"20th Century Man"<\/p>\n
The Kinks got a second shot with "Arthur", but it failed.\u00c2\u00a0 "Victoria" got a good amount of airplay on New York underground FM radio for about a month, was a recurrent for another thirty days and then was gone.<\/p>\n
"Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One" was a cutout within seeming minutes.\u00c2\u00a0 And the Kinks were gone from Warner Brothers.<\/p>\n
I recommend searching out "Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One", not only for the legendary title track, "Lola", the hit that wasn’t, but "Apeman", "Get Back In Line" and my personal favorite, "Top Of The Pops".\u00c2\u00a0 The story of making it hasn’t changed.<\/p>\n
But the Kinks didn’t make it.\u00c2\u00a0 There was no part two to the Moneygoround.\u00c2\u00a0 The band left Warner for RCA, famous for Elvis and Jefferson Airplane.\u00c2\u00a0 The old joke…\u00c2\u00a0 The son of a shah…\u00c2\u00a0 Well, I’m not going to tell the whole thing.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s just the punch line is that what the kid wants most, after visiting Disneyland, is a Mickey Mouse outfit.\u00c2\u00a0 So his dad buys him RCA Records.\u00c2\u00a0 But that first RCA Records release, "Muswell Hillbillies", was a gem.\u00c2\u00a0 And still is.\u00c2\u00a0 Actually, it’s one of the few albums that has gotten BETTER with time.\u00c2\u00a0 When rock was getting heavier, the Kinks had gone rootsy.\u00c2\u00a0 There wasn’t sheen, but rough edges.\u00c2\u00a0 Listen to the first side today, the run from "Acute Schizophrenia Blues" to "Holiday" to "Skin And Bone" to "Alcohol".\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, to see Ray and the boys back then.\u00c2\u00a0 "Skin And Bone" was an audience participation number.\u00c2\u00a0 Kind of like Simon Says.\u00c2\u00a0 With Ray touching his knees and chest and elbows, and the fans following along.\u00c2\u00a0 "Alcohol" had the sadness that too many rock and roll travails don’t.\u00c2\u00a0 Demon alcohol is fun, for a while, then it messes up your head, life gets very dark.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s no fun in the Kinks’ "Alcohol", just desperation.<\/p>\n
But the key to "Muswell Hillbillies", the reason I’m writing this tonight, is the opening track, "20th Century Man".<\/p>\n
It couldn’t start off any quieter.\u00c2\u00a0 Just a few strums of the guitar, a musician finding his way.\u00c2\u00a0 Then, fully fifteen seconds in, the groove is found.\u00c2\u00a0 The riff is played on an ACOUSTIC GUITAR!\u00c2\u00a0 There’s an unexpected change, a basic drum kit comes in, sans bass, and Ray starts to sing…<\/p>\n
The first two verses are quality, beyond anything any hack from Diane Warren to Max Martin can write.\u00c2\u00a0 But it’s the third stanza, a kind of bridge\/chorus, that truly resonates.<\/p>\n
Ain’t got no ambition, I’m just disillusioned I understand that today’s college graduates have plans, they’re on the road to success.\u00c2\u00a0 But I barely arrived at the finish line.\u00c2\u00a0 I didn’t even WANT to go to college.\u00c2\u00a0 I went because it was expected of me.\u00c2\u00a0 And I wasn’t enough of a self-starter to find my own way.\u00c2\u00a0 Life was supposed to be one big adventure, but I had many more questions than answers.\u00c2\u00a0 The only thing that spoke to me was music.<\/p>\n My mama said she can’t understand me It only gets better.\u00c2\u00a0 The song starts to rock out.\u00c2\u00a0 The organ starts to wail.\u00c2\u00a0 And Ray is singing MY story.<\/p>\n He’s not a scum of the earth rocker.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s an educated guy.\u00c2\u00a0 But he just can’t make sense of the world.<\/p>\n You keep all your smart modern writers I guess it’s the twenty first century.\u00c2\u00a0 But I don’t like the modern sound.\u00c2\u00a0 I want something akin to Ray and Dave and the boys.\u00c2\u00a0 Speaking not only to my dick, but my mind.<\/p>\n "Everybody’s In Show-Biz, Everybody’s A Star"<\/p>\n For a band banned by the union from touring the U.S., the Kinks made up for their absence by INCESSANT road work at the advent of the new decade.\u00c2\u00a0 And the second record of this two-disc set is a decent document of their live show.\u00c2\u00a0 But not a great one.<\/p>\n And the first disc, one of all new studio material, is not memorable, except for the CLASSIC!<\/p>\n "Celluloid Heroes".\u00c2\u00a0 You know it, you need it.<\/p>\n I knew the song, but it wasn’t until I moved to L.A. and literally SAW the stars in the street that I finally got it.<\/p>\n "Sitting In The Midday Sun"<\/p>\n Maybe the only track you need from "Preservation Act 1"<\/p>\n "Money Talks"<\/p>\n I DID graduate from college.