The cramps at the Napa State Mental Hospital

Have you seen that DVD ???

I just found it, it is just fabulous with a concert like i've never seen.
Completly crazy, so punk, so good...from 1978.

I just rented it from Netflix.
Thanks for the tip.

Got it! Weird, wild schtuff. I've always loved their 1st EP (Gravest Hits) and the DVD is basically the same music w/ a few songs added & minus the eerie cover of Rick Nelson's Lonesome Town.

MOJO did a story on this a couple of months ago. Sounds totally bizarre. Do they do 'Under the Wires'?

No, here's the track listing :

Mystery plane
Way I walk
What's behind the Mask
Human Fly
Domino
Love me
Twist & Shout
TV set

And as the cover says : "it becomes hard to tell who are really the mental patients."

Anyone seen their "Bikini Girls and Machine Guns" and "Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon" videos? They stand out as my own personal highlights of my music video cinematography career, together with my Tom Wait's "Blow Wind Blow".

Ah, Sven. Again I am reminded of that glorious video, about which I gushed a year ago (in a Kohl's thread!):

https://tikicentral.com/viewtopic-new.php?topic=3019&forum=5

I remember hearing some story about the Cramps mental hospital shoot being a set-up. Not necessarily fake, but not the sneak-in-and-do-a-show thing as it's presented. Anybody know more?

On 2004-05-01 01:47, bigbrotiki wrote:
Anyone seen their "Bikini Girls and Machine Guns" and "Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon" videos? They stand out as my own personal highlights of my music video cinematography career, together with my Tom Wait's "Blow Wind Blow".

I have not seen those. Is there a Cramps DVD with their videos?

What other videos did you work on, Sven?

I finally viewed the DVD.
For a band that scared the hell out of parents, it was great having the tables turned on the Cramps. They maintained their posture, but you could tell they were freakin out just a little bit in their eyes (regarding their safety when the patients kept lurching up and down the stage). But the patients had a great time. Glad I watched it, but would not watch it again because it creeped Unga out too.

On 2004-05-03 12:26, thejab wrote:

On 2004-05-01 01:47, bigbrotiki wrote:
Anyone seen their "Bikini Girls and Machine Guns" and "Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon" videos? They stand out as my own personal highlights of my music video cinematography career, together with my Tom Wait's "Blow Wind Blow".

I have not seen those. Is there a Cramps DVD with their videos?

What other videos did you work on, Sven?

From IMDb:

Biography for
Sven Kirsten

Born in the port town of Hamburg but conceived in between America and Germany on a freighter from his grandfather´s Hamburg-Chicago Line, Sven choose to live in California when he turned 25. After studying Photo and Optics in Berlin and working as camera assistant for NDR network he enrolled at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1980, and switched to the American Film Institute in Los Angeles the next year. From there he started working on music videos as a gaffer and began shooting himself in 1987 with Tom Waits's Blow Wind Blow´ video. More music clips with Billy Joel, The Cramps, Alice In Chains and others followed, as well as commercials for Toyota, McDonalds, Kellogs and Anacin. In the 90s Sven began D.P.-ing independent feature films, like Mistress´ with Robert De Niro, and in the last five years he has photographed over 15 Cable TV movies in Germany, Prague and Brittany. He considers himself a visual stylist at home in any genre, looking for a fresh language.

Cinematographer - filmography
(2000s) (1990s) (1980s)

• Wilsberg - Der Minister und das Mädchen (2004) (TV)
• White-Out (2003) (V)
• Mädcheninternat - Deine Schreie wird niemand hören, Das (2001) (TV)
  ... aka Dead Island: Schools Out 2 (2001) (TV) (USA)
  ... aka Isle of Fear (2001) (TV) (MIFED title)
  ... aka School's Out 2 - Die Insel der Angst (2001) (TV) (Germany: DVD title)
• Traumprinzen, Die (2000) (TV)
• Nie mehr zweite Liga (2000) (TV)
• Schrei - denn ich werde dich töten! (1999) (TV)
  ... aka School's Out (2000) (TV) (USA: video title)
• Fremde in meiner Brust, Die (1998) (TV)
• Heilige Hure, Die (1998) (TV)
• Sieben Feuer des Todes, Die (1997) (TV)
• Adrenalin (1996/I) (TV)
• Venusmörder, Der (1996) (TV)
• Beyond Desire (1996)
• Mörderische Zwillinge (1995) (TV)
• Play Time (1994)
• Teresa's Tattoo (1994)
• Mistress (1992)
  ... aka Hollywood Mistress (1992) (USA)
• Grottenolm (1985)

