STEVE PRATT catches up with music guru Lou Adler who helped put the Rocky Horror Show on the showbiz map.

THE location of the 2,307th star on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame was fittingly sited outside Virgin Records music store on Hollywood Boulevard. For the man receiving the honour last month was Lou Adler summed up in the citation as "one of the most successful and well-known music producers of all time, an entertainment legend in his own right, identified inextricably with the Los Angeles musical culture".

His many and varied achievements have placed him at the forefront of launching such diverse trends as surf and protest music, rock festivals, independent production, multi-cultural rock and solo singersongwriters.

In 1967, he launched the first major rock festival, Monterey International Pop Festival, which gave birth to the first rock 'n' roll charity that's still active today under his direction.

His career takes in such names as Carole King, Sam Cooke, The Mamas And The Papas and Jan & Dean. His hits include California Dreamin', San Francisco (Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair), Eve Of Destruction, (What A) Wonderful World and King's Tapestry album.

As a producer, the tally for this multiple Grammy winner is 18 gold and platinum albums and 33 top ten singles, He's co-written three top ten songs. Yet a "sweet transsexual from Transylvania" accounts for the call to LA where, at nine in the morning, 73-year-old Adler is ready to talk about The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The 30th anniversary has prompted a fresh DVD release, along with the lesser-known sequel Shock Treatment. Adler was responsible for taking the show to the US and executive produced the film that followed. He owes his involvement with Richard O'Brien's cult musical to actress Britt Ekland, mother of his son Nikolaj. "She called to say she'd seen it and most of London was talking about it, " he recalls.

"I had a theatre club called The Roxy and she knew we were looking for something to put on there. She said, 'come over and see it'."

He found 90 minutes of gender bending, suspenders, stilettos and doing the Time Warp "shook me out of jet lag". After signing a Roxy contract, ten months later, a film deal was done. "Once we decided, it wasn't a difficult film to make because Michael and I took on the burden of the financing. It wasn't a big risk as far as money was concerned for Twentieth Century Fox. Surprisingly, thinking about the material at that time, they went for it."

Director Jim Sharman retained original cast members Tim Curry, Frank-n-Furter, and writer Richard O'Brien as Riff-Raff. But he did cast two Americans, Barry Bostwick and a then unknown Susan Sarandon, as the naive couple inducted into the Transsexual way of living.

Adler says: "Jim Sharman did an unbelievable job in creating the film from the play. What's overlooked is the acting. Tim Curry should have won the Academy Award for his performance."

He's directed a couple of films himself, including Cheech & Chong's Up In Smoke, but music has been his main passion, along with LA Lakers basketball team.

He's often seen at games with good pal Jack Nicholson.

Adler's responsible for three Sunset Strip landmarks - The Roxy Theatre, The Whisky-a-go-go and the Rainbow Bar & Grill. By popularising California pop culture, he helped shift the 60s music industry from New York to Los Angeles.

"I grew up in the 1950s so that music was pretty much my music and the soundtrack of my life. I related to it and the early producing I did with Jan and Dean, pretty much had that feel to it, " he says.

"It's the most accomplished music of all the genre and that's why the older standards still exist, 50s music and into the 60s. You can find at least two or three radio stations in every city - certainly in the US - where you can find that music."

The 30th anniversary edition three disc DVD box set, featuring The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Shock Treatment, is released by Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, £24.99. Limited edition. Lips box sets, containing both films and a host of collector's items, are also available, £69.99 The Rocky Horror Show runs at York's Grand Opera House next week (Mon-Sat) Box Office: 0870 6063595 and Newcastle Theatre Royal the week of May 29-June 3.

Box Office: 0870 905 5060