Gravest Hits
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''Gravest Hits'' is the first 12" EP by the American
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
band
the Cramps The Cramps were an American rock band formed in 1976 and active until 2009. Their lineup rotated frequently during their existence, with the husband-and-wife duo of singer Lux Interior and guitarist Poison Ivy the only ever-present members. T ...
, compiling both sides of their first two 1978 Vengeance singles, "
Surfin' Bird "Surfin' Bird" is a song performed by American surf rock band the Trashmen, containing the repetitive lyric "the bird is the word". It has been covered many times. The song is a combination of two R&B hits by the Rivingtons: "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" ...
" and "Human Fly", with an added fifth track, a
cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of "
Lonesome Town "Lonesome Town" is a song written by Baker Knight. A version sung by Ricky Nelson became a hit single in the United States, reaching No. 7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 15 on the R&B chart in 1958. The song was featured on his 1959 albu ...
". It was released in July 1979 on
Illegal Records Illegal Records was an independent record label, founded in 1977 by Miles Copeland III with his younger brother Stewart Copeland and the manager of The Police, Paul Mulligan. The label released The Police's debut single, "Fall Out (song), Fall ...
and
I.R.S. Records I.R.S. Records was a major American record label founded by Miles Copeland III and Jay Boberg in 1979. I.R.S. produced some of the most popular bands of the 1980s, and was particularly known for issuing records by college rock, new wave and a ...
. The tracks were all produced by
Alex Chilton William Alexander Chilton (December 28, 1950March 17, 2010) was an American musician, best known as the lead singer of the rock bands the Box Tops and Big Star. Chilton's early commercial success in the 1960s as a teen vocalist for the Box Tops ...
and recorded at
Ardent Studios Ardent Studios is an American recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The studio was founded in the late 1950s by John King, Fred Smith, and John Fry. Over time, it has become a commercially successful recording studio. ...
in
Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...
in 1977. The EP's liner notes were credited to "Dr. J.H. Sasfy, Professor of Rockology, American Rock'n'Roll Institute, Washington D.C., U.S.A.". ''Gravest Hits'' is one of the first records of both the
rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...
revival and the
psychobilly Psychobilly (or punkabilly) is a rock music fusion genre that fuses elements of rockabilly and punk rock. It has been defined as "loud frantic rockabilly music", it has also been said that it "takes the traditional country rock, countrified rock ...
genres. The photograph on the back of the original sleeve, of the band in performance, was taken at the
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theater in New York. "Human Fly" appeared in episode 4 of the UK
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comedy drama series ''
Married Single Other ''Married Single Other'' is a British six-episode comedy-drama television miniseries created and written by Peter Souter. The series is based on the lives of group of people who are either married, single or "other", other being defined as in a r ...
'' as Clint scaled four floors of a block of flats in
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to try to recover his relationship with Abbie. A cover version of the song by
Hanni El Khatib Hanni El Khatib (born June 8, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist songwriter and producer as well as visual director and co-owner of the Los Angeles–based independent record label Innovative Leisure. His 2013 soph ...
also appeared in a Nissan television advertisement. Another cover version was recorded by the
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n
alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
band Supernaut on their 2006 album ''
Eli Eli most commonly refers to: * Eli (name), a given name, nickname and surname * Eli (biblical figure) Eli or ELI may also refer to: Film * ''Eli'' (2015 film), a Tamil film * ''Eli'' (2019 film), an American horror film Music * ''Eli'' (Jan ...
''.


Track listing

Writing credits adapted from the EP's liner notes.


Personnel

*
Lux Interior Erick Lee Purkhiser (October 21, 1946 – February 4, 2009), better known by the stage name Lux Interior, was an American singer and a founding member of the American rock band the Cramps from 1976 until his death in 2009 at age 62. Early life B ...
- vocals * Poison Ivy Rorschach - guitar *
Bryan Gregory Bryan Gregory ( Gregory Beckerleg; February 20, 1951 – January 10, 2001) was an American rock musician, and founding member of and guitarist for The Cramps. Biography Gregory met Cramps member Lux Interior when they worked together at ...
- guitar *
Nick Knox Nick Knox (born Nicholas George Stephanoff; March 26, 1953 – June 15, 2018) was an American drummer for the psychobilly band The Cramps. He replaced Miriam Linna in 1977 and left in 1991. Knox was with The Cramps during the peak of their world ...
- drums


References

{{Authority control 1979 debut EPs The Cramps albums I.R.S. Records EPs