its a shame the kinks never got the respect they were due in the states. i guess some of the british humor never translated over the atlantic

You're right about the humor, but not all was lost!

Davies and gang may not have been quite as accomplished
in the performance dept, but they made up for it in wit.

GREAT group that always has a place in my listening needs.

Yes, another great band that evolved with the times. And Ray Davies' recent solo albums are strong too.
T@3

i guess some of the british humor never translated over the atlantic



...............Wasn't Dedicated Follower Of Fashion a fair size hit in the US ...

ROCKMAN

The Kinks never got their due in the States because they were making their best music when they were banned from performing in the States. They did very little wrong between Kink Kontroversy (1965) and Muswell Hillbillies (1971). Their work from that period compares favorably with any of their contemporaries. Sure, they eventually got to headline arenas in the States in the early '80s, but so much of their new music from that time is sheer pandering.

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ab
The Kinks never got their due in the States because they were making their best music when they were banned from performing in the States. They did very little wrong between Kink Kontroversy (1965) and Muswell Hillbillies (1971). Their work from that period compares favorably with any of their contemporaries. Sure, they eventually got to headline arenas in the States in the early '80s, but so much of their new music from that time is sheer pandering.

No, as a listener (and not concertgoer) from that time (the 80s), I have to disagree on the pandering comment. Ray Davies' songwriting was evolving, as was Dave Davies' guitar playing. Dave was integrating an influence from the punks (which he acknowledged at the time as a "breath of fresh air" and Ray was hardly pandering to Chrissie Hynde by marrying her. The Kinks 1965-1971 was certainly great, but why should it end there? Otherwise, they wouldn't have written and released all those albums up to 1993. They were lucky also to have had Jim Rodford come in on bass and Bob Henrit to have come in on drums, when in other bands such replacements would have been impossible. So that the brilliant songwriting of Ray (and Dave) Davies could have had such a rockin' template to push forward. And yes, still love the Kinks of the 80s, even if certain others don't hold them in such high regard.





So, let's hope, ab, that you are still seeking Better Things

even though such hopes may be just Cliches of the World





all the same, I hope your dreams of the Kinks don't get Scattered, but do indeed have the best of Days ahead







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-07-04 08:39 by stonesnow.

As an American I remember some friends who were hard core Kinks fans when we were teenagers. I acknowledged their British Invasion monster hits, but I never put them in the pantheon. Although they are bigger band than the Small Faces, they both share a certain British sensibility that Americans just shake their heads and don't comprehend, or enjoy. Of course they have a hardcore group of fans that extol every new Ray Davies song, but in general it's a rather cultish fan base.

I think Between the Buttons is the Stones equivalent of a 'British' album. It's amusing and vaudevillian and all that and then the Americans say, "Okay, now, enough of that. Rock and Roll for gods sake!" Which is why All Day And All Of The Night is treasured here, and Musswell Hillbillies is practically unknown.

I remember when they wouldn't stop playing Lola on the radio, but they kept playing every popular song over and over in the 70s. We get it, it's a boy.

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24FPS
As an American I remember some friends who were hard core Kinks fans when we were teenagers. I acknowledged their British Invasion monster hits, but I never put them in the pantheon. Although they are bigger band than the Small Faces, they both share a certain British sensibility that Americans just shake their heads and don't comprehend, or enjoy. Of course they have a hardcore group of fans that extol every new Ray Davies song, but in general it's a rather cultish fan base.

I think Between the Buttons is the Stones equivalent of a 'British' album. It's amusing and vaudevillian and all that and then the Americans say, "Okay, now, enough of that. Rock and Roll for gods sake!" Which is why All Day And All Of The Night is treasured here, and Musswell Hillbillies is practically unknown.

I remember when they wouldn't stop playing Lola on the radio, but they kept playing every popular song over and over in the 70s. We get it, it's a boy.

If you were listening to rock radio in '81, then you heard this one ad infinitum.







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-07-04 21:57 by stonesnow.

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keefriffhard4life
its a shame the kinks never got the respect they were due in the states. i guess some of the british humor never translated over the atlantic

It's a shame the Kinks never got the respect they were due in the UK, either. The album Something Else was the last album to chart in the UK--in 1967! Explain that one, UK record buyers!

In the early '80s, Ray would have 3 or 4 solid songs per album, enough to let the diehards know that he hadn't completely lost it (e.g., Better Things, Come Dancing, and The Road). But each gem was balanced by at least one bit of calculated pandering to the FM radio arena crowd (e.g., Catch Me Now I'm Falling, Destroyer, Back to Front, Hatred, and most tellingly Give the People What They Want).

Lola is ambiguous in the end. The last lines are: "I'm not the world's most masculine man, but I know what I am and I'm glad I'm a man and so is Lola." So is Lola a man, or is Lola glad the singer's a man?

Before Chrissie Hynde hooked up with Ray, she was one of his biggest fans. In 1974, she wrote a fawning review of Preservation Act II, one of their most tuneless albums, for NME or Melody Maker, five years before the Pretenders broke.

