The Cramps Rockinnreelininauklandnewzealandxxx (CD)

(Vengeance/Ace Records) 14 tracks

First released on vinyl in 1987 in co-operation with the band as a limited edition antidote to a plethora of dodgy bootlegs, this is its first appearance on CD and with three extra tracks

On August 30, 1986, The Cramps played the final night of their 'Date With Elvis' World Tour. The venue was The Galaxy in Auckland, New Zealand. Sleazing it up live, the band rated this their best gig of the whole tour (and it had been a great tour!). After the gig, the sound engineer gave the band a tape he had run off during the concert. Back at their hotel, The Cramps were amazed to discover that the recording was, unusually for these things, of almost studio quality.

For a band that had been heavily bootlegged at live gigs, it gave The Cramps the chance to challenge the shoddy sound of the pirate recordings by putting out a top quality official bootleg album of their own. A deal was sorted out with Big Beat's Roger Armstrong and a one drop pressing arranged. There were no promos and the album was never advertised but the pressing of 40, 000 copies sold out immediately. The original vinyl album came out on Vengeance, which, in the early days, had been The Cramps label for their first 2 singles.

Now seven years later, the album finally makes it back into the catalogue on CD. 3 extra tracks that have never been issued before are included - Blue Moon Baby, Georgia Lee Brown and Lonesome Town from the original cassette master. This version of The Cramps (with Lux Interior, Ivy Rorschach, Candy del Mar and Nick Knox) was one of the best and "Rockinnreelininaucklandnewzealandxxx" once again, offers the opportunity to catch one of rock music's greatest bands in scorching form.