What’s Inside a (Super Fan) Girl?

This went on for many years. As I saw more and more shows, I was able to collect Lux’s discarded wine bottles (with that last swig of backwash waiting for me), the set lists, the merch, the bootlegs made with a studious dedication by other Super Fans. I had a shrine to Lux in every place I ever lived, always pointed towards Glendale. I would meditate and commune with the great energy that was to me, The Cramps. Many times I have prayed for help from Lux and many times those prayers were answered with Cramped Miracles. I was the only person I knew lucky enough to worship a deity that seemingly heard and responded to me!

Photo © Steve Jennings

In all those years, I never went backstage to meet them, remembering my pact to keep them at a respectful distance from my mania. But as time passed, The Cramps began to recognize me. I finally met them backstage in 1995, on the Flamejob tour. I was stoked when they were nothing but the sweetest people on this planet, and so good to their fans. In fact, they were curious as to where the hell I actually lived, as they had seen me at shows in nearly every major city. They also had a full understanding of the impact they had on fans’ lives, and showed us a mutual respect that only made me love them more.

I have great memories of personal time spent with Lux and Ivy. All the problems in my life melted away, and the effects were residual! I would feel great for months after seeing them. I think it was being in close contact with their very potent personal energies; it filled me up with such joy that I could surf off those waves for ages.

With the advent of the Internet, there was finally a way for all the Super Fans to find each other and to share stories about the effects the Cramps had on their lives. I have made close friends all over the United States and the world based on us all being Cramped. So many Fans have dedicated their spare time to rad fan sites, researching Cramps’ covers and references, and discussion and bulletin boards ran over with information after every show the Cramps played, no matter where they were in the world.

I was struck by how awe inspiring this was after seeing the Cramps in Chicago 2003 on the Fiends of Dope Island tour. It was by far one of the strangest and most awful shows I had seen, although certainly not because of the band! The crowd was full of assholes, and it turned into a mini riot. Lux was dragged into the crowd, Ivy was mistakenly hit in the head by a flying mic stand, and their roadie Jake (from Lords of Altamont) had his ear nearly removed from his head while getting Lux out of the pit.

I posted about my disgust on the Yahoo Stay Sick! message boards the next day. I was enraged, wondering how anyone could harm Lux. A good online friend of mine in Germany sent me the bootleg of that show a few weeks later, where all the hoohaw could be heard in an ultra clear recording. That’s what I call Total Global Crampdom! (He runs an incredible fan site which I encourage you to visit!).

Having a place to talk about your fanaticism for a band without people thinking you are absolutely mad is a pretty incredible thing when you are Cramped, and it’s what has brought me solace since Lux got into his UFO on February 4, 2009. I have been actively in contact with literally hundreds of people around the world who felt just as I did, that a sickening void had just come upon us: a world with no Lux, the Maddest Daddy of them all. In the weeks since, I have listened to radio broadcasts from all over the globe dedicated to Lux and Ivy and the Cramps DJ’d by Super Fans. I have gotten emails, phone calls, and snail mail from people feeling as crushed as I have felt. We are all leaning on each other: sharing our favorite show memories, photos, bootlegs, videos, and stories of brilliant encounters with the God Monsters themselves.

Photo from Todos Contra Todos

The fact that I will never again see this Creature From The Black Leather Lagoon onstage comes upon me viciously, then ebbs away and then I try to get a handle on this new “reality.” I pray at my shrine, now only a few miles from Glendale. I offer all my love and energy to Ivy, and ask that Lux have a safe journey back to Mars. I take solace in my personal belief that Lux was never “‘just a man.” He is to me an incredible entity, who graced us with his presence on our mortal plane. The belief that Lux has not passed away, but only passed beyond this realm, keeps me from surrendering to complete despair. I know he will be there still when I call upon him for advice, help, and inspiration. I feel him still when I meditate at his shrine, listening to the music that made up the best moments of my life. I remind myself that, “maybe if I go real slow, he’ll let me drive his UFO.”

Lux, Interplanetary God Monster, we Humans will miss you more than we can hope to convey.

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