Ok, you may have heard about CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT, Andrew
Krivine’s Cramps memorabilia book. I just wanted chime in with my perspective
on this book that has been in the works in one form or another since early 2025
and for all I know, before that! I’ve been busting at the seams wanting to talk
about it!
In April of 2025 a publisher started posting in
the various Cramps Facebook groups about a forthcoming book filled with Cramps
ephemera. Keep in mind this is well BEFORE anyone (including me) knew that
Vengeance Records was about to burst forth from the crypt!
The publisher even set up a website for folks to sign up for
email updates etc. I was familiar with the publisher as I had one of their
books and it was really great. What wasn’t great was the website they set up,
had a few errors and also included some of MY Cramps related images.
That WASN’T very cool…
It was pretty obvious that the original publisher was just rushing to
promote something many fans have wanted for a long time. They must’ve used the
images they purloined from google image search and since pictures of some of my
collection had been on the net for a while, they gobbled them up for a
promotional video about the book. This resulted in many snarky comments on
social media from me as well as others. If you’re putting together an “amazing”
book of Cramps memorabilia, they better NOT be culled from the fucking
internet! You can’t “half ass” a book on
The Cramps.
Part of their post was mysterious regarding whose collection
was being used for the book, which was touted as the “greatest Cramps
collection known to MANKIND!” This was amusing to me and a few others, because
we thought we kind of knew everyone in the “community,” and no one “we” knew
had any information regarding any forthcoming book.
Long story short; I contacted the original intended publisher and they
connected me with Andrew Krivine who was the person behind the book. Andrew has one of the largest collections of
punk and post punk ephemera in the world. Andrew has published a few graphic
heavy tomes featuring punk design including Too Fast to Live Too Young to
Die. He also curated the Torn Apart exhibition, subtitled “Punk + New Wave
Graphics, Fashion and Culture, 1976-86,” that ran at the Orlando Museum of Art
and a lot of his collection was recently on display at the Skirball Cultural
Center in Los Angeles for the “Outcasts, Rebels + Weirdos: Punk Culture 1976–86”
exhibit.
In his massive collection he had a fair amount of Cramps
items and had the idea to do a Cramps centric book well over a decade ago. As
any fan of The Cramps can tell you, their history is FILLED with amazing
imagery that would make an incredible book. You can read more about Andrew’s
journey in the introduction to Children of the Night.
After a few conversations, it became apparent to me that
Andrew’s heart was in the right place. He is obviously a fan and was even a
member of Lindsay Hutton’s Legion of the Cramped (you can see his membership
card in the book). We hit it off and he asked me to send a few images of what I
had. I set about gathering some of my items that I thought were rare and took
photos and made a few scans.
The next step was to send images of some of the items I had
acquired over 35 years of being a ravenous Cramps fan. I even sought council
with (future) Cramps Inc. co-founder, Larry Hardy of In the Red Records. He was
familiar with Andrew’s other books and was happy that I was possibly going to
be involved with this potential book. Larry’s blessing meant a lot to me as I
trust him with all things Cramps related.
That was all the information I needed to lend a hand in the
development of the book. If someone was going to put out an image heavy book on
The Cramps, why wouldn’t I want to be involved to try and make the book as good
as it could be? Someone was going to do something like it anyway at some point,
so why not be involved? I felt it would be better to be part of something like
this book, rather than complain about it after its release when it doesn’t meet
my expectations.
After seeing some of my Cramps items, Andrew asked me to be
a part of the book and also possibly write an essay. This book is NOT a history
of The Cramps, but Andrew wanted some essays about the band to flesh everything
out. Through our conversations, he knew that I was a fan of disc jockey, Pete
“Mad Daddy” Myers and Cleveland horror host, Ghoulardi, and asked if I would
write about them. I jumped at the chance to write about these two “mad men from
Ohio,” and how they related to the development of the band. Hell, I talk about
them to whoever will listen anyway, so why not write something for inclusion in
the book?
My essay includes scans and photos of some of my Mad Daddy
and Ghoulardi collection and other Cramps related images are scattered
throughout the book. I want to thank Kate Flock and Snag for photographing a
bunch of my larger items as there was no easy way to get them scanned.
During this time I thought of my friend Diego Carriero, who
has spent the last number of years writing his thesis on Exploitation Movies
and their influence on Lux and Ivy and I introduced him to Andrew and (again)
long story short, Diego contributed an essay as well as taking up translation
duties on an amazing essay that Lux and Ivy themselves wrote (on the same
subject) for a French fanzine sometime in the 80’s. This will be the first time
this essay will appear in English. Everything was now in place to put together
this book that will be coming out sooner rather than later.
As time went on, Andrew found a new publisher for his book;
San Diego State University Press. Now everything was in place to get the book out
into the world for everyone to enjoy.
With Children of the Night, here’s what you get; a few
really cool essays that total up to maybe 30 percent of the book, and a veritable
treasure trove of Cramps ephemera, including posters and flyers as well as
movie posters and other Cramps related collectibles. All compiled with love for
the band and Lux and Ivy in particular. I am happy to have participated and I
think the book came out great! How could it not; when it’s full of cool images
that will make your eyeballs flip flop and fly right out of your head?
If you’re so inclined, check out the book. It was a labor of
love from all involved and it is so cool to see all this stuff in one place.
Maybe throw Gravest Gravy on the turn table and browse through the book and
have yourself a little Rawk n’ Gawk while marveling about how damn cool The Cramps
were (and continue to be!), and how much they influenced our culture in so many
different ways over the years.
Pre-order link below some eye candy from the book....
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