KINKS KULTURE THEN AND NOW

Last summer I was checking out some tote bags at my local K-Mart. These were no ordinary tote bags; in fact, each was a collectable cultural artifact with the name of a pop group gaily emblazoned across it. As I went through the pile I tried to note who was who in the pop tote bag game...Doobie Brothers, Bee Gees, Jacksons, Kinks...

Kinks? Not Kinks as in Roy Davies And The?! What were they doing in there? The thought of 13-year-olds hanging around the malls with their Kinks tote bags, singing “Dead End Street” does have a certain charm, I’ll admit. And coming soon, Big Bill Broonzy American Tour windbreakers!

Well, it’s a summer later and the Kinks are justifying their tote bag status. Low Budget, last year’s opus, was their 24th album and, incredibly, their first gold album in the United States. Other, bigger (i.e., worse), bands have gone on a binge of covering Ray Davies tunes lately, notably Van Halen (“You Really Got Me”), the Pretenders (“Stop Your Sobbing”), and the Knack (“The Hard Way.”) A new doublelive album, One For The Road, has just been issued, with a complementary video cassette available for monied Kinks’ fans.

Clearly, the Kinks’ cult days are over. The halcyon days beckon, and who can begrudge them? After 16 of the quirkiest years in rockdom, the merry-go-round has slowed down enough to let the Kinks jump on board . Everyone take a little bit here...

Only the Stones and the Who have gone the musical distance with the Kinks, although no one in the Kinks has ever died. And, while the years are finally starting to be good, they certainly haven’t been easy. The Kinks have gone through three American record labels, mass consumer apathy, and numerous personnel changes during their tenure. But, amazingly, three-fourths of the original group are still Kinks: singer/guitarist/guiding light Ray Davies, lead guitarist and former wunderkind Dave Davies, and drummer Mick Avory, who once auditioned for the Stones. Bob Seger looks like an overnight sensation next to these guys.

For easy reference purposes the history of the Kinks can be neatly divided into four periods. The first, running from 1964 through 1966, found them banging out their now-legendary power chords, laying the foundation for much of the Who’s early success, and enjoying reasonable popularity. Oddly enough, this era (referred to by students of obscure musical history as “The British Invasion*’) has enjoyed a nostalgic rebirth lately, for reasons too abstruse and annoying to discuss any further.

The second period (1967-1970) could aptly be dubbed the studio years. Touring Europe only (or not at all) during most of this period, the Kinks’ U.S. popularity essentially vanished. By strange Co-incidence the quality of their albums during this time surpassed practically everything else on the market. Funny how these things work. This second era culminated and ended with “Lola,” the Kinks’ renewed touring of the land of the fee, and a severing of relationships with Reprise Records.

Stage three (1971-1978) was characterized by general chaos. Starting out with RCA, the Kinks all drank a strange potion that changed them from a literate, thoughtful, and altogether fascinating group into an intolerable bunch of whiners. Naturally, their popularity in the States began to climb, and tours too numerous and unimportant to recall were undertaken. In the studio, Ray Davies began to spend his energies on grandiose and unfathomable projects. During this time, the Kinks started their own production company (Konk), skipped from RCA to Arista, and proved they could sing “Lola” onstage about as well as Brian Wilson can coherently discuss the meaning of life.

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Which brings us to stage four. Let’s call it the resuscitation and recovery period. The present-day Kinks, touring as madly as ever (and headlining! and in arenas!) are apparently trying to get their popularity to match up with the quality of their material, or vice versa. It’s the old square-peg-in-theround-hole, and judging from the last decade, it’s not their popularity they have to worry about. But Low Budget did show threatening signs of life, as did their 1978 yuletide single, “Father Christmas.” And, to be fair, everybody else who burned up the ’60’s pretty much went through the 70’s in a wheelchair.

