Cramps "Stay Sick" LP

Sex-classic Stay Sick! was originally released in 1990 and features more of the dark side of rockabilly in a jugular vein. The opener, a hopped-up cover of obscure Sun Records tune “Bop Pills,” proves that rumors of amphetamine usage by the original Memphis rockabilly cats was not exaggerated, and sets the pace for the rest of the album.

Hog-wild covers of “Shortninʼ Bread” and “Muleskinner Blues” probably have the original writers dancing on their graves, and The Cramps’ version of the perverse rarity “Her Love Rubbed Offʼ” shines a lurid spotlight on the only song that Carl Perkins was admittedly ashamed of writing. Plus, Stay Sick! delivers loads of action-packed originals celebrating kamikaze thrill-seeking and scary sexy she-creatures. This is pure jungle music—one half hillbilly and one half punk. If you canʼt dig this then you must have “Daisys Up Your Butterfly”! Still a favorite among rock ʼnʼ roll sickos worldwide.