Kim Fowley RIP? I considered him an influence, remember him fondly and the first line out of his mouth I heard was hey asshole youre not listening to me. For years, he had me in his Rolodex in the not so esteemed category of wallpaper (where truthfully, at the time, I belonged). Those are just two of my favorite memories from Kim Fowley. Okay the first line was spoken in my presence but not directly to me and it was followed by an impassioned rant about the importance of supporting local bands a radical concept in early 1976 that would send me in search of my first club gig to see the Quick on a Sunday night at The Starwood- changing the way I understood music(and coutner-culture in general) -an experience I credit with giving me a front row seat for the birth of punk rock. Speaking of punk, Its arguable that the Runaways- a band he assembled and in many ways created -were the first LA punk band. The world wouldnt know about Joan Jett(or at least the version of Joan Jett were familiar with)in a world without Kim Fowley. Ditto the nature of the LA punk scene which was irrevocably touched by his Kim Fowley Presents New Wave nights at the Starwood and Whiskey(which unbeknownst to many he played a pivotal role and re-opening for its second heyday) While many only know(and narrowcast him)him for abrasiveness and bravado(which lets face it come with the turf of rock and roll), I was lucky enough to experience his intellect and his insanely encyclopedic knowledge of rockn roll history(including a late night drive around Washington, DC while he challenged a car full of people to name any city in the USA followed by his citing of myriad greats and notable cult figures that musically or biologically sprung from each. I also remember his calling me to very humbly and sincerely thank me for including The Trip on the Nuggets box-and 20 years later calling to see how he could include excerpts from my CD release of Wallace Shawns The Fever on his next episode of The Underground Garage. RIP? Maybe With Kim its more like that quote from Dylan Thomas Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day And while hes known mostly for his work with the Runaways, Alice Cooper, Kiss and, yes, even Helen Reddy among other hard rock and punk acts he also made some great records under his own name- especially this- which captures the mood of LA in the grip of the mid-sixites as well as anything from the time https://youtube/watch?v=Z2U5QuVX96M
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 06:29:20 +0000
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