Stay Sick

This cryptic bit of Crampage was drawn for Roctober magazine's 2007 spinoff publication Chic-A Go-Go Comics. It's based on a frame from a video interview with The Cramps conducted by puppet mascot Ratso which was aired on the Chic-A Go-Go cable access TV show. This drawing also appeared in Roctober #47 as part of their tribute to Lux Interior following his tragic death. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Still A Lotta Rhythm In These Rockin' Bones

Another weird one for you today. This is the cover art for a 4 song Cramps bootleg 7" that came out back in the early '90s and yep, it's just a cheap black and white xerox of the cover of Rockin' Bones #1. The songs are alternate mixes from the rare white label promo version of the first Cramps LP, Songs The Lord Taught Us. This surfaced again a few years back as part of a whole slew of Cramps bootleg reissues. You'd think the cheap bums who put this out might have sent me a promo copy but no, I hadda shell out hard earned cash to get one. Anyway, I love The Cramps and this is probably as close as I'll ever get to doing a sleeve for them so what the hell. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

This Is A Riot!

Here's the cover art for the cool Winnipeg Riot! compilation CD, released on Dionysus Records back in 2006. Documenting the Winnipeg rock'n'roll scene from approximately 1997-2004, the CD compiles a whole mess of wild garage, punk, rockabilly and surf combos, all wailin' heedlessly away in a city chock fulla squares. Top local combos The Farrell Bros, The Horribles, Hot Live Guys, Squareheads, American Flamewhip, The Hestons, The Insaniacs and The Mohosimrots are all represented on here (all of 'em have been blabbed about in previous entries on this blog) along with some equally fine but lesser known bands. You can (and should) still order this CD direct from the Dionysus Records website. My cover art was meant to illustrate the degree of indifference these combos faced playing in a city that has pretty much abandoned its rock'n'roll heritage. It is also part of my ongoing series of Grumpy Old Men drawings. For a bonus, here's the poster I put together for the Winnipeg Riot! CD release party at the Royal Albert. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Let's Have A Party!

Here's my comic strip tribute to rockabilly/country legend Wanda Jackson, drawn on the occasion of her induction into Roctober magazine's Hall Of Dynamic Greatness back in 1999. The drawing appeared as part of an elaborate 32 page calendar insert in issue #26 of Roctober. Stay tuned for MORE HOT DOG, THAT MADE HIM MAD ACTION!

Exotic Erotic Reverb

Stayin' south of the border for today's post, here's the cover for Exotic Erotic Reverb Volume 2, a cool compilation of surf, garage and rockabilly combos just out on Esquilo Records outta sunny Mexico. I did this art back in 2007 and it has taken a couple of years for the CD to hit the streets but it was worth the wait. Winnipeg's own surf rockin' Rockdoras are representing Canada on this album alongside lotsa wild and weird groups from Mexico, South America, Spain and wherever else rock'n'roll is still alive on this increasingly square planet. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Shavin' And Ravin'

Made this poster last year for a local production of the Sweeney Todd musical. Local rockabilly hero Shawn Farrell played the Demon Barber and he's the one who hooked me up with this gig. Thanks, Shawn! Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Flying Saucer Attack!

I drew this logo for Vancouver's hip psycho/rockabilly label Flying Saucer Records a few years back, around the same time that I did the cover art for their psychobilly comp CD The Sick Ones. It has since graced many of the label's CD releases and was also available in T-shirt form. Check out the Sick Ones and Deadcats posts down below for a bit more info on FSR and... Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Wild Weekend

Here's the poster for the Transistor 66 Rock'n'Roll Weekender, which kicks off one week from today. This will be the grand debut of The Angry Dragons great 7" which I was blastin' an advance copy of all day yesterday, plus one man rockabilly combo Bloodshot Bill will be launchin' his brand new CD at the Saturday show. Throw in local rockin' legends The Farrell Bros and the sweet (mostly-) instro sounds of The Lonely Vulcans plus a batch of hip new up-and-comers and you have a weekend to remember (or dismember if you consider the location of the festivities). I spent some time yesterday signing and numbering 50 sharp lookin' silkscreen prints of this poster which you will be able to buy at the show or via the Transistor 66 website if you are so inclined. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Code Of The Freaks

Another Mack attack (see Kill! Kill! Kill! sleeve art way down below for more on this Texas rockabilly maniac) courtesy of French hepcat label Hog Maw Records. This 7"er came out in between Mack's first Hog Maw LP White Trash Requiem and the Kill! Kill! Kill! album and is kind of a teaser for the full-on snuff mania of the latter record. The parable of sideshow vengeance on the A-side offered me a chance to delve into some intriguing areas of carny grotesquery, and on the flip is a charming portrayal of that noted bucolic eccentric of the 1950's, Mr. Edward Gein, engaged in the pursuit of one of his many funny little hobbies. I just heard that recording sessions for a new Mack Stevens LP on Hog Maw are commencing soon, so more wild rockin' madness will be unleashed upon us all in the hopefully not-too-distant future. More info on that when I find out more about it. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Rockabilly Rerun

Okay, I know I posted the artwork for the new Rowdymen CD back in the early daze of this blog, but inasmuch as I did some last minute revisions on the image before handing in the final version, and then used that new and improved version to put together this snazzy poster for the CD release party, maybe you all will be so kind as to excuse any redundancy. Looks like this will be a fun show, with local all-girl teen powerpoppers The Paps opening the festivities. Stay tuned for MORE HI-OCTANE ACTION!

