Originally planned for 1985 to join in the onslaught of Elvisʼs 50th Anniversary commemorative reissues, A Date With Elvis came out in early 1986 in Europe only, where it went on to sell more than 200,000 copies. The only album featuring The Cramps as a three-piece band (Poison Ivy doubled on bass), it careens from the sociopathic advice of “People Ainʼt No Good” (later covered by Nick Cave) to mind-on-vacation odes like “Aloha From Hell” and “Kizmiaz” (where The Cramps prove they were exotic when exotic wasnʼt cool), in the process offing more P.T.P. than you can shake a snake at and fittingly finishing off with a soulful lovesick cover of the Charlie Feathers’s “Itʼs Just That Song.” “Can Your Pussy Do The Dog” was voted single of the year for 1986 in Playboyʼs annual music issue.
