October 21

Today's featured birthday boy is Lux Interior, lead singer of the Cramps. Here's why:

1) Celebrity deaths come in threes. So, here's my third entry this week featuring a dearly departed. I promise, the rest of my entries will be folks you can call/write/say 'Happy Birthday' to, and hope for a response...

2) The Cramps was one of the bands to come out of the 70's Punk revolution; taking the Ramones sound one step further, they embraced the sounds of early rock n' roll, or rockabilly, and established the sound of psychobilly. The Cramps and the bands that followed (Southern Culture on the Skids, Horrorpops, Hank Williams III) give us vivid reminders of what made Rock n' Roll (as opposed to today's rock music) the most dangerous music of its day.

3) Lux Interior's co-conspirator, the lovely ginger guitarist Poison Ivy. They were together in the band for all 33 years of its existence, and together in matrimony for 37 years.

So, in lieu of sending him a birthday shout-out, I guess today's a day to let out your inner freak, in honor of the Creature From the Black Leather Lagoon: