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Reviews

Kim Fowley — In Deutschland
(Bandcamp Liberation Hall, 1992/2022, CD / DL)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2022-05-26

In Deutschland Cover art

If you are a child of the 60s, Kim Fowley should be a familiar name. He co-wrote songs for Kiss, Helen Reddy, Alice Cooper, Leon Russel, Kris Kristofferson, The Byrds, Doug Sahm, The Seeds, etc. He had a number 1 hit with “Alley Oop” as a member of the Hollywood Argyles in 1960 and he managed The Runaways and The Hollywood Stars. In addition, Kim cut over a dozen solo albums, so possibly there might be some interest in archival live performances. In Deutschland, recorded on October 26, 1992, is one of the few live Fowley shows that still exists and it begs the question, who is the market for this tripe? The only saving grace is that the Flamin’ Groovies singer-guitarist Chris Wilson was part of the band for this amazingly terrible off-the-rails show. His band hadn’t rehearsed properly, which is quite evident, yet they played their full set. If you want to hear a hateful degenerate rant and shout lyrics, that are at times insensitive to his German audience, then there is probably one or two people who would find this album of interest. Kim cannot sing, he tries to shock the audience, and he loses direction, especially when he attempts to cover the iconic “Gloria.” Apparently the entire concert did not make it on the album, so the additional tracks (10 - 16) to fill out the disc are from a “rehearsal,” which really just sounds like they were sitting around and aimlessly jamming. Was he stoned for the live performance and the rehearsal? Kim sounds like he is striving for a Jim Morrison monologue, but utterly fails. He rambles all over the place and the closing track, with its interesting title, “Rockin’ in the Balkans” is really a bi-labial fricative and rant. A total loss and waste of time. Caveat emptor: stay away from this steaming pile of offal. Nothing of any value here whatsoever.

Filed under: New releases, 2022 releases, 1992 recordings

Related artist(s): Kim Fowley

 

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