THE CRAMPS AND THE MUTANTS: THE NAPA STATE TAPES
A film by Joe Target Rees
2023, 72 minutes
2023, 72 minutes
No. 396
Documentary
Documentary
Description
“Somebody told me you people are crazy, but I’m not so sure about that…. you seem to be all right to me.” So says lead singer Lux Interior of The Cramps, challenging the mainstream stereotype of the crowd assembled before him at the Napa State Hospital.
On June 13, 1978, The Cramps went to play Napa State, a psychiatric hospital in the small town of Napa in Northern California. Opening for them was The Mutants, an eclectic septet of art school punks from nearby San Francisco. Also there was seminal Bay Area art collective Target Video, to capture the show using one of the first video cameras available to the public, democratizing a medium controlled by mainstream media outlets. The resulting VHS tape of the show is one of the most legendary music documents in history and a cult classic tape.
On June 13, 1978, The Cramps went to play Napa State, a psychiatric hospital in the small town of Napa in Northern California. Opening for them was The Mutants, an eclectic septet of art school punks from nearby San Francisco. Also there was seminal Bay Area art collective Target Video, to capture the show using one of the first video cameras available to the public, democratizing a medium controlled by mainstream media outlets. The resulting VHS tape of the show is one of the most legendary music documents in history and a cult classic tape.
