V04-T04 Journey To The Center Of A Girl

.....If I remember correctly, I had put together a 90-minute cassette retrospective of The Cramps shortly before I had worked on this second pot luck style tape. When trying to condense my favorite artists into portable form, I generally included A-sides and rarities on the list first. Then I arranged the songs chronologically, determined which years were underrepresented, and filled them with B-sides, album cuts and soundtrack or benefit contributions until the total playing time reached the closest increment of 30 minutes. That determined how many 60 or 90 minute cassettes to use. The technology is outdated now, but the basic idea translates well. In the case of the Cramps, I felt that two 90 minute cassettes would necessitate too many album tracks. To make a long story short(er), I reluctantly left this song off and regretted it almost immediately. I mentioned in earlier posts that songs I intended to use went AWOL, and I now have no doubt that while I sifted around for replacements I must have grabbed this hoping to turn disappointment into opportunity. Under the circumstances, it worked better in the mix than I had any right to expect.

Volume 4: "THE LITTLE BROWN ONES ARE THORAZINE, GEORGE", track 4

• 04:49 "JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF A GIRL" (Ivy Rorschach, Lux Interior)
• performed by The Cramps
• original source: LP STAY SICK Enigma 7 73543-4 (US) 1990
• and my source: CD STAY SICK Enigma 7 73543-2(US) 1990

.....I'll just quote from my old notes:

"This, like the Dead Milkman track, is an item that is not at all a rarity. (In fact, I distinctly remember this as the A-side of a 12" promo single which I personally played on the air. However, I can't find any indication that it was released as a commercial single.) I just threw it on because I've always liked it, it fits thematically with what precedes it and I didn't have what I wanted to use. It's also on the Enigma label, which is not bias on my part but possibly not coincidence either. Before Enigma started having financial epilepsy it had a great roster (the Mute artists, Devo, Mojo Nixon, ... etc.)

"A good label is well rounded, with some kind of focus but also dabbling in a little bit of everything. 'Everything' might as well include The Cramps, since there aren't too many bands who represent their particular slice of music's pie. There aren't too many with female leadership (Ivy) or a consistent, uncompromising sound. Like myself, they are fervent record collectors; their early albums and singles contain numerous obscure covers. Unlike me, they can be very scary in person, especially to someone unfamiliar with their frequent 'psychobilly' motifs and thrill-junkie perspective. (Lux was a long-time pen pal of John Wayne Gacy. For real.)"

.....A few years after I wrote those notes I got to see them live in a club setting. I had to trudge through a snowstorm to do it. There were three opening acts, including Guitar Wolf. When the Cramps finally took the stage, Lux commented that we had to be crazy to go through that weather for a club date and hinted that they were going to make it worth it. Boy, did they. They were unbefuckinglievable. Several times that night Lux's energetic delivery caused a mike stand to snap; by the last encore he had built a scarecrow out of their broken parts, stripped down to a thong and dressed the scarecrow in his clothes. This February, it will be two years since he passed away and the world is poorer for it.