Hog Maw Funnies

My buddy Cédric runs the Hog Maw Records label over there in France, bringing us big servings of the wildest, most drunken rockabilly around with side orders of primitive garage and blues action on the menu as well. He's put out great records by Mack Stevens, Hasil Adkins and a bunch more including a savage comp of ultra-obscure original rockabilly entitled Raw Meat. Lately he's been scouring the backwoods of Canada for raw talent and has signed up two stompin' and rockin' one man combos, Bloodshot Bill and Slim Sandy. I put together this comic strip ad last year to help him spread the word about all this fine as wine wax and it came out almost as primitive and semi-incoherent as the music it is supposed to be promoting. It's been printed in Dig It! and Blue Suede News, maybe some other places too. Should be some cool new Hog Maw releases out real soon. Maybe it's time for chapter 2 of Hog Maw Funnies? Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Lux Interior

I drew this cover a few months back for Dig It!, a long running French rock'n'roll fanzine. I was really pleased to have a chance to pay tribute to the late Lux Interior, singer of my number one all-time fave ravin' combo The Cramps. Like thousands of other rock'n'roll trash culture mutants all over this mad spinning globe, I owe a huge debt to the pioneering spirit and generosity of Lux and his life partner-in-crime Poison Ivy. I have no idea who I would be or what I would be up to if I hadn't fallen under the spell of their rockin' glamour all those years ago, but I'm quite sure I wouldn't be doing what I am doing or having nearly as much fun doing it. The above is my original conception of how the cover should look; several minor changes were made in the final printed version. More wild stuff on the launching pad real soon. Stay tuned for MORE HYPNO SEX RAY ACTION!

Hasil Adkins

Out of all the record sleeves I've done so far I think this is the one I'm most proud of. Getting a chance to make a sleeve design for a true mad genius like The Haze is a once in a lifetime deal and I couldn't be prouder to have contributed in a small way to the legacy of this West Virginny wild man. Rockin' Bones Records outta sunny Italy issued this 12" single back in 2003 in an edition of 500 copies. I thought I couldn't have been any happier about the whole deal until Rockin' Bones honcho Gaultiero forwarded this email from the webmaster of the official Haze site:

From:
To: "Rockin' Bones Records (Italy)"
Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2003 7:08 AM
Subject: Re: Hasil Adkins record

>Hi!
>
>Hasil wants to thank the fellow who did the cover.
>Says he did a really great job.
>Hasil doesn't usually care for comic art, but he really really likes it.
>Loves the chickens, the foot through the drum, all of it.
>Could you please thank him for Hasil?
>
>Thanks,
>Jim
>

Like I said, I couldn't be prouder. I got to see a drunken, incoherent and totally amazing show by The Haze at the Las Vegas Rockaround in 2004, and even got to shake his hand afterward, but that email is gonna remain my fondest memory of the guy. Thanks to Gaultiero for givin' me the chance and to The Haze for 40+ years of amazing music. I doubt if anything can top this one but I will have more stuff for you soon so stay outta the gutter and... Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

The Farrell Bros.

The Farrell Brothers are Winnipeg's all-time rockabilly champions. They've had 4 CD releases, numerous comp appearances and more live shows all over North America and Europe than I'd care to count. Above is the cover for the European version of their 4th CD, Dead End Boys, released in 2006 on Raucous Records outta the UK. As a long-time fan of these guys I was real happy to finally get to do a sleeve design for them. The skull-faced greaser character first appeared in 2004 as a sorta mascot/logo (see image below) which was used on stickers, buttons, patches and even a tattoo or two. The Bros. contributed a great track to Winnipeg Riot!, the Dionysus Records comp of all the coolest rock'n'roll combos our dusty prairie town coughed up in the late '90s/early 2000s, and they are still rockin' long after most of the rest called it quits. More wild cartoon madness coming your way in the very near future. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Mack Stevens

This design for snake handlin' Texas rockabilly maniac Mack Stevens has to rate as one of my craziest record sleeves yet. Every song on this great LP is about murder and mayhem, including the serial killer ode B-T-K and a seriously warped take on a venerable blues standard, The Killin' Dozens. An album to file next to T. Tex Edwards' Pardon Me, I've Got Someone To Kill, Johnny Legend's True Murders and that Death Dealers compilation in your collection of sicko vinyl. This music is pure savage rock'n'roll by a guy who claims not to be influenced by any music recorded later than 1960 (and I believe him!). This should still be available (pressed up on blood red wax, no less) from Hog Maw Records over in France. I didn't realize that Mack was left-handed when I drew the back cover art, so it was reversed for the version printed on the LP (we strive for total accuracy around these parts, you understand). I think the original version works better graphically though, so that's what you see here. More stuff comin' up later today. Stay tuned for MORE HEADCHOPPIN' ACTION!

Rowdymen

Here be the front cover for the upcoming CD by Winnipeg's rockabilly veterans The Rowdymen. This one will be rocketin' your way courtesy of Manitoba's one and only all-action record label, Transistor 66 Records! As I write these deathless words the band is still working on the recording so I would expect to see this one hitting the street late this year or early in 2010. More new stuff comin' up later today. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Billy Lee Riley

This drawing of Billy Lee Riley was made a couple months back for Flying Saucer Rock'n'Roll, the forthcoming compilation volume of interviews with wigged-out rockers culled from the esteemed pages of Roctober magazine. It also appears in the latest issue of Roctober (#47), sadly accompanying Riley's obituary. This guy was a true wildass rocker; I'm honored to have had a chance to pay him a well deserved tribute. New stuff comin' soon, kids. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!