Garbageman

The Cramps invented psychobilly — or at least gave it its most fully formed expression: Lux Interior and Poison Ivy Rorschach combining the menace of 1950s rockabilly with the aggression of punk and the iconography of B-movies and American excess. Their live shows were legendary for a reason.

Garbageman, from their 1980 debut, is the Cramps at their most primitive: a two-chord assault, Lux Interior's vocal delivery between a sneer and a wail. The song was recorded at Sun Studios in Memphis, which was exactly right.

The Cramps remained active until Lux Interior's death in 2009. Poison Ivy's guitar playing — deceptively simple, immediately distinctive — is one of the most original approaches in rock.