So, if the Kinks are indeed back, let’s welcome them. An important rock critic told me that the amazing thing about the Kinks is that they’re still around at all, and forget the caliber of their music. Like Davies said some 10 years ago, “I’m the last of the steam-powered trains...and I’m gonna keep on rolling till my dying day.” Looks like he meant it.

KORDOSH’S KONVENIENT KINKS KONSUMER KATALOGUE: Hey pal, wanna know more about the Kinks? You betcha do. But you don’t wanna have to wade through all 25 of those albums, even if you could find ’em all: Well, it’s your lucky day... that’s right, I’ve assumed the onerous burden for you! Only after many hours of painstaking research, scads of gut-wrenching value judgements, and a few showers was I able to compile 'the following chronological recap of every Kinks LP issued in the United States. It’s fun to read and fun to talk about, and remember...you pay nothing extra! Got a Valium handy? OK, bottoms up, and let’s learn more about the Kinks than you can shake a cricket bat at.

“You Really Got Me” (Reprise 6143)— 1964:: The title cut hit #7 on the U.S. singles charts and the legend begins. Even though there are only four Ray Davies compositions on this debut disc (“So Mystifying,” “Just Can’t Go To Sleep,” “You Really Got Me,” and “Stop Your Sobbing”) this is a good-sounding record. And it’s funny. Ray turns his inability to sing “Too Much Monkey Business” into an asset, limping through a laff-a-minute lame vocal that will stand unchallenged until he tries to sing “Dancing in the Street” or Chrissie Hynde tries to sing “Stop Your Sobbing.”) Although the LP made it to *29 in the States, it’s now cut out of Reprise’s catalogue. Too bad. Actually, “You Really Got Me” is so much better, than everything else on this record there is some question if Davies really wrote it. I suspect that a high school student from Baltimore actually wrote (and played lead guitar on) this wall-of-sound fave.

“Kinks-Size” (Reprise 6158)—1965:: The gaudiest graphics of any Kinks album makes this LP quite a prize. Also, the quality of R. Davies’ compositions is beginning to pick up, and here we find such really decent tunes as “Tired of Waiting for You,” “I Gotta Go Now,” “Come On Now,” and “All Day and All of the Night.” For anyone who’s interested, the sound quality of this (and subsequent Kinks LPs until Something Else) is noticeably poorer than their debut album. By any other yardstick, though, this is a better album (even made #13) and well worth owning. Reprise has helpfully removed it from its catalogue.

“Kinda Kinks” (Reprise 6173)—1965:: After eating his songwriting Wheaties, Davies pens ’em all on this offering! Except “Dancing in the Street!” Which he sings like a wimp! Which makes it indistinguishable from most of his own tunes here! Banal boy/girl songs assault hapless listeners! Album sniffs, making only #60 Stateside! Oh well, the last cut on this LP is “Something Better Beginning,” which is true, anyway. Better things are coming and Kinds Kinks, never regarded as Reprise’s White Album, is subsequently cut out. My copy has a sticker saying “TV Spectacular...$1.39!” That sounds about right... Kinda Kinks is kinda lousy.

Face To Face matches anything the Beatles, Stones or Who were doing at the sametime.

“Kinks Kinkdom” (Reprise 6184)— 1965:: Aha. Even though some of this sounds like Kinda Kinks, Davies is starting to write like the guy we’ll eventually know. “A Well Respected Man,” the song that probably did more to establish his rep than any other, is included. Better songs, though, are “See My Friends,” “Who’ll Be the Next in Line,” “It’s All Right,” and, the song that really signals the emergence of the Davies wit, “Don’t You Fret.” (“Pour a brand new pot of tea, make my favorite kind of dish”) Another cut-out, Kinks Kinkdom, only hit #47, possibly due to public backlash at seeing “Louie Louie” again...it was just on Kinks-Size!

