# The official KINKS appreciation thread.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-kinks-appreciation-thread/254997>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 14, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-kinks-appreciation-thread/254997 "2004-07-14T01:33:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-kinks-appreciation-thread/254997/21 "2004-07-16T17:56:31Z")

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Hey, I’ve got a good trivia question. Only thing is, I don’t know the answer, I’m soliciting it.

Somewhere on videotape, I have the promo video for “Rock And Roll Cities”. The plot is that nobody can find Ray, and the group is going on tour. Dave is shown at home with wife and all kinds of kids. The woman playing his wife looks a lot like Marina Sirtis. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

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**Author:** ![DaddyTimesTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@DaddyTimesTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaddyTimesTwo)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-kinks-appreciation-thread/254997/22 "2004-07-16T18:49:42Z")

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I saw the Kinks in concert when I was a sophomore in high school. I actually went, tho, to see the opening band. _The Romantics_. :o Anyway, I have always liked the singles I’ve heard from the Kinks, but the albums left me unmoved. but, if it works for you… 😉

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**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-kinks-appreciation-thread/254997/23 "2004-07-16T19:02:55Z")

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How’s your father, how’s your mother?  
How’s your sister, how’s your brother?  
How’s your brand, new limousine,  
Twenty-four inch TV screen?  
Did you like prosperity  
More than you liked poverty?  
Life is easier, so much easier,  
Life is easier  
now.

love the Kinks.

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**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-kinks-appreciation-thread/254997/24 "2004-07-16T19:18:41Z")

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> [@fishbicycle](#):
>
> Hey, I’ve got a good trivia question. Only thing is, I don’t know the answer, I’m soliciting it.
> 
> Somewhere on videotape, I have the promo video for “Rock And Roll Cities”. The plot is that nobody can find Ray, and the group is going on tour. Dave is shown at home with wife and all kinds of kids. The woman playing his wife looks a lot like Marina Sirtis. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

She looks like Marina Sirtis cos she is indeed Marina Sirtis. Dave talks about in it his book, and I’ve seen it mentioned in articles occasionally.

Here is a link about it

[http://kinks.it.rit.edu/musicvideos/](http://kinks.it.rit.edu/musicvideos/)

🙂

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**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-kinks-appreciation-thread/254997/25 "2004-07-16T19:28:15Z")

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His name is **Inigo Montoya**. You razed his pally. Prepare to die.

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**Author:** ![Mr.Roboto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@Mr.Roboto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Roboto)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-kinks-appreciation-thread/254997/26 "2004-07-18T15:51:39Z")

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I was givin a $50 gift certificate a couple of years ago to the best Record Store  
in Long Beach,CA.  
Out of all the Thousands of CD’s there, I bought,“The Kinks,the EP Collection2”  
These Guys are one of the greatest Bands ever!

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**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-kinks-appreciation-thread/254997/27 "2004-07-18T16:11:43Z")

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Great band and in _X Ray_, his “unauthorised autobiography”, Ray proves himself a dab hand at the book writing caper. Cleverly told, with Ray the narrator being a minion of a faceless futuristic conglomerate charged with the task of uncovering all the secrets of aged rocker Ray Davies. So Ray talks to himself through the book.

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**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-kinks-appreciation-thread/254997/28 "2004-07-18T16:14:18Z")

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I got my secondhand but near new hard cover copy of _X Ray_ through Amazon for $4 about 6 months ago.

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**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\
**Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-kinks-appreciation-thread/254997/29 "2004-07-19T00:19:20Z")

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Unless this thread was opened by the Kinks, it’s an _unofficial_ Kinks appreciation, isn’t it?

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**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\
**Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-kinks-appreciation-thread/254997/30 "2004-07-19T00:40:24Z")

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[QUOTE=arjee]  
While I like the Kinks, I wouldn’t say I’m overly ardent. But I will say that in addition to their hits, I rather like the album, “Give the People What They Want.” I’m the only person I know who owns that album.

[QUOTE]

You’re not alone, arjee:

_When Oswald shot Kennedy, he was insane  
But still we watch the replay, again and again  
We all sit glued as the killer takes aim  
“Hey, Mom, there goes a piece of the president’s brain!”_  
(From “Give the People What They Want”)

I love that album. “Around the Dial” is a perfect companion to the Ramones “End of the Century.” Both are about the decline in rock music as they saw it in the '80s.

