Recorded at Ocean Way Recording, Hollywood, California in Fall 1985.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
Personnel: Poison Ivy (vocals, guitar); Lux Interior (vocals); Nick Knox (drums, bongos); Tracy Underwood, Tiffanie Winton, Jennifer Stokes, Wendy Harrison, Chris Amouroux (background vocals).
Audio Remasterer: David Cheppa.
Recording information: Ocean Way Recording, Hollywood, CA (1985).
Photographer: The Cramps.
Dedicated to Ricky Nelson, A DATE WITH ELVIS (1986) is the third Cramps studio album, recorded five years after their last, 1981's PSYCHEDELIC JUNGLE (in the interim, the band recorded a number of EPs and a pair of live albums, and extracted themselves from a legal dispute with their old record label). Playing as a three-piece, with the extremely talented Poison Ivy on guitar and bass (as well as singing on a couple of tracks!), the band turned their most solid studio record.
From the brilliant usage of a preschool choir singing the chorus of "People Ain't No Good" to a crunching cover of "Get Off the Road," the theme song of the 1968 biker exploitation flick, SHE DEVILS ON WHEELS, the record includes a bunch of oughta-be classics. Standouts include the faux-hippie duet of "Kizmiaz," one of the band's several peaks of hyperactive, juvenile sexual obsession; "Hot Pool of Womanneed," featuring lyrics like "As Jacob said to Isaiah / In them biblin' days of yore / Man that babe is the tomata / Oh my Lord I'm longin' for"; and Lux Interior's nearly perfect impression of the King on "It's Just That Song."
Professional Reviews
Entertainment Weekly (10/14/94, p.61) - "...It's strange to find the Cramps on CD; vinyl seems more in tune with their dirty, disposable aesthetic. But it's still fun to hear...ELVIS -- their mid-'80's best..." - Rating: B+