“The Kink Kontroversy” (Reprise 6197)—1966:: It’s a toss-up whether Kontroversy or Face to Face really kicks off the Great Era of the Kinks. Kontroversy is surely not nolo contendre, though, with the inclusion of “Till the End of the Day,” “The World Keeps Going ’Round,” “Where Have All the Good Times Gone,” and the cream of this crop, “I’m On An Island.” Their best LP up to this time, it only made 95, the beginning of a trend that will haunt the Kinks as they start making even better albums. Naturally, no longer available throuh Reprise.

“The Kinks Greatest Hits” (Reprise 6217)—1966:: Accept no imitations. (See RCA’s The Kinks’ Greatest). This is the Kinks’ hottest tamales, through ’66 anyway. “Dedicated Follower of Fashion” (as a single, #4 in Britain, #50 here) is seen on an American LP for the first time. Their best-selling album at the time(#9), I am advised by Reprise that it’s no longer listed. Curious.

Village Green is arguably the best album anyone’s ever made...

“Face To Face (Reprise 6228)—1967:: The long dive to the bottom of the charts continues inversely proportional to the quality of the Kinks’ material. Face To Face remains one of their most listenable LPs and compares favorably to anything the Beatles, Stones, or Who were doing at the same time. Davies’ wit and social consciousness are rising at a prodigious pace with tunes like “Rosy Won’t You Please Come Home,” “Session Man,” “Holiday In Wakiki,” and the immortal “Sunny Afternoon” all turning up here. And, as far as I’m concerned, even Davies has never matched the snide vocal on “House In The Country,” so there can’t be too many snider vocals around. Reprise must have sold out their pressing; this LP is no longer listed and has long since made the rounds in the bargain bins. I don’t care; I like this album so much I’m going to buy it something to eat.

“The Live Kinks” (Reprise 6260)— 1967:: “An orgy for ears” the liner notes say, and I’m not gonna argue with that. It’s an open question as to whether the audience or the band sounds better, but they both sound great. The Live Kinks serves as a tasty retrospective of their mid-60’s hits with the band playing at what must have been their in-concert best. Everyone’s,in excellent voice, and, from the sound of things, Pete Quaife’s bass could beat up Paul McCartney’s bass. A far better album than Reprise’s Kinks Greatest‘Hits, The Live Kinks makes Live At Leeds sound like Gilbert O’Sullivan out-takes. Reprise has only sold about 53,000 copies to date, so it’s still available. Buy'it now.

“Something Else By The Kinks” (Reprise 6279)—1968:: Meanwhile, back in the studio, things are even brighter. Removed from the rigors of touring the States, Davies’ sense of humor and irony take quantum leaps, and even brother Dave lands some good material on vinvl. Something Else contains what is generally cited as the pinnacle of Davies’ work, “Waterloo Sunset,” a simply haunting and beautiful song. Other tracks that border on the sensational are “David Watts,” Dave’s “Death Of A Clown,” “Harry Rag,” and “Situation Vacant.” You’ll find Jimmy Hoffa before you find a bad song on this album. Something Else has only sold 39,000 copies in the U.S. since its release. That’s like if you knew the five people that ever bought Sgt. Pepper. But incredibly, the worst is yet to come. (Still available in fine record stores, by the way.)

“The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society” (Reprise 6327) —1969:: Sales figures bottom out as artistic integrity peaks. Whereas Something Else assured the Kinks of a permanent place in rock history (oh Boy!), Village Green practically out-Kinked the Kinks. Retreating even further into his songwriting shell, Davies presents an album that’s 100 years out of its time,.one way or the other. In the process, he seizes control of the production reins...or is so credited for the first time, anyway.

This is a puzzling album. It’s the first Kinks album to not crack the Top 200 in America. It’s sold fewer copies—38,000—than any Kinks album still carried by Reprise. (Shit, they probably haven’t sold out the first pressing in 11 years.) Yet it’s not only arguably the best album the Kinks ever made, it’s arguably the best album anyone’s ever made.