\u00c2\u00a0 My mama and papa couldn’t understand me.\u00c2\u00a0 All I wanted to do was stay up all night and read "Creem" and other rock magazines.\u00c2\u00a0 I used to get in the Country Squire at midnight and drive to the newsstand on Main Street in the hellhole Bridgeport, Connecticut, just looking for another hit of music information.<\/p>\n And I believe it WAS "Creem" that gave a good review to the Kinks’ "Preservation Act 2".\u00c2\u00a0 So I bought it.\u00c2\u00a0 And got hooked.<\/p>\n "Preservation Act 2" had NO impact in America.\u00c2\u00a0 Zilch.\u00c2\u00a0 Nada.\u00c2\u00a0 Zero.\u00c2\u00a0 And when that happens today, that usually means the record is shite.\u00c2\u00a0 But "Preservation Act 2" was curiously good.\u00c2\u00a0 Satisfying.\u00c2\u00a0 A story with interesting lyrics and good melodies.\u00c2\u00a0 I taped it and took it along with me for my cross-country trip the day after Labor Day 1974.<\/p>\n The absolute best track is "Money Talks".\u00c2\u00a0 A rollicking gem.\u00c2\u00a0 With a piano like a waterfall, thundering bass, blitzkrieg guitar and Ray Davies somewhere in the mix, singing the best lyrics about mazuma I’ve EVER heard.<\/p>\n Show me a man who says he can live without bread If the Beatles cut "Money Talks", it would be quoted every day.<\/p>\n I love the story songs, the Broadway style numbers that serve as exposition, like "When A Solution Comes".<\/p>\n "Shepherds Of The Nation" has got the kind of changes you never hear on a rock record.<\/p>\n "He’s Evil" purely ROCKS!<\/p>\n And the closer, "Salvation Road", has got a pied piper vibe sans cheese.\u00c2\u00a0 You want to play it over and over again.\u00c2\u00a0 It makes you feel GOOD!<\/p>\n And while living in L.A. that fall, I purchased a ticket to see the Kinks at the Santa Monica Civic.\u00c2\u00a0 To hear them perform "Preservation".\u00c2\u00a0 Acts 1 & 2.\u00c2\u00a0 From beginning to end.\u00c2\u00a0 They left out a couple of numbers, but nothing necessary.\u00c2\u00a0 For a long time I quoted it as one of the best rock shows I ever saw.\u00c2\u00a0 You had to be there.\u00c2\u00a0 With Ray in that multicolored jacket, working the audience, not by stuffing his pants with tissue, but by extending his arms, IMPLORING US to come along, experience his vision.<\/p>\n "I’m In Disgrace"<\/p>\n You can forget "Soap Opera", except maybe for "Everybody’s A Star (Starmaker)".<\/p>\n And although "Schoolboys In Disgrace" was a bit better, all these years later you don’t need much more than "I’m In Disgrace".<\/p>\n You see now the records were just vehicles, for Ray’s live extravaganzas.\u00c2\u00a0 Which always delivered to the cult.\u00c2\u00a0 But the band was stuck in a rut.\u00c2\u00a0 And moved on to Arista.<\/p>\n "Life Goes On"<\/p>\n Supposedly Clive told Ray to can the concept albums.\u00c2\u00a0 To just write songs.\u00c2\u00a0 To try to have hits.<\/p>\n Clive is LEGENDARY for fucking with rock acts.\u00c2\u00a0 Draining their essence in search of a radio-friendly track.\u00c2\u00a0 Every legendary act that signed to his label soon wanted off.\u00c2\u00a0 Like Lou Reed.\u00c2\u00a0 But somehow Clive engineered a Kinks comeback.\u00c2\u00a0 The Arista stuff was better than anything the Kinks had done since "Muswell Hillbillies".\u00c2\u00a0 But "Sleepwalker" did not include a hit.\u00c2\u00a0 The title track stalled.<\/p>\n But the album contains a masterpiece, "Life Goes On".<\/p>\n The track’s GOT a going on feel.\u00c2\u00a0 Like a jaunt.\u00c2\u00a0 The song marches on, like time.<\/p>\n There’s an acoustic guitar intro akin to "20th Century Man".\u00c2\u00a0 But Ray is up front and center.\u00c2\u00a0 The keyboard and Dave’s guitar are in the background.<\/p>\n Then, deep minutes into the number, long after the bridge, after the instrumental, the song breaks down.<\/p>\n My bank went broke and my well ran dry Oh, Ray’s sad.\u00c2\u00a0 But then he realizes, you’ve just got to keep marching on.<\/p>\n That’s the story, isn’t it?<\/p>\n And the fact that he didn’t change "settled" to "paid" for the American market made us love the Kinks even more.\u00c2\u00a0 This music held no compromises.\u00c2\u00a0 This is a band you could believe in, be PROUD you were a fan of.<\/p>\n "Juke Box Music"<\/p>\n The forgotten track.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, I hear it on XM every once in a while, but I only heard it on FM once or twice back in the day.<\/p>\n This is Ray and the boys doing Ian Hunter and Mott The Hoople’s act BETTER!\u00c2\u00a0 The guitar stings.\u00c2\u00a0 The break is transcendent.