fair's fair

Ilkeston's Charter Fair dates from 1252 and is among the largest and oldest street fairs in Europe. Every year, children consume their body-weight in candy floss, toffee apples and chips before mounting a dizzying array of increasingly jerky rides (egg wheel, cakewalk, waltzer, dodgems, etc). I took the above picture there the other year.

But regardless of all that, is it really wise to offer this track as a prize in a shooting gallery??

Kim Fowley – The Trip



Our good friend Dicky Rock won this when he was but a wee lad. When he got rid of his turntable my brother and I adopted this single. If ever there was a case for a person being the real-life inspiration for Lorenzo St. DuBois (from Mel Brooks’ The Producers) this must be it.

I love the attempts at being "far out"- lyrics about "purple cats and emerald rats". There's even "pictures hanging upside down". Wow. Groovy, etc.

Kim Fowley - Beautiful People

How you feel about the b-side will depend on how you feel about poorly-tuned acoustic guitars. I always preferred this track - I especially love the bit at 1:35 where his voice audibly gropes for the key.

Visit - KimFowley.net
Read - about Kim Fowley on Wikipedia
Buy - Impossible But True: The Kim Fowley Story