Village Green is replete with example of vintage lyrical Ray Davies. Speculate on the kind of mind that could come up with a song like “Big Sky” (“Big Sky looked down on all the people who think they got problems/ They get depressed and they hold their head in their hands and they cry/People lift up their hands and they look up to the Big Sky/But the Big Sky’s too big to sympathize”) or “People Take Pictures Of Each Other” (“People take pictures of the summer/Just in case someone thought they had missed it/And to prove that it really existed.”)

By the way, the album didn’t get much airplay either.

“Arthur, Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire” (Reprise 6366)— 1969:: The era of the rock opera has begun and the Kinks, by now the best studio band in the world (with the possible exception of John, Paul, et al.) quite naturally put out the best rock opera in the world. Arthur is simply the heartwarming story of a middle-class British carpet-layer. Really commercial stuff, you bet. Anyway, far from being a pinball wizard who takes acid and may or may not be a messaih, Arthur simply lives out his vinyl life from the days of Victoria through World War II until his kids are grown and married and can’t talk to the old man anymore. In the process, the Kinks bop things up a bit more than they did on Village Green and continue to churn out the most thought-provoking material in the biz. Reprise has only sold 100,000 Arthurs to date, but don’t let that fool you. It makes Tommy look like Tammy.

Arthur makes Tommy look like Tammy.

On a sad note, Pete Quaife has left the band on this LP, to be replaced by John Dalton. What’s gonna happen next?

“Lola vs. Powerman And The Moneyground, Part I” (Reprise 6423)— 1970:: Having successfully fooled the public for the last four years Davies writes “Lola” and the Kinks are re-discovered. Naturally, another “Concept album” (love that phrase), but Davies is up to it, even if only through sheer inertia from his last three LPs.

Lola finds the Kinks doing all sorts of weird things they haven’t been doing for years—like letting Dave Davies play lead guitar parts—and is probably more accessible than its immediate predecessors. The album tells the humorous story of how rock musicians can get themselves into all sort of unpredictable financial messes and almost lose their sanity in the process. (No, it’s not about Led Zeppelin.) I won’t argue with anyone who says this is the Kinks’ best, and neither will Reprise. It made #35 in the States and is their hottest Kinks disc to date, having sold about 135,000 copies thus far. And here I thought every album shipped 135,000. By the way, don’t hold your breath waiting for Part 2.

“Muswell Hillbillies” (RCA LSP4644)—1971:: Well, a lot happened the year between Lola and this album. Reprise, having stuck with the Kinks through lean and thin, has gone the way of Pete Quaife; our heroes are now on RCA. Keyboardist John Gosling has become a fifth Kink. And the band has been touring the States, albeit in a drunken and awkward fashion.

This would be a good time to start a “Ray Davies is dead” rumor. Not much on Muswell Hillbillies sounds like the last six LPs. Overbearing horn sections, soon to be a dominant feature in Kinks product, begin to make their insidious presence felt. Davies is starting to carp about his mental problems on tunes like “Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues” and “Holiday.” This will also become a cockroach in the spaghetti over the next few years. And Ray has even let his hair grow long, and only four years too late.

In fairness, there are some good cuts on Muswell Hillbillies, notably “Skin And Bone” (which sounds like a humorous musical take off on Cab Calloway’s “A Chicken Ain’t Nothin’ But A Bird”), “Alcohol” (soon to be an in-concert must) and “Complicated Life” (“Life is overrated, life is complicated”). And compared to what’s coming, this is the second side of Abbey Road.

It’s against RCA’s policy to reveal how many units of a particular record are sold— imagine what terrorists, writers, and other hoodlums could do with such information! —but Muswell Hillbillies only hit #100 in the States. The label removed it from its catalogue, but it’s been re-issued as Pickwick ACL-7074.

“The Kink Kronikles” (Reprise 6454)— 1972:: Five months later, the Reprise Empire strikes back! Knowing full well how many good tracks they have in the can, they release this double-album compilation, drawing upon some of the best of Face To Face through Lola and a plethora of equally good stuff hitherto unseen on U.S. albums. Careful scrutiny of the 28 tracks on this LP fails to reveal a dog in the bunch. Among the more obscure tunes, in America anyway, are “Polly,” “Dead End Street,” “Wonderboy,” “She’s Got Everything,” and “Days,” the last being in a class with “Waterloo Sunset.”

