THE CRAMPS, CHRIS D & BOOKS ON/FROM SAME

As mentioned on Sunday, I've been going through keepsakes in boxes and whatnot, and came across two books that I'd mostly forgotten about. I fired up the scanner so you could see what I'm talking about. THE CRAMPS were and remain one of my all-time favorite rock bands, and this large, xeroxed collection of old articles, flyers and photos from their early career is a real treat. It covers 1976 to the early 80s, and is a true pre-Internet labor of love put together by Lindsay Hutton of Next Big Thing fanzine and blog. I bought it around 1987, most likely at Rhino Records in Los Angeles. This is how we used to find archival information about bands worth obsessing over, as The Cramps certainly were up until about '85.

The other is a book of wacked-out poetry, "dream stories" and complete lyrics by CHRIS D, aka Chris Desjardins, an all-time Hedonist Jive hero and the front man and prime mover in The Flesh Eaters, Divine Horsemen and Stone By Stone. "DOUBLE SNAKE BOURBON" came out in 1989 on Illiterati Press, and is your classic chap book, albeit more professionally bound and much longer than most (139 pages). I thought you might want to see the front and back covers in any case, especially if you're into Chris D's music as much as I am.

If you've got any interest in either of these items, feel free to make an offer. Seriously. I forgot I even had them and have read them already - so let me know. (Update - Cramps book has sold; Chris D still up for grabs).