Entry date: 7-5-2024 – This Day in Baseball – Letters to My Friends

Dear Friends,

I miss being a hardcore baseball fan sometimes. I was one for a long, long time but the last decade has seen my interest in the game wane quite a bit. I still have “The Baseball Story” percolating in my brain, too.

So many stories, so little time. I need to take a year off and just write.

Wouldn’t that be nice?

I wish everyone could take a year, here and there, to just work on what makes them happy and sane. It’s really a short amount of time if you think about it. Imagine what you would do if you could focus for one year on your favorite thing.

***** 

Today is a day that reminds me of being 15. I was so confused 39 years ago today. I had a great fourth of July and then a pretty cool 5th of July. Those two days changed the course of my life for the 18 months or so that followed.

It’s weird when you can pinpoint exact moments in time that changed your life completely. It’s something to wonder about, for sure, especially when you can look back and realize these are things that make you who you are yet didn’t destroy you. They make you a bit stronger, though, wiser, or just you.

***** 

We had a nice 4th, though, and spent quality time with family and friends. I got to swim in the lake and light off some fireworks without blowing off any appendages. Rhondi and I also had some fun driving around a bit and stopping at a few farmer’s markets, too.

Today’s menu is going to rule. We have some fresh swordfish and some killer sourdough bread that we are going to spread this delicious Italian mix on for another munchie treat. Life is good.

I’m also super excited about the projects that are looming ahead for me. Writing and music and home improvement. Good stuff on the horizon.

***** 

“Ladies and gentlemen, live from the Peppermint Lounge, The Cramps.”

This was the first thing I heard when I bought my first Cramps’ record in 1985. I was dating a girl whose favorite band was The Cramps and she turned me onto what would become one of my all-time favorite bands as well. I had seen and heard them on Urgh! A Music War, but I was probably so entranced by a few of the other bands in that film that I never really gave The Cramps much thought until I met that girl.

She made me a mix tape of their stuff and I wore it out. Then, one day I was at Zia Records and scored their Smell of Female EP used and I was on my way to being a fully devout fan. As much as I liked the stuff I had been listening to on the tape, Smell of Female hit all the right notes for me.

I’m guessing what made Smell of Female so special to me right off the bat is the energy of the record. The Cramps are their own thing, you know? They weren’t really punk rock nor were they the rockabilly that I first heard, either. I had no idea about a band that was equal parts garage, rockabilly, punk, psych, surf, and B-movie blitz when I was 15 or 16.

Smell of Female has the element of punk, though, that I was definitely a big fan of at that point. It was the right Cramps’ record at the right moment. I have to think that Kid Congo Powers’ contribution played a roll in that, too. He added a certain sound to The Cramps that really drew me to them.

In conversation, though, and in his book, he talked about being pretty out of it when this was recorded due to drugs and alcohol and downplayed his role, but his sound is definitely there. I’m guessing, having gotten to know KC a little bit, that he wishes he would have been able to contribute more. This was the record that made me a fan of his, either way, so I’ll leave it there.

I tend to think of Smell of Female as an example of a band just firing on all the right cylinders. I’m not going to say it is The Cramps greatest moment because, well, there are many great moments by this band, but it is a moment I love. I can easily see Lux Interior prowling around the stage at the Peppermint Lounge, fully owning it like he did every stage. He is one of the greatest frontmen I have ever seen, and I definitely did not get to see him in his prime.

Poison Ivy would be standing there in her spot, too, owning that real estate and daring, with her eyes, anyone to fuck with her. I remember thinking that her guitar parts would be easy to learn when I was young and stupid about playing guitar. They are not and she is vastly underrated, I think. The songs on Smell of Female, it its original six song format, are fucking great.

This is due, in a lot of ways, to Nick Knox as well. Another extremely underrated performer. His drums on Smell of Female are right exactly where they need to be as always. If you watch the old videos of them, he was a blast to watch play drums. For my money, the band didn’t really become The Cramps until he started playing with them. Listen to the excellent podcast, No Dogs In Space if you want to learn more about Cramps’ history. They do a great job with it.

As the record kicks off, The Cramps are absolutely ruling. “Thee Most Exalted Potentate of Love” is just a barn burner. From the opening guitar riff to the wall of fuzz that happens a few seconds in, I am transfixed. I still mangle the words when I try to sing along after almost forty years, but that’s okay. I mangle them with a smile on my face.

There is no bass on this record, but I could care less. The two-guitar version of The Cramps is just as powerful. I wish I would have gotten to see them play the songs from Smell of Female like this live. By the time I got to see them, they were touring with bass players.

“This one’s dedicated to all you Gucci bag carriers…it’s called ‘You Got Gooooooood Taste.”

Possibly my favorite Cramps’ song and moment of all-time. I have to believe that LSD inspired this song at least a little bit, but I could be wrong. The first line, though… “I’ve got this stuff on the tip of my tongue/chandeliers light up the pictures you hung”…that has to be about acid. From there, it is typically ambiguous like many of their songs, but that first line captured my attention as a young psychedelic enthusiast.

Even if the EP kind of fizzled after those first two songs, I would still love it, but it does the opposite. It just gets better and better. “The Call of the Wighat” is another one of those songs that just shows The Cramps being The Cramps. If I close my eyes, I can see Lux with a microphone in his mouth making these sounds as easily as if he was just relaxing in the park reading a book.

“Faster Pussycat” is a cover, but The Cramps make it their own. They had a habit of doing this during their career. Some of their most well-known songs are covers of other artists, but most listeners would never know it. That’s what they did. They took songs and made them their own and they were always better than the original.

“I Ain’t Nothin’ But A Gorehound” is another perfect example of what The Cramps do. The Misfits didn’t really know shit about what “horror punk” should have been. The Cramps, however, actually did it the best. “Gorehound” is so fun.

The last song on the EP is a cover of Count Five’s “Psychotic Reaction.” Again, The Cramps just own it. The original is great, of course, but for me, this is the only version I would turn to in a time of need. The Cramps are like that, too. They are always there for you when you need them.

Big thanks to the cheerleader for turning me on them. It would have taken me a lot longer to find this record if it wasn’t for you.

***** 

See you tomorrow.

I love fireworks by AI.