Ray Davies suffered badly from the “You need to put out another hit by tomorrow” attitude of record companies. He had severe mental and physical problems all his life, and like other artists, mined his tormented life for empathetical art. “Waterloo Sunset” emerged from a hospitalization as a child. So did much of his other music, the rage at first, the need for people later.
Underrated? Definitely. Also unique.
We’re listening to 20th Century Man on One for the Road. All time album.
Hot take: the Kinks’ finest decade was the 1980s.
Yeah, that’s a tragic and traumatic part of Ray’s adolescence. He had a special bond with his older sister, she gave him his first guitar.
Got to love an album espousing trans sex and masturbation!
It’s hard to agree with that, but some days “Do it Again” is my favorite Kinks song.
“Do It Again” also happens to be the title of Geoff Edgers’ independent film documenting his attempt to get the band back together…something we fans have long wished for.
I’ve never seen/heard that song but the video is hilarious. It looks like so much fun.
Wow, he took on a sisyphean job there. Ray and Dave do not like each other. I haven’t seen it, but will have to now.
Hehe, I remember seeing that video on MTV tons of times during my youth. I probably didn’t appreciate it enough at the time, but it really is a gem of a video.
But the lyrics were what stuck in my head. The theme of “this is life, you do it again” really is just about everyone’s story. As Ray said:
Which ties into the idea that even though he was a star, he still understood the working class’ position wasn’t that different.
The host of a music podcast I listen to once said, if someone asks who’s better, the Beatles or the Stones, your reply should be the Kinks!
Those are the four great British Invasion bands.
I don’t know whether the Kinks were better than the Beatles, but the Beatles had some advantages that the Kinks didn’t have, like bigger recording budgets and a legendary producer.
The Kinks had a huge handicap when it came to “making it” in the US in the last half of the 60s. Band infighting, conflicts with promoters and unions all added up to them being banned from performing in the States from late '65 until 1969. Those were prime years for rock concerts when many acts made a name for themselves and their fan bases grew…while the Kinks were effectively relegated to the sidelines.
Likely the most bizarrely perfect uses of a Kinks song ever was having the dancers at the Bada Bing dancing to “Living On A Thin Line” in an episode of The Sopranos. That is the antithesis of a sexxay song and yet…it works. It really really works.
The older I get the more I appreciate The Kinks and I’m having the great joy of introducing my musically inclined teenaged grandchild to the genius of the Bros Davies.
I read an interview with Dave last week (no cite, sorry) and he was very gracious towards Ray. I was surprised to say the least.
That must be why “God’s Children” gets to me. I’m by no means a “believer.”
ISWYDT
Form Dave’s relatively recent autobiography (worth reading), Living on a Thin Line: