28 October 2018

Nuggets from a Legendary Prick: Return of the Lord of Garbage




I've posted plenty Kim Vincent Fowley madness (Venus & the Razorblades,  Dyan Diamond, Kim Fowley, Jr - Son of Frankenstein, Kim Fowley - Snake Document Masquerade...) hereabouts.  Fowley was "charismatic & repulsive, brilliant & demented, a visionary & a scumdog". But I never posted up anything as gloriously Fowl(ey) as this slab. Dig in.

The 32 tracks are comprised of tunes Fowley released in the '60s either: under his own name; songs he wrote or co-wrote; & songs he produced. Impossible but True: The Kim Fowley Story is a trip through an alternate history of rock in the '60s.

When Kim ran away from home in 1959, the world of rock 'n' roll became his life. After working as a publicist, promotion man, & song publisher, he co-produced his first #1 hit in 1960, "Alley Oop" by the Hollywood Argyles. More hits followed including B Bumble & the Stingers' worldwide smash "Nut Rocker" (written by Fowley) in 1962, & the Murmaids' "Popsicles & Icicles", a Fowley production that hit #1 in Record World in early 1964. The rest of the decade saw him involved with a multitude of projects in a multitude of roles: PJ Proby, the Hellions (with Dave Mason & Jim Capaldi), the Lancasters (with Richie Blackmore), the Mothers of Invention, Cat Stevens, the 'N Betweens (later to become Slade), the Belfast Gypsies (Them), Soft Machine, the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, & Gene Vincent, to name just a few.

Despite all his industry connections & his ear for a saleable gimmick, Fowley remained one of pop's supporting players, a loose cannon condemned to a fringe role. His ear was more finely tuned to outrage than mainstream. It may have seemed like a good idea in 1968 to record the homicidal garage-rock song "Animal Man", with its promise to "butcher all the girls on the floor of my living-room". A year later, after the Manson Family murders, it probably didn't seem so funny. Kinda prophetic yet timing is everything.

This sucker appropriately starts with "Animal Man". I’ve included the 36 page booklet.

decryption code in comments

Animal Man
Bubblegum - Kim Fowley
Justine - The Rangers
To Die Alone - The Bush
Alley-Oop - The Hollywood Argyles
Reputation - The Rangers
Nut Rocker - B. Bumble & the Stingers
Popsicles & Icicles - The Murmaids
Shush Boomer - The Alpines
The Trip - Kim Fowley
The Comedown Song - Spider
Security - The 'N Betweens
Daydreaming of You - The Hellions
Portobello Road - Cat Stevens
Satan's Holiday - The Lancasters
Charge! - The Renegades
You Been Torturing Me - Gary S. Paxton & the Hollywood Argyles
Like Long Hair - Paul Revere & the Raiders
Heads Up, High Hopes Over You - The Pharoahs
Gloria's Dream - The Belfast Gypsies
Ski Storm (Part 1) - The Snowmen
No More - Little Victor & the Vistas
Louisiana Teardrops - Elfstone
Wild Thing - Cathy Rich
Space Odyssey - Kim Fowley
Fallin' Off the Edge of My Mind - The Seeds
Rainbow at Midnight - Gene Vincent
Feelin' Reelin' Squeelin' - The Soft Machine
People! Let's Freak Out - Freaks of Nature
Pink Dominos - The Crescents
Honest I Do - The Innocents
Papa Oom Mow Mow - The Rivingtons

Its too dirty, it'll be banned,

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