Editing The Cramps (section)

=== 1980s ===
[[File:The Cramps' Poison Ivy.jpg|thumb|220px|right|[[Poison Ivy (musician)|Poison Ivy]] performing with the Cramps, 1990, Tokyo]]

The Cramps relocated to Los Angeles in 1980 and hired guitarist [[Kid Congo Powers]] of [[Gun Club|the Gun Club]]. While recording their second LP, ''[[Psychedelic Jungle]]'', the band and Miles Copeland began to dispute royalties and creative rights. The ensuing court case prevented them from releasing anything until 1983, when they recorded ''[[Smell of Female]]'' live at New York's [[Peppermint Lounge]]; Kid Congo Powers subsequently departed.  Mike Metoff of [[the Pagans]] (cousin of Nick Knox) was the final second guitarist – albeit only live – of the Cramps' pre-bass era. He accompanied them on an extensive European tour in 1984 (that had been canceled twice because they could not find a suitable guitarist) which included four sold out nights at the [[Hammersmith Palais]]. They also recorded performances of "Thee Most Exalted Potentate of Love" and "You Got Good Taste" which were broadcast on 'The Midsummer Night's Tube 1984.' ''Smell of Female'' peaked at No. 74 in the [[UK Albums Chart]].<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums" />

The band appears in the 1982 film ''[[Urgh! A Music War]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Gypsies, Cramps and Fleas|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0522816/|website=[[IMDb]]|access-date=July 10, 2010}}</ref>

In 1985 the Cramps recorded a one-off track for the horror movie ''[[The Return of the Living Dead]]'' called "Surfin' Dead", on which Ivy played bass as well as guitar. With the release of 1986's ''[[A Date with Elvis (The Cramps album)|A Date With Elvis]]'', the Cramps permanently added a bass guitar to the mix, but had trouble finding a suitable player, so Ivy temporarily filled in as the band's bassist. [[Fur Dixon|Jennifer "Fur" Dixon]] joined them on the world tour to promote the album. Their popularity in the UK was at its peak as evidenced by the six nights at Hammersmith in London, three at the Odeon (as well as many other sell out dates throughout the UK) and then three at the Palais when they returned from the continent. Each night of the tour opened with the band coming on one at a time each: Knox, Fur, Ivy and then Lux before launching into their take on Elvis' "Heartbreak Hotel". The album featured what was to become a predominating theme of their work from here on: a move away from the B-movie horror focus to an increased emphasis on sexual double entendre. The album met with differing fates on either side of the Atlantic: in Europe, it sold over 250,000 copies, while in the U.S. the band had difficulty finding a record company prepared to release it until 1990.<ref>{{cite book |last=Porter |first=Dick |date=2007 |title=The Cramps, A Short Rock n Roll History |publisher=Plexus |page=111 |isbn=978-0-85965-368-8 }}</ref> It also included their first [[UK Singles Chart]] hit: "Can Your Pussy Do the Dog?"<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= [[British Hit Singles & Albums]]
| edition= 19th
| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
| location= London
| isbn= 1-904994-10-5
| page= 124}}</ref><ref name="The Great Rock Discography">{{Cite book
| first= Martin C.
| last= Strong
| year= 2000
| title= The Great Rock Discography
| edition= 5th
| publisher= Mojo Books
| location= Edinburgh
| pages= 219–220
| isbn= 1-84195-017-3}}</ref>

It was not until 1986 that the Cramps found a suitable permanent bass player: Candy del Mar (of Satan's Cheerleaders), who made her recorded debut on the raw live album ''[[Rockin n Reelin in Auckland New Zealand|RockinnReelininAucklandNewZealandxxx]]'', which was followed by the studio album ''[[Stay Sick]]'' in 1990.  It spent one week at No. 62 in the UK Albums Chart in February 1990.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums" />