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stonesnow

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keefriffhard4life
its a shame the kinks never got the respect they were due in the states. i guess some of the british humor never translated over the atlantic

It's a shame the Kinks never got the respect they were due in the UK, either. The album Something Else was the last album to chart in the UK--in 1967! Explain that one, UK record buyers!

yikes i had no clue. funny enough they charted singles in the UK after 1967 but you're right i don't see and album charting positions. wtf???

Come Dancing, there's a perfect example of why the (later) Kinks sort of mystified American audience. It was the earliest days of MTV and they played that f-ing video over and over. It was an entertaining few minutes of old time English dance halls but no one would actually buy such a record and play it over and over.

The Kinks>>>>The Beatles?

Made me laugh anyway!

Love the Kinks, especially from 1966-1971. Beatles were ok, but are kind of stale for me now. Seems to me the Kinks were at their best during the same period the Beatles went downhill, after Revolver, their last decent album.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-07-04 21:10 by tkl7.

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Youngie
The Kinks>>>>The Beatles?

Made me laugh anyway!

shouldn't have made you laugh. ray davies was miles ahead of john and paul

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keefriffhard4life

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stonesnow

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keefriffhard4life
its a shame the kinks never got the respect they were due in the states. i guess some of the british humor never translated over the atlantic

It's a shame the Kinks never got the respect they were due in the UK, either. The album Something Else was the last album to chart in the UK--in 1967! Explain that one, UK record buyers!

yikes i had no clue. funny enough they charted singles in the UK after 1967 but you're right i don't see and album charting positions. wtf???

Part of the problem is the generational divide that exists among music fans in the UK. Though they had a 30-year recording career, they are still viewed in the UK--even among members of my generation--as belonging to the 1960s.

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24FPS
Come Dancing, there's a perfect example of why the (later) Kinks sort of mystified American audience. It was the earliest days of MTV and they played that f-ing video over and over. It was an entertaining few minutes of old time English dance halls but no one would actually buy such a record and play it over and over.

Come Dancing did chart in the U.S.--number 6 in 1983, but only made top 20 (number 12) in the UK. There is a new 3-CD collection out called Kinks Kollekted that has a stripped down reggae version of Come Dancing recorded in 1982 and released in the UK, but the single went nowhere. Then they dressed the song up in state-of-the-art production for inclusion on State of Confusion and the song became their biggest hit single since Tired Of Waiting For You. And it was also their last big hit.

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stonesnow

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24FPS
Come Dancing, there's a perfect example of why the (later) Kinks sort of mystified American audience. It was the earliest days of MTV and they played that f-ing video over and over. It was an entertaining few minutes of old time English dance halls but no one would actually buy such a record and play it over and over.

Come Dancing did chart in the U.S.--number 6 in 1983, but only made top 20 (number 12) in the UK. There is a new 3-CD collection out called Kinks Kollekted that has a stripped down reggae version of Come Dancing recorded in 1982 and released in the UK, but the single went nowhere. Then they dressed the song up in state-of-the-art production for inclusion on State of Confusion and the song became their biggest hit single since Tired Of Waiting For You. And it was also their last big hit.

and thats a shame since some songs from uk jive and phobia are great

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keefriffhard4life

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Youngie
The Kinks>>>>The Beatles?

Made me laugh anyway!

shouldn't have made you laugh. ray davies was miles ahead of john and paul

I love the Kinks. Have all their albums, and have seen them 10 times. Phenomenal live act! But it is a bit of hyper-boil to say they were miles ahead of John and Paul. Both incredible in different ways.
Regarding their popularity and later albums. I have to disagree that they were subpar. NO WAY. Both Give the People What They Want and State of Confusion are fantastic. Low budget was their Some Girls, and a classic. The pure rock and roll punk abandon of Low Budget is exhilarating, especially after some of their most turgid work with the long drawn out Preservation Acts. Low Budget sound like a band reborn back to their rock and roll roots. Ray is on fire on this disc, producing and playing some exquisite keyboards as well as guitar. In a Space has such a great funky space rock feel with Ray pounding out some great keys on it. A Little Bit of Emotion is Ray being so touching and heart rendering, with his plaintive British accent punctuating every stanza. A Gallon of Gas is a strange hybrid of 12 bar blues with a wonderful change and some great and fitting lyrics that resonate today.
The production is my greatest gripe on GTPWTW. It is that typical hollow 80's schtick, but it delivers. Cliche is great faux heavy metal ala Kinks style. Ray, throughout the entire album, sings incredibly. Don't Forget to Dance is another one of the Kinks classic slow waltzes that sounds so gentle, like a willow of sadness yearning for the past. Lovely song. So I have a lot of regard for a late career renaissance of The Kinks. Actually, during this time they were more popular and selling out larger stadiums and selling lots of albums, more than they 60's heyday. Also because of their ban, but starting in the late 70's and into the 80's their was a high demand for full adrenaline live rock, and The Kinks DELIVERED! They were constantly touring up through Think Visual and put on incredible shows. The touring continued up through Phobia, just not as often, but still fantastic shows. And what about To the Bone!!!? Now that one is incredible! A double disc of acoustic live stuff, much of it recorded in front of a small fan club audience at Konk Studios. What a lucky bunch! To be treated to Do You Remember Walter! WHEW! AMazing. And a definitive live version of Ape Man as well. A great release that any card carrying Kinks fan should not be without:-)
God Save The Kinks.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-07-04 23:01 by whitem8.

