- Kim Fowley
Kim Fowley (born
July 21 ,1939 ) is an Americanrecord producer ,impresario ,songwriter and occasionalrecording artist . The son of Hollywood character actorDouglas Fowley ("Singin' in the Rain"), his career in the music industry has been as varied and eccentric as it has been long. He has generally remained on the fringes of the mainstream industry, immersing himself in obscure and offbeat projects while occasionally stumbling on (and then exploiting) commercial success. Of all his ventures, he is perhaps best known for being behind a string of novelty and/or cult rock 45s during the 1960s, for co-founding the all-girl punk groupThe Runaways in the 1970s withJoan Jett andSandy West — whence also cameCherie Currie andLita Ford — and, perhaps surprisingly, for working as a producer and songwriter withHelen Reddy in the late 1970s, including her album "Ear Candy".During the 1960s in
Los Angeles , Fowley produced and/or wrote hundreds of recordings with a wide range of acts and in a remarkably broad spectrum of styles - frombubblegum novelty rockers togirl group ditties, fromfolk andcountry toacid rock . While many attained a cult status over time, only a few achieved mainstream commercial success. His three biggest hits - all as producer - were "Alley Oop " byThe Hollywood Argyles (a US #1 in 1960); a cover of "Nut Rocker " byB. Bumble and the Stingers (a UK #1 in 1962); and "Popsicles and Icicles" byThe Murmaids , a US #3 in 1963. The latter was written by a pre-BreadDavid Gates , then a jobbing musician and songwriter who had met Fowley while hitch-hiking in LA.During the mid-1960s Fowley relocated for a time to London where he worked and recorded with a surprising number of then-unknown acts who went on to become famous:
Cat Stevens (Fowley co-wrote "Portobello Road", the B-side of Stevens' first single "I Love My Dog "); an early incarnation ofSlade known as the N'Betweens;Soft Machine (he produced their first single); and the Lancasters, an instrumental rock group featuring a youngRitchie Blackmore . He also helpedNapoleon XIV record the 1966 novelty record "They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Haaa! ", which was a hit in the UK and number 1 in the US. TheB-side consisted of theA-side played backwards.Fowley also worked as an occasional recording artist in the 1960s, issuing opportunistic flower-power albums such as "Love Is Alive and Well." In 1965, he wrote and produced a song about the
psychedelic experience, called "The Trip". Released as a single in June of that year, it was probably the first recorded rock song aboutLSD .Fact|date=October 2007 Though largely ignored in the USA, it scored in Europe and oddly, was one of the first releases onIsland Records . Other 45s by Fowley as a recording artist included the notorious, darkly comic "Animal Man" (1968). He is a guest musician (on megaphone) onFrank Zappa 's first album "Freak Out! ".In 1969 Fowley produced a critically acclaimed comeback album for
Gene Vincent entitled "I'm Back and I'm Proud". Also in 1969 he producedWarren Zevon 's first solo album. Fowley perhaps came closest to mainstream recognition (and chart success) during a period from 1969 to 1971, when he collaborated with his friendSkip Battin , then bass player forthe Byrds , on a number of songs. Several appeared on the group's hit 1970 album, "Untitled"; one, from the 1971 LP "Farther Along ", was even released as a single: "America's Great National Pastime". However, the novelty-Americana slant of much of this material was not well-received.In 1972 and again in 1973 he produced early recordings by
Jonathan Richman andThe Modern Lovers , many of which were released several years later.Later he met a teenaged