Happily, The Rink Kronikles topped Muswell Hillbillies in the charts (#94); even more happily, it’s still available. Reprise has unloaded about 120,000 copies of this LP so far, and if you want to hear some of the best rock of all time, make The Kink Kronikles your one-stop shopping place.

“Everybody’s In Show Biz” (RCA VPS-6065)—1972:: So much for the past, it’s time to face the ugly present. Another double album (two in four months for the Kinks?), Everybody’s In Show Biz is one of the most wretched examples of excess in a business of wretched excess. One disc is a live LP, although it serves far as better as large, black poker chip. The studio work serves as an insipid forum for Davies to vent his frustrations about things like touring and rock criticism. Important subjects, to be sure. In a sentence, this album is stupid, humorless, gaudy, still available, sounds like shit, and made #70.

Oh yeah...everybody might be in show biz, and everybody might be a star, but everybody sure don’t get their picture on the cover of Kinks albums anymore. Not unless everybody is Ray Davies.

“The Great Lost Kinks Album” (Reprise 2127)—1973:: Filling out the Kink Kronikles, emptying the Reprise vaults, and embarrassing RCA all at the same time! Although not the great lost Kinks’ album (Four More Respected Gentlemen, slated for release in 1968), this LP does feature two cuts from that Holy Grail of Kinkdom, “Misty Water” and “Mr. Songbird,” as well as several cuts from the also never-seen Dave Davies Reprise solo album. This is prime Kinks, though (14 songs in all), and an album of considerable ambience. Alas, The Great Lost Kinks Album has been lost again, and is now a Reprise cut-out.

“Preservation, Act 1” (RCA 5002)— 1973:: Coming out the same year as The Great Lost Kinks Album made this LP sounds as bad as it really was. The studio slide is accelerating; RCA must be wondering if they were slipped some ringers. Although (thankfully) no longer whining about the rigors of rock semi-stardom, Davies does present a rock opera at its most idiotic...and brother, that’s saying something. Only a couple of tunes on this album are even worth considering mentioning. I won’t mention them. So many people are listed in the credits that it’s uncertain exactly who the Kinks are, but who cares? Another RCA cut-out, Preservation, Act 1 has been re-issued as Pickwick ACL-7072. Now there’s a desperate label.

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“Preservation, Act 2” (RCA CPL 5040) —1974:: Even though this is a double album, it’s not twice as bad as Act 2. It’s easily three times worse. Preservation, Act 2 makes Quadrophenia look like an exercise in restraint. Fortunately, this LP is a cut-out, and don’t anyone tell Pickwick.

“Soap Opera” (RCA LPL 5081)—975 ::This album is so bad that if it were a baseball player it would be Pumpsie Green. You can’t buy it. You don’t want to buy it.

“Schoolboys In Disgrace” (RCA LPL 5102)—1975:: The last LP the Kinks made for RCA and, characteristically, the best. The long-standing mystery is solved (yawn)...the Kinks are Davies, Davies, Avory, Dalton and Gosling. Ray Davies was later to recall that keyboardist Gosling wasn’t happy with Preservation (which established his IQ at 80+), causing him to leave the group in later years. Anyway, Schoolboys almost hearkens to the days when you could listen to every cut on a Kinks’ album without wincing. But, of course, after Soap Opera, uncooked spam would’ve looked good. Of especial note are “I’m In Disgrace” and “The Hard Way,"’ the latter made popular by the Knack in 1980 on their Knack Knackdom album. If you must have a Kinks’ RCA album, this is the one to get—they haven’t deep-sixed it yet.

