to throw some light on the track listings but to be honest that would've been spoiling the surprise even if I could have. As it is, the track listings had all been redacted (edited out) making it impossible to see what delights are in store for us !
Fantastic package, as per usual with Crypt releases, gatefold sleeves, copious liner notes, band photos and quality mastering.

Best bet is to order directly from Crypt at www.cryptrecords.com  







THE MESSER CHUPS tour starts today........Spain, Portugal and France !

Click me !

One not to be missed !  Seriously, if you can get to any of the gigs ?  You won't regret it !

Turn Blue Bro !

ALL CRAMPED UP !.............Introducing.

Wouldn't make a bad album cover actually.

It's a well known fact that strange things occur in the West Country, particularly after a few pints of mushroom infused cider and this could go quite some way in explaining 'All Cramped Up'.........Four guys from Gloucestershire and a Gal from Reading who have been injecting a bit of life into the sleepy Cotswolds for the past two years with their own brand of Crampsical madness . The initial line up, first getting together in 2012, consisted of Tim Deane on Lead Guitar, Mike Newport on Drums (both formerly in Thee Raymen who had an album out on Raucous Records called 'Rebel Rockers' way back in 1995), Bob Pride on Rhythm Guitar, Shane Hathaway on Bass and Floyd (?) the original singer who was replaced by Caz Hill in late 2013.

All Cramped Up's version of 'Human Fly' : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew85ACpCBhc

The first line up.

All Cramped Up are hardly a tribute act, for a start the singer who also just happens to be a female, doesn't have the balls to be impersonating Lux and the only similarity between Tim the guitarist and Ivy is that he has hair of a somewhat reddish tint........No, All Cramped Up are not about cloning or replicating The Cramps, they're just a psycho-rockabilly band who's set consist entirely of Cramps covers !...........Think 'Tokyo Cramps' without the bad accents.

Studio version of 'Domino': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ444A5KI9c  

When they started out a couple of years back, things were handy enough for them as they supported Demented Are Go soon after getting together, had a nice run of local and not so local gigs as well as being asked by the head honcho at Raucous Records to contribute a couple of tracks for a proposed compilation (not sure if this came out ? is coming out ? or has been shelved ?), not too shabby for a debut although they hit a bit of a speed bump after about a year when they parted company with the singer. It was Caroline aka Caz, who rumour has it, likes Smirnoff...a lot ! was drafted in to front the band, the unsubstantiated story being that they met her after a particularly intense session on the piss and whilst talking, couldn't help but notice she sounded like Lux with a mike jammed half way down his throat and a large styrofoam cup in there somewhere too. 

Caz, fronting 'All Cramped Up'

Apart from The Cramps, they're into The Monsters, Elvis, Creepshow and almost anything on Doyley's 'Diablo Records'.......no apologies for the cornyness, but 'You've Got Good Taste' !
For the last year they've been out and about establishing themselves with plenty of gigs and building up a head of steam  before they head into the studio in Nov/Dec of this year........and hopefully something will be released shortly there after.
For those of you who can't make it to any of their upcoming gigs (and take note, they are opening this years 'Pompey Rumble' on Nov 8th) you have the chance of hearing them live by tuning into: http://www.rockindevilradio.com/ on the 11th of October when their gig at The Blackhorse in Bristol will be broadcast live.........

Opening act

Apart from the 'Pompey Rumble' you can also catch them at various gigs including the following,

11th Oct at the Blackhorse, Kingswood, Bristol (With The Long Tall Texans and The Rocker Covers).
1st Nov at the Crown & Sceptre, Stroud for the Halloween Hoedown.
8th Nov at the Pompey Rumble, Portsmouth.
20th Dec at the Facebar, Reading for the Coffin Nails Christmas Bash.

For more info, upcoming gigs, general news and contact.   You can get them here : https://www.facebook.com/pages/All-Cramped-Up/401247016615224?sk=timeline

I for one am looking forward to seeing them soon.

Stay Sick !

The Del Monas..........Reissued !!!

Been a long time coming

Absolutely great news from Damaged Goods that they have re-released (in late August) 2 of the long out of print Del Monas albums, limited editions and on white vinyl no less ! The compilation 'The Delmonas' & 'Delmonas 5' their second album which was originally released in 1986 on Empire records.

In glorious mono !

Originally the backing singers for the mighty Milkshakes and first called The Milk-Boilers, they had their name changed for them by one of the Milkshakes after the Bo Diddley song, to The Del Monas prior to releasing their first EP in 1984, the fantastic 'Comin' Home Baby', a cover of the Dee Dee Sharp classic (also done by crooner Mel Torme, though not a patch on DD Sharp) Check it out here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw3yD1QYroo

They followed up the first EP with another four track release, also in 1984. 'Hello, We Love You' a straight cover of The Doors hit and three other tunes including the brilliant Peter Gunn Locomotion.

And we loved you too !

The first album 'Dangerous Charms' was released by Big Beat in 1985 following the success of the first two EP's (also Big Beat releases, not forgetting the single, Sally Sue Brown on Empire too) and although it came out in '85 all the recordings were from '84 as unfortunately, the band would basically split up in '85 but reformed later in the same year without Louise Baker to record the album 'Delmonas 5'. They carried on for a few more years, being the girlfriends of members of The Milkshakes and recording a few sessions for the BBC before releasing 2 more albums in 1989, 'Do The Uncle Willy' and the compilation 'Delmonas' before calling it a day !
However, it wasn't the end and far from it.....as former X-Men drummer, Debbie 'Bongo' Green joined Ludella Black, Kyra 'Rubella' De Coninck and Holly Golightly to form the ever so prolific Headcoatees........and so, as they say, to be continued............

As a by the by, The Shall-I-Say-Quoi (Ludella Black, Kyra and your one from the Buff Medways) have also just released a 10" 6 song EP on Damaged Goods too, but only 300 copies !

You can get the re-issues & 10" directly from here: http://damagedgoods.greedbag.com/

Enjoy.