Joan Jett and drummer Sandy West with whom he founded the legendary all-female punk comboThe Runaways . Stories about the rise and fall of The Runaways, and of Fowley's bizarre expectations of the act's members vary depending on the source. However, by printing the girls' ages (as young as fourteen or fifteen) on the back cover of their first album, Fowley helped to seal hisSvengali image. Furthermore, according to 1980s interviews withSandy West andCherie Currie in publications including The Guardian and The Cutting Edge, members were required to go along with the "special needs" of Fowley and his associates "if they wanted to stay in the band". According to Sandy West, Fowley told her that Michelle Steele (later ofThe Bangles ) and Ann Boleyn (of Hellion) "were both kicked out because they wouldn't put out in the way he expected, if you know what I mean".During the 1970s also co-wrote songs for acts as diverse as KISS,
Helen Reddy ,Slade ,Alice Cooper ,Leon Russell andKris Kristofferson . He also co-produced, withJohn Cale , the debut album by cult new-waversthe Modern Lovers .His efforts as a solo artist since 1970 have sold poorly, but his albums of the 1970s such as "
I'm Bad " and "International Heroes " have been cited as an influence onpunk rock . Some of his New Wave styled recordings of the late 1970s have been cited as prefiguring theelectroclash genre; electroclash bandAdd N to (X) covered his song "Invasion of the Polaroid People" on their "Loud Like Nature" album, using extensive samples of his original version. He tended to keep a lower profile in the 1990s and first half of the 2000s.In 1984, still owning rights to the name "The Runaways", Fowley re-built the image around Gayle Welch, an unknown teenager from New Zealand. Adding Denise Prior, Missy Bonilla (then a typist for Denny Diante at what was CBS Records) and Cathy DiAmber (Catherine Dombrowski) with David Carr on keyboards and a Chicago guitarist Bill Millay, Fowley, assisted by New Zealander Glenn Holland, sought to recreate the spirit of the Runaways with a mildly-successful CD.
He is featured in "
Mayor of the Sunset Strip ", a 2003 documentary about influential LADJ Rodney Bingenheimer , in whichCherie Currie of The Runaways claims that he was abusive to her and the group while he was their manager and producer. Fowley was sued by the members of the band in the 1990s for ownership of the name and back monies owed. The group won the suit. Fowley currently lives inCalifornia and still works as a record producer for hire and occasional recording artist. (Classic quote:"You must be very cynical, very detached, and nothing bothers you, like me, and you'll be fine. I recommend it for all selfish bastards who have shit in their own little place. Get on a plane, immediately, and show up."
-- Kim Fowley, inMayor of the Sunset Strip , commenting on what type of people should go toHollywood .)In 2005 Fowley was recruited by
Steven Van Zandt to host his own radio show on Van Zandt's "Underground Garage " radio channel heard throughout America onSirius Satellite Radio . Fowley is presently heard every weekend on the channel - with a 4-hour show on Saturdays and Sundays.On June 24, 2007, Fowley appeared on stage before some 17,000 concert-goers at the
Hollywood Bowl at the conclusion of theDJ Shadow andCut Chemist performance of "Hard Sell" (aka Brain Placement: 7 Inches of Fury.) Fowley announced in a very slow and deliberate monotone, "I'm Kim Fowley and that was the Hard Sell."elective discography (as producer)
*1960
The Hollywood Argyles : "Alley Oop " - US #1
*1961B. Bumble and the Stingers : "Bumble Boogie" - US #21
*1962B. Bumble and the Stingers : "Nut Rocker " - US #23, UK #1
*1962The Rivingtons : "Papa Oom Mow Mow " - US #48
*1963The Murmaids : "Popcicles and Icicles" - US #3
*1966 Kim Fowley: "They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Haaa! "
*1969Gene Vincent : 'I'm Back and I'm Proud!' (LP)
*1970 Wigwam:Tombstone Valentine (LP)
*1976The Modern Lovers : "The Modern Lovers " (LP)
*1977Helen Reddy : "Ear Candy" (LP)
*1977Vicky Leandros : "Vicky Leandros" (LP)*
The Runaways *2003 Various Artists: "Impossible But True - The Kim Fowley Story" (Ace Records)
External links
* [http://www.kimfowley.net/ Kim Fowley official website]
References
*"The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits" 7th Edition
Joel Whitburn
* [http://www.myspace.com/kimfowley]
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