Rap Quartet Color Me Badd to Headline Fair : Ventura County: The board picks the group to appeal to teen-agers and young adults at the Aug. 19-30 event.

The rap quartet Color Me Badd, known for the hit song “I Wanna Sex You Up,” will headline the 117th annual Ventura County Fair in August.

The nine-member Fair Board chose the hip-hop vocalists to appeal to the teen-agers and young adults who will be among the 300,000 expected to attend this year’s fair, said fair General Manager Michael Paluszak.

Color Me Badd exploded onto the music scene after the single from the 1991 movie “New Jack City” became the year’s only double-platinum single, the first since Madonna’s “Vogue.”

“We’ve done similar-type shows in the past and they’ve been real well received here,” Paluszak said.

The fair is expected to draw 20,000 more people than last year, when the lineup included entertainers such as Los Lobos, Jeffrey Osborne and Crystal Gayle.

With a $600,000 entertainment budget, Paluszak said, the board selected a number of performers, shows and acts for the grounds to appeal to a variety of ages and interests.

The fair will run from Aug. 19 to 30. The 1992 Ventura County Fair Parade in downtown Ventura, led by Santa Paula rancher Paul Leavens Jr. as grand marshal, will be on Aug. 22.

The board decided again to include the grandstand entertainment in general admission price, a decision made with today’s tough economic times in mind, Paluszak said. Admission is the same as last year, $6 for adults, $3 for children, and free for children 5 and under.

The carnival will also offer new rides and games this year, because a new contractor was chosen in a round of bidding that is conducted once every three years.

“The fair is always different every year--different exhibits, different shows and different attractions,” Paluszak said. “We try to keep it new and fresh.”

The following acts and entertainers will perform in the grandstand during the fair: Color Me Badd (Aug. 19); The Original 5th Dimension (Aug. 20); stock car racing and demolition derby (Aug. 21); United States Auto Club midget and three-quarter midget car racing (Aug. 22); motocross and stadium off-road racing (Aug. 23); the rock and roll group America (Aug. 24); Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers on their Adios Tour (Aug. 25); country singer Conway Twitty (Aug. 26); Grammy-winning vocalist Lou Rawls (Aug. 27); Professional Rodeo Cowboys Assn. rodeos (Aug. 28 and 29); and the Fiesta Day concert, TBA, (Aug. 30).