Harry Perry (born Harold Arthur Perry;[citation needed] 5 March 1952) is an American musician and busker, known for playing an electric guitar with a target design on roller skates at the Venice Beach Boardwalk. Perry is also known by his Sikh name, Har Nar Singh Khalsa (he often performed wearing a traditional Sikh turban),[citation needed] and by his stage name, Kama Kosmic Krusader.[1]
Perry was born on March 5, 1952, in Detroit, Michigan. After growing up in Michigan and recording with his first band there,[2][3] Perry began performing his original songs and guitar compositions on the Venice Beach Boardwalk in 1973.[4] Perry typically used distortion effects and played in a style reminiscent of Jimi HendrixorEddie Van Halen.[5] Perry has played with bands such as the Grateful Dead and Jane's Addiction.[6]
In addition to being the most famous musician performing at the Venice Beach Boardwalk,[7] he is also considered one of the area's most famous skaters, first on traditional roller skates, then on inline skates, and finally on LandRoller skates.[8][9]
During the early 1990s, the Los Angeles City Council passed an ordinance banning people from performing publicly on the Venice Beach Boardwalk.[10] In response, Perry became a named plaintiff in a class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the Los Angeles Police Department and the ordinance. The plaintiffs based their suit on various constitutional principles that provide for freedom of expression, commerce, and congregation. After many years of litigation, The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Perry and his co-plaintiffs; however, their victory was short lived. The Los Angeles City Council created new legislation that severely restricted performance on the Venice Beach Boardwalk rather than banning it altogether. In addition, the City of Santa Monica followed the Los Angeles City Council's lead, passing statutes that limited the ability of performers like Perry to sell CDs and T-shirts to their audiences.[11] Perry and others initiated legal action in response, alleging that the combination of gentrification and the performance restriction ordinances threatened to destroy the atmosphere and commerce that made Venice Beach the social mecca for which it was famous.[12][13][14]