Miscellaneous Crew - filmography
(1990s) (1980s)

• No Strings Attached (1997) (additional photographer)
• Beyond Desire (1996) (camera operator)
• "Français vus par, Les" (1988) (mini) TV Series (electrician) (segment "The Cowboy and the Frenchman")
  ... aka "French as Seen by..., The" (1988) (mini) (literal English title)
• Big Time (1988) (gaffer)
• Slamdance (1987) (gaffer)
  ... aka Slam Dance (1987)
• Hardbodies (1984) (electrician)

...And the IMDb Message Board for Sven Kirsten...

I believe maybe we can add to this list:
Punk in London (1977) ?

We need BigBro to add his video credits

More music clips with Billy Joel, The Cramps, Alice In Chains and others followed, as well as commercials for Toyota, McDonalds, Kellogs and Anacin.

Bigbro - Did you film Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire" video? I'm not a big Billy Joel fan, but the video was a good one, and my buddy Edmond Piffard ("Christ on a crutch!") did the set design for that one (and other videos and commercials in the 80s).

...and began shooting himself in 1987...

Yeeouch, I hope he didn't keep that up for very long - seems like a practice that might be hazardous to one's health. Hey Sven, go easy on yourself!

-Randy

On 2004-04-28 12:03, virani wrote:
Have you seen that DVD ???

I just found it, it is just fabulous with a concert like i've never seen.
Completly crazy, so punk, so good...from 1978.

Cramps are playing @ the Hootenanny on July 3

On 2004-05-04 13:11, thejab wrote:
Bigbro - Did you film Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire" video? I'm not a big Billy Joel fan, but the video was a good one, and my buddy Edmond Piffard ("Christ on a crutch!") did the set design for that one (and other videos and commercials in the 80s).

Yeah, that's the one that everybody remembers, it was such an earworm. The director Chris Blum was from San Francisco. I even got an MTV award nomination for it. Billy Joel! Unfortunately one can not pick one's jobs, but in my career as a music video gaffer and DP I got to work with some pretty cool people, from all musical genres and ages, among them Ry Cooder, David Bowie, the Everly Brothers, Butthole Surfers, KD Lang, Devo, and many more no names that never became popular. I lit Madonna's very first hit video "Borderline", when she was just a little New York club slut. Bless the music video heyday of the 80s!

The Cramps were some of the funnest people to work with because they were so into their thing. Early Tiki afficionados , too.

Yeah Randy, I could "shoot" myself right now for having to shoot in Germany and not being in Palm Springs! The fact that my long term jobs (and as such my main income) are in Europe now is seriously impeeding my Tiki life in my home country of choice!
That IMDB bio is pretty scattershot, I shot more than 20 TV Movies over there in the last 8 years, and I am tired of it, so hire me more in LA, folks! (Problem is one meets more LA film workers in CANADA these days than in their own town!)

On 2004-05-08 08:33, bigbrotiki wrote:

[i] Bless the music video heyday of the 80s!

80s videos rock! That was the time when not every video relied on just a visual gimmick or special effect. There was actually some pretty great photography on those videos. Made me wish I could shoot videos for a living at the time. (Although I did get to pretend for a while in college.) Oh, and the editing in 80s videos wasn't akin to a "blipvert" (Max Headroom term).

I remember seeing a video tape of this (back in the stone ages) many years ago...good stuff and the looks on the patients faces are priceless!!

Matt

http://www.hiqs.planetrockabilly.com

http://www.planetrockabilly.com

On 2004-04-28 12:03, virani wrote:
Have you seen that DVD ???

I just found it, it is just fabulous with a concert like i've never seen.
Completly crazy, so punk, so good...from 1978.

a sample of the bikini girls and machine guns video can be find here :

http://members.shaw.ca/thecramps/bikinim.mov