Onetime musician Len Fagan booked Sunset Strip nightclub Coconut Teaszer and provided bands like Guns N' Roses and Green Day some of their earliest L.A. gigs.
The general manager of the Troubadour, which famously launched Elton John’s career, says ‘to survive, we’re going to need all the help we can get.’“Every city, every scene needs a Len Fagan,” former Atlantic Records A&R executive Tim Sommer wrote in a Facebook post after learning of his death.
As the brainchild behind the Coconut Teaszer’s biweekly live series “L.A.'s Best Kept Secrets,” Fagan presided over multi-artist showcases that became can’t-miss events for record-label talent scouts in the pre-YouTube era. In a 1990 column about nightlife hotspots, Times writer Bud Scoppa described Fagan as “so highly regarded as a judge of up-and-coming bands that he has received offers from several major labels to become an independent talent scout.
“He knew three beats, and he did them really well,” Stepson singer Jeff Hawks told The Times. “He was a real backbeat drummer. In the pocket. No fancy stuff. Just a powerhouse.” Added Hawks of the band, “It was right during the glam time, so we were a little strange.”A longtime friend of the late Arthur Lee of Love, Fagan regularly backed Lee in Love’s various incarnations over the years. At one point, he also toured Asia as drummer for the ‘60s psychedelic pop band the 1910 Fruitgum Company.
The drummer found his calling, though, at a 200-occupancy spot in the heart of the L.A. record business. “He was happy at the Teaszer because he had full control,” Hawks said. “He could book the bands he wanted, he could make events he wanted. He could have an oldies week or he could find a band that he really liked and give them an opportunity.”
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