Philo Cramer

Philo Cramer is a former lead guitarist for the Los Angeles punk band FEAR (Slash Records),^[1] from 1978 to 1987. He was also in the art punk band The Cigarettes(Carlysle Records)from 1978-1979. He is known for his Gibson SG and making odd noises with his whammy bar, and for being one of the only punk rockers in the 1980s LA scene holding a bachelor's degree in Physics.

FEAR performed "Beef Bologna", "New York's Alright If You Like Saxophones", and "Let's Have A War" on Saturday Night Live 1981-10-31^[2] with Cramer wearing a green dress; he also gave dollar bills to people in the crowd saying "I'll give you a dollar if you be my friend". FEAR was cut short to commercial on "Let's Have A War" because people in the crowd starting yelling "New York Sucks". Minor Threat's Ian Mackaye can be heard screaming the phrase shortly after the song "New York's Alright if You Like Saxophones". Lee Ving is the only original member of FEAR today; Cramer left in 1987.

Cramer also appeared in the movie Get Crazy as a band member. Briefly, in 1985, he formed a band with Agression drummer Mark Aber called King M'butu, also notable for containing Danny Dorman of Wasted Youth and Circle One. Cramer resides in Connecticut and plays in a band called The Fighting Cocks and occasionally plays FEAR cover songs with Connecticut post-punk group Red Temples.

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