I first became aware of fuzz-drenched “biker rock”, 60s biker films, and the music of Davie Allan and the Arrows when that Angel Dust comp came out way back in 1988. Pretty goddamn revelatory! The Arrows very quickly became a touchstone band for me, and over the course of the intervening 37 years I tried to pick up any reissues or unearthings of their instrumental madness that I could. I’ve mightily enjoyed much of the crazed post-60s stuff Allan’s done as well, particularly his 1990s resurgence with blistering 45s like Chopper/Open Throttle. Always got a good laff out of his poses in his latter-day photos – tough, mean, unsmiling and still pissed off about the way Mike Curb treated him in the 60s.

Fuz #1 sort of functions as the best Davie Allan & The Arrows “book” and discography we may ever get, despite coming out back in 1997, even before the Devil’s Rumble 2x compilation finally writed many wrongs and got Allan’s music to the people. Though the Arrows stuff in here is not even novella-length, it’s at least a strong retelling of how Allan and his group became the in-play session men for teen exploitation films from American International Pictures and how they were shepherded through a variety of projects by young Hollywood mogul Mike Curb, later a California lieutenant governor. I’ll never forget when CA governor Jerry Brown was out of the county once, Curb, his elected-but-not-appointed lieutenant, pulled an Alexander Haig “I’m in charge here now” move, and started vetoing bills and making appointments himself, thoroughly pissing off the Democrat establishment and prompting immediate rule changes.

Anyway, Fuz #1 was the brainchild of one Seth Wimpfheimer, and Seth’s the guy who takes on assembling the Allan piece, which is 2/3rds of the mag. Packed with storytelling, photos, movie posters, asides and old radio station charts – “Blues Theme” was #1 across many west coast stations in late 1967! – his Allan piece only really lacks an interview with the man himself. I will assume it was not for a lack of trying. There’s a great late 60s group shot of Allan, Curb and a gaggle of young-&-beautiful Hollywood singers, actors, musicians and actresses. The dude on the far left is Doug Moody, identified here as an A&R man (which he was). You may know him better as the proprietor of Mystic Records, generally thought by many to be the worst hardcore punk label of all time. 

Gudrun Müller contributes the other piece to this fanzine, and it’s a celebration of 60s exploitation actress Mimsy Farmer. Müller can’t really “keep it in his pants”, shall we say, yet he puts together an excellent overview of her filmography and the usual sordid Hollywood BS that kept her both working and not working. I know I’ve seen Riot on the Sunset Strip and Devil’s Angels – both of which she was in – but if I’m being honest, it’ll be tough for me to complete her filmography as I really can’t find the brain capacity to devote to exploitation cinema in 2025. There was once a time, but that time is no longer.

All of Fuz #1 is on thick, glossy pages and it’s a real treat to hold and caress. As one does. My understanding is that Wimpfheimer never made a Fuz #2, but if you know differently, please let us know in the comments.