“The Kinks' Greatest—Celluloid Heroes” (RCA APL 1743)—1976:: Any greatest hits album with two cuts off of Soap Opera is just pulling your leg. Better titles would’ve been The Kinks’ RCA Hits, The Kinks’ Imaginary Hits or The Revenge Of RCA. Spend your hard-earned cash on the ginsu knife and Tarn-X, the miracle cleaner, before you buy this. RCA is still making it available to an unwitting public. “Sleepwalker” (Arista AL-4106)—1977 :: Clive Davis said in his book that RCA paid too much for the Kinks. Well, here they are on Arista with you-know-who. Strange bedfellows and all that aside, Sleepwalker isn’t a half-bad album. It’s a two-thirds bad album, with only the title cut and “Juke Box Music” emerging relatively unscathed. Are you sure these guys once did “Waterloo Sunset”? Sales figures for Sleepwalker have hit about 400,000, though, so there’s plenty of egg on my face. If you want it, you can still buy it, and if you want to vote for Ronald Regan you can do that too.

“Misfits” (Arista AB-4167)—l978:: The slow climb back to respectability is beginning. Misfits is an interesting combination of decent material and outright doggerel. Among the happy former are “Permanent Waves,” “Black Messiah,” and “In A Foreign Land,” the last being so good that you could almost slip it onto Face To Face comfortably. Candidates for the emesis bag include “Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy” (redundant titles aside, we get the idea by now, Ray...will you send us all singing telegrams about the music business next?) and “Out Of The Wardrobe,” another two-fisted look at transvestism. If you’re keeping score, John Dalton has packed his bass and left; Andy Pyle is his replacement. We’re also seeing the last of John Gosling here. Good luck, guys. Well, Misfits did about as well as Sleepwalker (400,000)—but will the real Kinks please stand up?

“Low Budget” (Arista AB-4240)—1979 :: I knew it! I knew if we waited long enough, Davies would write another good song, and jeepers, he almost wrote a whole good album here. “Low Budget” is a reasonable candidate for pop tune of the year, Sharona notwithstanding. I’ll bet my CREEM paycheck—after my newspaper boy cashes it, that is—that there isn’t a power-popper around who could dash off a line like “I’m dropping my standards so that I can buy more.” Back to school, kids. Other nouveau-Kinks charmers include “Gallon Of Gas,” “Attitude,” “National Health,” and “(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman. “How many other disco songs preached of doom and gloom? Way to go, Ray.

And last, but not listenably least, of course, “Catch Me Now, I’m Falling.” 1 know it’s two minutes too long. But how can you knock a tune that chides the selfish world for not helping us luckless Americans to the tune of “Jumping Jack Flash?”

No need to prop up the Kinks, though. Low Budget’s sold between 600,000 and 700,000 copies, and that’s a pretty good crutch for any band with the Kinks’ track record. Did I mention that the Kinks’ new keyboard player is Gordon Edwards, formerly a Pretty Thing? Or that Andy Pyle only lasted 11 months and has been replaced by Jim Rodford, late of Argent? Stick around, you might be playing bass for the Kinks next season.

“One For The Road” (Arista A2L-8401) —1980:: What do we need more, another live Kinks album or Pete Townshend’s conversion to Fundamentalism? OK, so it’s a loaded question; what we got was another live Kinks album. Two of ’em, in fact. And it’s (they’re) pretty good. I raised an eyebrow at the inclusion of “Where Have All The Good Times Gone,” ’’prince Of The Punks,” “Victoria,” and, especially, “David Watts.” 1 mean, these are good songs. So what if Ray can’t remember the words? At least this LP established Dave Davies as one of the most talented back-up vocalists in pop music, and that counts for something.

Naturally, Ray dominates the show (did you guess?) and if he could only rid himself of his obsession with “Day-O” (which, to be brutally frank, Harry Belafonte handles better), things would be a lot more tolerable.

But I won’t nit-pick. I like One For The Road and so do you. It entered the Billboard chart at #68 so it’s already outsold 90% of their other albums. And, say, Ian Gibbons is the new Kinks keyboardist. What’s going on here? I keep razor blades longer than these guys keep band members.