Recently rewatched that Sopranos episode featuring LOATL from 2001, “University”. Just another of a long list of brutal (and shocking) looks at those guys from Jersey. And yet Paulie sums it all up with this take on Ralph:
Repeatedly, since my own epiphany in 1976. Entry point was “Kronikles” with John Mendelsohn’s indeliable liner notes.
I actually saw Ray at the Albert Hall (Mick Avory sat in on a couple of tunes) in 2007, but my favorite memory was texting a request for “Days” to Lauren Laverne at BBC 6 Music during the first month of the pandemic. To hear her lilting voice with my name and the first guitar strums was sublimely moving. As the Kinks so often were...
Nice, Bill..........Your mention of Mendelsohn (a fellow music writer/critic) makes me wonder if you were ever hip to his Christopher Milk band (on Warner Bros. Records, early '70s)?
Love the Kinks, though casually. But the way Sandy Becker rocked that "Give the People What They Want" tour T-shirt in 10th grade homeroom—now that's a good memory too...
A 3-headed coin toss of Face to Face, Something Else*, and Village Green. (*has to be mono—can’t stand the stereo mix). Kronicles is the komp! I’ll always have a soft spot for a few tracks off Give the People What They Want. I started with early singles, then arena rock in HS, then much later going back for the classic full LP listens (due to hanging out with Phil Angotti). In a top 10 British rock bands list I’d put them 3rd, just ahead of The Who for 60’s; if including 70’s & beyond they flip spots.
“Better Things” is one of their all-time great tracks; I just wish the rest of Give The People was anywhere near it. I loved the album when it came out, but I rarely spin it today.
Oh, and I kind of love the jankiness of the Something Else stereo mix, probably because it was decades before I heard it in mono. But yeah, the mono mix is incredible.
Fun piece! I can’t quarrel with anything in your Top 10. The first Kinks album I bought was “Low Budget” (before school, a bunch of us would listen to the Loop and when “Gallon of Gas” came on, I remember this one Zeppelin fan shouting, “The Kinks! Punk Rock!”). I followed it up with Preservation Act 2 because it was a double album that cost $1.99 in the cut-out bin. Tried to get into it but never could. The albums that were probably most significant to me were “State of Confusion,” which came out during a rough patch of high school and was the first album I remember where the lp and cassette were different and the track listings on the cassette were wrong, including a listing for a song called “Once a Thief” that wasn’t on either the lp or the cassette. “Lola Vs. Powerman” was my soundtrack whenever I was leaving to go somewhere (I.e. “This Tine Tomorrow”) and the one I’ve played most often is “Kinda Kinks,” unless that’s a greatest hits album in which case it doesn’t count. There was also a Spanish import compilation cassette I bought in the Vassar College bookstore. It had “Days” and “Autumn Almanac” on it but I can’t remember what it was called.
Kinda Kinks is a legit Kinks album - it was the second one they released, but it was later repackaged with a cover pic from the Village Green photo shoot, which confused things. “Nothin’ in the World Can Stop me Worrying ‘bout That Girl” is probably my favorite track on that one!
Be careful about recommending Kronikles - I’ve been looking for it for years to replace omega disk that was purloined when I lived in a roommate situation during the 1970s. Have not been able to find it new or digital fir a ling long time.
Love affair with them began with “You Really Got Me” and “Gotta Move.” I am partial to Muswell and all it represented. Though Ray often celebrates his small English village origins, he really wants to be an American - sometimes.
Don’t forget 2017’s Americana album from Ray and this very Kinks song:
Excellent point about the tension between Ray’s intrinsic Britishness and his love of American music and culture. It really does pop up throughout the Kinks catalog - arguably going all the way back to “You Really Got Me”.
I have the original release of the double CD and have about worn it out. Like Bowie, and many others, Kinks are a wonderful singles band and conceptual artists simultaneously.