Around the Dial  
_Hey Mr. DJ / Why did they take you off the air / Was it something that you said to the corporation guys upstairs? / It wasn’t depression / You never sounded down / It couldn’t be the ratings / You had the best in town._

End of the Century  
_Do you remember lying in bed / With the covers pulled up over your head / radio playing so no one could see? / We need change and we need it fast / Before rock becomes just a thing of the past / 'Cause lately it all sounds the same to me._

I have a special fondness for “Ducks on the Wall” from “Soap Opera.” I thought it was just a goofy song (which it is) with lines like “I love you baby/but I can’t ball/while I see those/ducks on the wall.” Later, I learned that the ceramic ducks-in-flight-formation was a common decorating scheme in British housing (at least, I believe so). In the book of album designs by Hipgnosis – the company noted for their Pink Floyd covers – one of their unused ideas was a parody of ducks on the wall, only using real ducks spitted by arrows.

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**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\
**Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-kinks-appreciation-thread/254997/31 "2004-07-19T02:31:57Z")

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God save Donald Duck, vaudeville and Variety.

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**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\
**Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-kinks-appreciation-thread/254997/32 "2004-07-19T02:51:00Z")

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“No one has to be hip in my super sonic rocket ship”

Yea, I am a pretty big fan.

(I also believe that they have the greatest holiday tune ever with “Father Christmas.” )

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**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-kinks-appreciation-thread/254997/33 "2005-06-20T02:15:06Z")

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Just wanted you all to know, I am appreciating the hell outta “Come Dancing” tonight.

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**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-kinks-appreciation-thread/254997/34 "2005-06-20T02:51:45Z")

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One of the best bands ever. Period. Awesome.

Best albums? _Something Else, Village Green, Face to Face, Arthur_. And\* then\* they had a ton of non-album singles that were every bit as good, B-sides and A’s.

I have a copy of _Great Lost Kinks Album_ on vinyl. Most if not all of those tracks are indeed available elsewhere.

Saw a great video they did as a promo for “Dead End Street” on TV in Iceland. Black and white, and the lads are pallbearers… very entertaining.

I’ll also put in a vote for Kinks-as-most-underrated-band-in-rock-history.

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**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-kinks-appreciation-thread/254997/35 "2005-06-20T03:31:31Z")

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> [@gum](#):
>
> Did you like prosperity  
> More than you liked poverty?  
> Life is easier, so much easier,  
> Life is easier  
> now.
> 
> love the Kinks.

EXACTLY ! ! !  
Nobody else can make you feel guilty about the success you’ve achieved through REALLY HARD WORK like these guys. And all they gotta do is put in the caveat:  
"How’s your father, how’s your mother?  
How’s your sister, how’s your brother?  
How’s your brand, new limousine,  
Twenty-four inch TV screen? "  
Knowing damned well you’ll forget where you came from…brilliant.

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**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-kinks-appreciation-thread/254997/36 "2005-06-20T03:51:20Z")

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I was planning to start a thread re: the Kinks. It would have been titled:

**The Kinks could have been right up there with the Beatles if they’d had some good singers.**

The quality and volume of song writing was right up there. Production was good. They had a grip on the popular wave. But the singing…Ray, Dave–hire someone with a good voice to sing your stuff!

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**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-kinks-appreciation-thread/254997/37 "2005-06-20T04:06:08Z")

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> [@NoCoolUserName](#):
>
> Ray, Dave–hire someone with a good voice to sing your stuff!

:mad: Ray sang better than Dylan and Kotke _combined_!

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**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-kinks-appreciation-thread/254997/38 "2005-06-20T04:14:44Z")

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Hey, ‘go, you really got me goin’ - remember this when it first came out. Ah, the memories…

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**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-kinks-appreciation-thread/254997/39 "2005-06-20T13:58:01Z")

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> [@NoCoolUserName](#):
>
> But the singing…Ray, Dave–hire someone with a good voice to sing your stuff!

I thought the singing was fine, but didn’t they use Ray’s wife for backing vocals sometimes?

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**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-kinks-appreciation-thread/254997/40 "2005-06-20T14:30:32Z")

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> [@NoCoolUserName](#):
>
> But the singing…Ray, Dave–hire someone with a good voice to sing your stuff!

They got better as they went along. I can see how the vocals wouldn’t be to everyone’s taste, especially in their early stuff, but Ray—and Dave too—became quite and skillful and versatile singer, with a wide range of vocal personas and accents.

And yes, Ray’s then-wife Raisa did sing backup on some of their 60s records.

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