DORIAN GRAY
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a philosophical novel by Oscar Wilde, first published complete in the July 1890 issue of Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine. The only novel written by Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray exists in several versions. The Picture of Dorian Gray begins on a beautiful summer day in Victorian era England, where Lord Henry Wotton, an opinionated man, is observing the sensitive artist Basil Hallward painting the portrait of Dorian Gray, a handsome young man who is Basil’s ultimate muse. While sitting for the painting, Dorian listens to Lord Henry espousing his hedonistic world view, and begins to think that beauty is the only aspect of life worth pursuing. This prompts Dorian to wish that the painted image of himself would age instead of himself. (More from Wikipedia)
My recollection is that I first encountered Kim Fowley when I found the above album, Living in the Streets. The cover is a pastiche of photos and text that are taken from an interview published in 1977 in Sounds magazine. The interview continues onto the back cover; a pull quote that is given there proclaims: “I am the Dorian Gray of rock ’n roll. If you saw me physically, you wouldn’t believe I was as old as I am, and I’ve never aged.”
As if that were not enough to catch my attention, the list of dozens of bands and musicians mentioned in the interview that is also given on the cover includes one of my very favorite bands, the Pink Fairies.
(January 2015/1)
