Lou Miami and The Kozmetix
5.12.2009 UPDATE
I've updated this posting by adding an mp3 of the B-side, "To Sir With Love". I was about to say "enjoy" but I'm not sure if you're going to like it- let me know.
Here’s a great song that, for some reason, was never included on a KBD-type comp during the 1995-2000 boom period of those comps, way before blog mania and the conveninence of having old stuff posted everywhere online. [Come to think of it, in this decade there's really only been two great vinyl comps of KBD-type stuff- 2001’s No One Left To Blame LP and 2005’s Staring Down The Barrel. And those were seemingly put out by the same chap. But I digress...]
"Fascist Lover" would have fit well on a late 90’s KBD comp, what with its fast pace and especially those thundering, barnstorming drums that really jump out at ya during the breaks (and ESPECIALLY during the last 20 seconds of the song- damn!). The drumming is one of the highlights for me, right along with the kooky-ass lyrics and the tall tale singer Lou Miami tells about his mother getting knocked up by a Nazi exile in South America after WWII. Huh?! Pretty off the wall stuff, especially the chant of "A fascist lover made my mother, and then my mother made me". Hilarious. And, to top it all, there’s a nice sharp gee-tar solo in the middle from guitarist Jack Rootoo (who, incidentally, died in June of 2008. Lou is dead too, but more on that later...)
Er, but then there's the flipside- a homoerotic cover of "To Sir With Love" that was made famous in the late 60's movie of the same name with Sidney Potier (?!?). So Lou Miami kept up the fine KBD tradition of "one great song per record" by choosing this as the flipside. Actually, it’s not THAT bad of a B-side I guess- there are ones far, far worse- and I have kind of sort of kind of warmed up to it over the years. Or maybe just gotten used to it being there. But it's still a total departure from the A-side so I have not included it. If I get some requests to post it, I will then probably toss it on here.
Now, if Lou Miami really released this record in 1982 Boston (some people say 1980), I bet he was a HUGE hit with the muscle-flexing, shaved head hardcore boys club since apparently he was a somewhat flamboyant character and wore makeup or drag sometimes on stage. Even the sleeve of the record is supposed to look like a Lord & Taylor cosmetics bag, fer Chrissake, complete with a plastic handle at the top- LOL! All that combined would have no doubt put him on the hit list of the "youth crew of youth".
Fascist Lover.mp3
To Sir With Love.mp3
ENDNOTES
There is a nice fan tribute page that I got some of my information from for this posting- go here to read the whole thing and to see some rare pictures and flyers of the band. According to that page and other sources, Lou Miami started playing in Boston around 1978 at famous places like The Rat and he and the Kozmetix ceased to exist in either 1984 or 1985. Besides the single, they also released a 6-song 12"EP in 1982 on the well-known (but spotty) Modern Method label. Circa 1985, they released the 6-song "Rituals" 12"EP on Chuck Warner’s Throbbing Lobster label- both of those later records were posted on this blog. The band also appeared on two comps, the "Sounds Electric" LP on the Revolution Records label and the "Boston Gets Stoned" LP that was on the Bowtown label and is a bunch of Rolling Stones covers (anyone have any of this stuff? Both of those comps are probably crap but I still wouldn't mind hearing em for curiosity's sake). According to the above fan page, Lou Miami got into witchcraft (?!) in- where else- Salem, MA and then died in Los Angeles of the ol'- ahem- "natural causes, heart failure" the first week of August 1995, just shy of his 40th birthday.
Posted by Punk Business Manager at 4/28/2009 2:14 PM 
Categories: Lou Miami and The Kozmetix
Tags: Lou Miami and The Kozmetix
Categories: Lou Miami and The Kozmetix
Tags: Lou Miami and The Kozmetix
Thanks for this nice rockin' tune Tony. I've seen this one for sale quite a few times over the years and I've been very curious about it.
Catchy and stuck in my brain now, so thanks again.
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I've had this but never got into it. The packaging is so cool that I was tempted to keep it just because of that. Thanks for the download anyway since Fascist Lover is worth a spin
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"Both of those comps are probably crap but I still wouldn't mind hearing em for curiosity's sake"
I am thinking the same thing about To Sir With Love
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Wow! Amazing to find this! SO glad you reconsidered posting the "B" side, which many Lou Miami fans considered the all-time-classic Lou song treatment. He was an incredible performer, one that fans of the old school Boston club scene will never forget. His manager gave me this single when he performed a show at my college. I still have it. Had a couple drinks with him one night after a show at Jumpin Jack Flash. Given the intensity of his shows, we were surprised how calm and friendly he was afterwards. No attitude at all. Lou was one of a kind.
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yea, but the song I'd really like to get by Lou Miami is the one that is really fast..
I'm not sure if it was called "Let me Tell you All about it" or "Spy on the One you love".
Amazingly catchy.
Anyone know the source? I think it was just a radio tape
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The Song you're referring to is "Boy Detective"...it's from a radio show from 1982 (??)that consisted of above song, 1,000 BC, Timmy, Fascist Lover & To Sir...I have a copy of it on CD that the late Jack Rootoo had made for me.
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any chance of getting a copy?
I've nothing too rare, but have a good amount of old Boston stuff.. and a bunch of 80's independent label stuff.
Thanks.
Jg
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The song you mean is "Boy Detective". It was just a radio tape played back in probably 1980. So many people must have bootleg recordings of his music (i remember people recording him, wish i had) but somehow it's impossible to get.
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Yeah, if you saw Lou live, you would get the "To Sir, With Love" cover. His performance of it was very theatrical. Funny and poignant all at once. He stood the song on its head, yet it was also touching.
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If you have anything by the Kozmetix you are willing to sell please write to Droplette@gmail.com. I used to live in Boston but have been in NY a while now.
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Thanks for posting this - So happy to finally have it - I have the 1st album on Vinyl - maybe To Sir With Love isn't traditional punk rawk but that was the genius of the Boston scene before Hardcore got too big.
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