Kim Fowley (born 27 July 1939) is a male American record producer, impresario, songwriter and sometime recording artist. The son of Hollywood character actor Douglas Fowley ( Singin' In The Rain ), Kim's scattergun 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, free to immerse himself in obscure and offbeat projects while occasionally stumbling on (and then happily milking) 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 and for conceiving and managing girl punk group The Runaways in the 1970s. ...show more

Kim Fowley (born 27 July 1939) is a male American record producer, impresario, songwriter and sometime recording artist. The son of Hollywood character actor Douglas Fowley ( Singin' In The Rain ), Kim's scattergun 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, free to immerse himself in obscure and offbeat projects while occasionally stumbling on (and then happily milking) 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 and for conceiving and managing girl punk group The Runaways in the 1970s.

During the 1960s in Los Angeles, Fowley produced and/or wrote hundreds of recordings with a wide range of acts and in a remarakably broad spectrum of styles - from bubblegum novelty rockers to girl group ditties, from folk and country to acid 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" by The Hollywood Argyles ( a US #1 in 1960); "Nut Rocker" by B.Bumble And The Stingers (a UK #1 in 1962); and "Popsicles And Icicles" by The Murmaids, a US #3 in 1963. The latter was written by a pre-Bread David Gates, then a jobbing musician and songwriter who had met Fowley while hitch-hiking in LA.

During the mid-60s 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); an early incarnation of Slade known as the N'Betweens; Soft Machine (he produced their first single); and the Lancasters, an instrumental rock group featuring a young Ritchie Blackmore. He also helped Napoleon XIV record the 1966 novelty record "They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Haaa!", which was a hit in the UK but banned in the US. The B-side consisted of the A-side played backwards. Fowley also worked as an occasional recording artist in the 1960's, issuing opportunistic flower-power albums such as Love Is Alive and Well. ...show less