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keefriffhard4life

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stonesnow

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24FPS
Come Dancing, there's a perfect example of why the (later) Kinks sort of mystified American audience. It was the earliest days of MTV and they played that f-ing video over and over. It was an entertaining few minutes of old time English dance halls but no one would actually buy such a record and play it over and over.

Come Dancing did chart in the U.S.--number 6 in 1983, but only made top 20 (number 12) in the UK. There is a new 3-CD collection out called Kinks Kollekted that has a stripped down reggae version of Come Dancing recorded in 1982 and released in the UK, but the single went nowhere. Then they dressed the song up in state-of-the-art production for inclusion on State of Confusion and the song became their biggest hit single since Tired Of Waiting For You. And it was also their last big hit.

and thats a shame since some songs from uk jive and phobia are great

Another great underrated album with good songs is Think Visual.













It was also the last time Mick Avory appeared on a Kinks album, on the song Rock-n-Roll Cities. Dave was in Konk working on this song, and he needed a drummer to play on it. Though Avory was already out of the band by this point, Dave went upstairs (where Avory was working in his new clerical function as a Konk employee) and brought him downstairs to record.

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whitem8

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keefriffhard4life

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Youngie
The Kinks>>>>The Beatles?

Made me laugh anyway!

shouldn't have made you laugh. ray davies was miles ahead of john and paul

I love the Kinks. Have all their albums, and have seen them 10 times. Phenomenal live act! But it is a bit of hyper-boil to say they were miles ahead of John and Paul. Both incredible in different ways.
Regarding their popularity and later albums. I have to disagree that they were subpar. NO WAY. Both Give the People What They Want and State of Confusion are fantastic. Low budget was their Some Girls, and a classic.

yeah but john and paul bounced ideas off of eachother and co-wrote tunes together. other than the occasional dave tune the kinks were pretty much ray davies. did john or paul as a solo artist release a string of albums up to the level of quality as the kinks? thats really what i'm looking at when i say ray davies way better than john and paul

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keefriffhard4life

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Youngie
The Kinks>>>>The Beatles?

Made me laugh anyway!

shouldn't have made you laugh. ray davies was miles ahead of john and paul

[giggles]

Another, more-obscure album, To The Bone from 1996, was also their last. It features their final 2 new songs.





Funny how they split just as Britpop came to the fore praising the Kinks to the heavens.

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Youngie

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keefriffhard4life

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Youngie
The Kinks>>>>The Beatles?

Made me laugh anyway!

shouldn't have made you laugh. ray davies was miles ahead of john and paul

[giggles]

imagine if ray davies had a songwriter in the kinks that was just as good as he was. please show me the string of great solo albums by john or paul, my point exactly. ray went it alone and the kinks while being a group were more like ray davies plus the rest of the guys. once the beatles broke up it showed they needed eachother as they are started to struggle to write consistanly good albums by the late 70's

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stonesnow
Another, more-obscure album, To The Bone from 1996, was also their last. It features their final 2 new songs.





Funny how they split just as Britpop came to the fore praising the Kinks to the heavens.

oasid wanted to tour with the kinks but they had broken up. i think they would have thrust the kinks back into the spotlght but alas it wasn't meant to be

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keefriffhard4life
imagine if ray davies had a songwriter in the kinks that was just as good as he was. please show me the string of great solo albums by john or paul, my point exactly. ray went it alone and the kinks while being a group were more like ray davies plus the rest of the guys. once the beatles broke up it showed they needed eachother as they are started to struggle to write consistanly good albums by the late 70's

Of course The Beatles was about the Lennon/McCartney songwriting partnership. That's what grabbed the headlines. However even individually Lennon and McCartney (while in Beatles) wrote better songs than Ray Davies ever did IMO...

No doubting Ray Davies' talents though...

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Youngie

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keefriffhard4life
imagine if ray davies had a songwriter in the kinks that was just as good as he was. please show me the string of great solo albums by john or paul, my point exactly. ray went it alone and the kinks while being a group were more like ray davies plus the rest of the guys. once the beatles broke up it showed they needed eachother as they are started to struggle to write consistanly good albums by the late 70's

Of course The Beatles was about the Lennon/McCartney songwriting partnership. That's what grabbed the headlines. However even individually Lennon and McCartney (while in Beatles) wrote better songs than Ray Davies ever did IMO...

No doubting Ray Davies' talents though...

again its all just opinions anyways

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keefriffhard4life
yeah but john and paul bounced ideas off of eachother and co-wrote tunes together. other than the occasional dave tune the kinks were pretty much ray davies. did john or paul as a solo artist release a string of albums up to the level of quality as the kinks? thats really what i'm looking at when i say ray davies way better than john and paul

I suppose with this line of thinking you could say The Kinks>>>>The Stones too?

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Youngie


However even individually... McCartney wrote better songs than Ray Davies ever did IMO...

Nowthat'sfunny!
...and Robert Plant writes better lyrics than Bob Dylan.