Thanks for including Word of Mouth. I have always loved that album. And I refuse to apologize for my Kinks-arena rock fandom. I think The Kinks did better than any of the other legacy rock acts of fusing classic rock, punk, new wave, etc. into one coherent sound. But perhaps my all-time favorite Kinks song is off of Sleepwalker in “Life Goes On.”
I have a real soft spot for Phobia. Somehow that was one of the cassettes I had with me on my 1993 Europe travels/class study/internship, and I listened to that one perhaps more than any of the others I brought with me.
I must stand up for Soap Opera and Schoolboys in Disgrace. Despite some clunkers and the pretty disposable storylines, there’s good stuff in there!
And of course, you and I shared many good spins of Give the People What They Want and State of Confusion. I can see the turntable in my dad’s living room now…
Oh yeah — Give the People and SOC haven't aged particularly well for me, but they certainly came through for us when you and I needed them! And agreed on Soap Opera and Schoolboys; they each have some great songs (especially "Schooldays" and "No More Looking Back" on the latter), though their more "Caba-Ray" moments can be awfully trying...
To anyone reading this: You MUST listen to the Ray Davies Storyteller album if you have not yet (Bet you have, but still ...) I was lucky enough to catch the original tour at the historic, intimate Orpheum Theater in Denver. It was one of the most magical, mesmerizing performance I've witnessed.
Recently rewatched that Sopranos episode featuring LOATL from 2001, “University”. Just another of a long list of brutal (and shocking) looks at those guys from Jersey. And yet Paulie sums it all up with this take on Ralph:
He disrespected The Bing!
NEVER disrespect The Bing!
Yup. “The Bing” (actually, Satin Dolls) was featured in an early Anthony Bourdain “No Reservations” ep. about Jersey I also recently just watched.
Anyway, here’s my 3 (from different eras) which I’ve always liked but never hear anywhere these days:
Dedicated Follower of Fashion
Alcohol
National Health
Them: “Fabs or Stones?”
Me: “Kinks.”
Repeatedly, since my own epiphany in 1976. Entry point was “Kronikles” with John Mendelsohn’s indeliable liner notes.
I actually saw Ray at the Albert Hall (Mick Avory sat in on a couple of tunes) in 2007, but my favorite memory was texting a request for “Days” to Lauren Laverne at BBC 6 Music during the first month of the pandemic. To hear her lilting voice with my name and the first guitar strums was sublimely moving. As the Kinks so often were...
Nice, Bill..........Your mention of Mendelsohn (a fellow music writer/critic) makes me wonder if you were ever hip to his Christopher Milk band (on Warner Bros. Records, early '70s)?
Love the Kinks, though casually. But the way Sandy Becker rocked that "Give the People What They Want" tour T-shirt in 10th grade homeroom—now that's a good memory too...
A 3-headed coin toss of Face to Face, Something Else*, and Village Green. (*has to be mono—can’t stand the stereo mix). Kronicles is the komp! I’ll always have a soft spot for a few tracks off Give the People What They Want. I started with early singles, then arena rock in HS, then much later going back for the classic full LP listens (due to hanging out with Phil Angotti). In a top 10 British rock bands list I’d put them 3rd, just ahead of The Who for 60’s; if including 70’s & beyond they flip spots.
“Better Things” is one of their all-time great tracks; I just wish the rest of Give The People was anywhere near it. I loved the album when it came out, but I rarely spin it today.
Oh, and I kind of love the jankiness of the Something Else stereo mix, probably because it was decades before I heard it in mono. But yeah, the mono mix is incredible.
Fun piece! I can’t quarrel with anything in your Top 10. The first Kinks album I bought was “Low Budget” (before school, a bunch of us would listen to the Loop and when “Gallon of Gas” came on, I remember this one Zeppelin fan shouting, “The Kinks! Punk Rock!”). I followed it up with Preservation Act 2 because it was a double album that cost $1.99 in the cut-out bin. Tried to get into it but never could. The albums that were probably most significant to me were “State of Confusion,” which came out during a rough patch of high school and was the first album I remember where the lp and cassette were different and the track listings on the cassette were wrong, including a listing for a song called “Once a Thief” that wasn’t on either the lp or the cassette. “Lola Vs. Powerman” was my soundtrack whenever I was leaving to go somewhere (I.e. “This Tine Tomorrow”) and the one I’ve played most often is “Kinda Kinks,” unless that’s a greatest hits album in which case it doesn’t count. There was also a Spanish import compilation cassette I bought in the Vassar College bookstore. It had “Days” and “Autumn Almanac” on it but I can’t remember what it was called.
