Here's the pitch: a fat mom in East LA gets herself off of welfare by posing naked for Juggs and Plumpers magazines and doing some porno movies and strip club tours. She ends up as a bisexual "sex activist," speaking at sex positive events. Oh, and she also is a singer - a blues/rock and swing type of singer and she tours all over the world.

Is it a b-movie? A cult classic? It could be, but for the time being it's a short and sweet synopsis of the life and times of Candye Kane, a woman from whom the term "multifaceted" seems inadequate.

Candye's latest CD, SWANGO, is a mix of blues and swing with a bunch of boogie woogie thrown in - it's a fun listen. She's touring tirelessly for it, but don't think that she's trying to put her past behind her. She's proud of her big beautiful bod and in fact, posed for a photo spread in Juggs Magazine that helped promote the new CD.

Candye has said that seeing herself on the covers of those glossy magazines (and getting paid for it) gave her self-esteem - all those people who told her she wasn't attractive could now kiss her big ol' butt. A legion of fans started to grow and she was soon fielding offers for strip shows and movies, which she took, using the money to support her fledgling musical career.

Although early on, record producers wanted Candye to renounce her past and claim to be "born-again," Candye stuck it out, mixing her music with her message - busty fat chicks can be sexy as hell and let's all stop being so judgemental and have a good time! Candye's CDs include Home Cooking, Knockout, Diva La Grande and her latest, Swango.

As you might guess, Candye is pretty uninhibited on stage, usually wearing outfits so low cut, the cleavage goes on forever. Not really out for shock value, she's comfy with it all. Candye says, "People were paying too much attention to my boobs anyway, staring at 'em and stuff. So I said: OK, you guys want to stare at my boobs? Iım gonna do something with 'em! I can juggle, I can hold a drink, I can play piano!" And sometimes she does just that - play piano with her boobs. I've seen it with my own eyeballs and let me tell you - THAT'S talent!

Is there a b-movie connection with Candye (besides her life story making a great plot for one)? Sure - Candye played an extra in Blood Diner, a cheeseball version of the b-classic Blood Feast. In Blood Diner, a couple of brothers (under orders from the disembodied head of their uncle) kill, cook and eat local patrons all in the name of weird cult stuff and bringing demons forth or some such hooey. The movie was played for broad laughs and was rather entertaining - although sometimes too silly for my tastes - but you'll wear out your freeze-frame button trying to find Candye. She's in the credits as an extra, but even I couldn't pick her out of the diner scenes. Candye's been knocking around an idea for a movie she could star in: something like the Doris Wishman/Chesty Morgan flicks Double Agent 73 and Deadly Weapons. Would John Waters be the perfect guy to get involved with this project? I think so - he loves Chesty Morgan (one of her flicks appears on a TV screen in Serial Mom) and seems to like sexy fat chicks in general - even if they are men (like Divine)!