Kinda Kinks is a legit Kinks album - it was the second one they released, but it was later repackaged with a cover pic from the Village Green photo shoot, which confused things. “Nothin’ in the World Can Stop me Worrying ‘bout That Girl” is probably my favorite track on that one!
Cool. Good to know I wasn’t cheating.
To make that stereo mix even worse try the first issue of the CD, on a car stereo or headphones!
Be careful about recommending Kronikles - I’ve been looking for it for years to replace omega disk that was purloined when I lived in a roommate situation during the 1970s. Have not been able to find it new or digital fir a ling long time.
Love affair with them began with “You Really Got Me” and “Gotta Move.” I am partial to Muswell and all it represented. Though Ray often celebrates his small English village origins, he really wants to be an American - sometimes.
Don’t forget 2017’s Americana album from Ray and this very Kinks song:
https://youtu.be/oM_x6C-MGkE?si=0Z0T9Je4nNPzlWXd
Excellent point about the tension between Ray’s intrinsic Britishness and his love of American music and culture. It really does pop up throughout the Kinks catalog - arguably going all the way back to “You Really Got Me”.
Above should have said “one disk that was purloined.”
I have the original release of the double CD and have about worn it out. Like Bowie, and many others, Kinks are a wonderful singles band and conceptual artists simultaneously.
Thanks for including Word of Mouth. I have always loved that album. And I refuse to apologize for my Kinks-arena rock fandom. I think The Kinks did better than any of the other legacy rock acts of fusing classic rock, punk, new wave, etc. into one coherent sound. But perhaps my all-time favorite Kinks song is off of Sleepwalker in “Life Goes On.”
I have a real soft spot for Phobia. Somehow that was one of the cassettes I had with me on my 1993 Europe travels/class study/internship, and I listened to that one perhaps more than any of the others I brought with me.
“Life Goes On” is such a great song, and a perfect album closer.
I must stand up for Soap Opera and Schoolboys in Disgrace. Despite some clunkers and the pretty disposable storylines, there’s good stuff in there!
And of course, you and I shared many good spins of Give the People What They Want and State of Confusion. I can see the turntable in my dad’s living room now…
Oh yeah — Give the People and SOC haven't aged particularly well for me, but they certainly came through for us when you and I needed them! And agreed on Soap Opera and Schoolboys; they each have some great songs (especially "Schooldays" and "No More Looking Back" on the latter), though their more "Caba-Ray" moments can be awfully trying...
I'm a Something Else... guy but Village Green is undeniable. Ray Davies might be my favorite songwriter, sorry Pete Townshend... So consistently good.
Yeah, I’d take him over Pete as well…
same wavelength again Dan. face to face, village green, arthur. later records? low budget. give the people. always enjoy reading you mate! xo
Thanks, brother! And Happy New Year!
To anyone reading this: You MUST listen to the Ray Davies Storyteller album if you have not yet (Bet you have, but still ...) I was lucky enough to catch the original tour at the historic, intimate Orpheum Theater in Denver. It was one of the most magical, mesmerizing performance I've witnessed.
That was a wonderful show.
Wot, no "U.K. Jive"?
Hahaha - that one was better than Think Visual, at least!
Sadly, a fair point….
And the only time I ever saw them play "Too Much On My Mind" was on the UK Jive tour, so I'm grateful for that album for that reason alone...
Oh wow! Sadly, never saw them, though a friend caught them at an ice-skating rink outside Philly in '81 or so and was underwhelmed....
Muswell Hillbillies is my #1 but I love Preservation Society almost as much