\u00c2\u00a0 If you love Mott’s "One Of The Boys", you’re gonna think this is great.<\/p>\n "A Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy"<\/p>\n Hello you, hello me, hello people we used to be I did go to law school.\u00c2\u00a0 I even got married.<\/p>\n And that’s about as straight as I ever played it.<\/p>\n If you know me, you know I’m the same guy.\u00c2\u00a0 As I ever was.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m locked in my college uniform.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ll know me.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m the guy in the non-designer jeans, polo shirt and Nikes.\u00c2\u00a0 To wear anything else makes me uncomfortable.\u00c2\u00a0 If I ever speak at some charity dinner, that’s what I’ll be wearing.\u00c2\u00a0 But because that’s what I wear, because that’s who I am, I’ll never be invited to speak.\u00c2\u00a0 Because you see I’m a fan.\u00c2\u00a0 And fans exist in the background.<\/p>\n There’s a guy in my block, he lives for rock "A Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy" is the best song ever written about being a rock fan.\u00c2\u00a0 Being a rock fan is to be alienated, to feel alone, to have music as the only thing that can get you through.\u00c2\u00a0 When you’re engineering your marketing plan, think about this.<\/p>\n The song ends on a bittersweet note.\u00c2\u00a0 Ray doesn’t want to end up living his life in a rock ‘n’ roll fantasy.\u00c2\u00a0 Ray keeps thinking the world is passing him by.\u00c2\u00a0 While he’s playing this rock ‘n’ roll.<\/p>\n But Ray Davies is now past sixty.\u00c2\u00a0 And I’ve pushed past fifty.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s still doing it.\u00c2\u00a0 I tried to go straight for a minute there.\u00c2\u00a0 Like I told you, I went to law school.\u00c2\u00a0 It didn’t take.<\/p>\n Is rock and roll a reasonable raison d’etre?<\/p>\n I don’t know.\u00c2\u00a0 But it’s mine.<\/p>\n "Permanent Waves"<\/p>\n Just before it stopped meaning anything, "Rolling Stone" called "Misfits" one of the two best albums of the year.<\/p>\n It doesn’t hold up.<\/p>\n But I loved listening to "Hay Fever".\u00c2\u00a0 And "Black Messiah".\u00c2\u00a0 And when I hear that intro to "Permanent Waves" I still get a smile on my face.<\/p>\n "Low Budget"<\/p>\n How did things go so horribly wrong?<\/p>\n Ray stole a riff, added some disco elements, and came up with "(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman".\u00c2\u00a0 With this track and "Catch Me Now I’m Falling" and "A Gallon Of Gas", the Kinks finally came back.<\/p>\n Oh, these three tracks are pretty good.\u00c2\u00a0 But suddenly Ray was playing to the back row.\u00c2\u00a0 Of ARENAS!<\/p>\n Yes, the Kinks became one of the biggest road bands, a decade after the Beatles broke up, long after their original British Invasion hits.<\/p>\n Suddenly, all of America woke up.\u00c2\u00a0 To the fact that the band was FUN!\u00c2\u00a0 That they put on a live show nonpareil.<\/p>\n You can hear this era documented on the double live album "One For The Road".\u00c2\u00a0 It includes the famous intro to "Lola", albeit abbreviated.\u00c2\u00a0 From the time it was cut, in EVERY show, Ray would play a bit of the riff from "Lola", the audience would erupt, and then he’d say they weren’t going to play that number tonight.\u00c2\u00a0 And then, further into the show, he’d play it again, and say the audience wasn’t ready.\u00c2\u00a0 He would never mention the track by name, the riff was enough.\u00c2\u00a0 FINALLY, when newbies had just about given up, he’d strike up the band, go past the intro riff, start to sing and the place would EXPLODE!<\/p>\n "Give The People What They Want"<\/p>\n And that’s exactly what they did.\u00c2\u00a0 Some good numbers, like "Destroyer", but I can’t listen to the record anymore.<\/p>\n "Come Dancing"<\/p>\n And then the band truly DID have a hit. "Living On A Thin Line"<\/p>\n You can’t follow up a left field hit.\u00c2\u00a0 Because you don’t exactly know how you did it to begin with.<\/p>\n "Word Of Mouth" was the Arista swan song.\u00c2\u00a0 "Do It Again" got some airplay, and then the album sank.<\/p>\n But one track from the record lives on.\u00c2\u00a0 Ironically, not a Ray Davies number, but one by his brother Dave.\u00c2\u00a0 Whose only memorable contribution previously had been "Death Of A Clown".\u00c2\u00a0 We weren’t prepared for "Living On A Thin Line".\u00c2\u00a0 It was every bit as good as Ray’s masterpieces.<\/p>\n The "Sopranos" resurrected "Living On A Thin Line".\u00c2\u00a0 One of the top five uses of music on television’s greatest drama ever.\u00c2\u00a0 Superseded only by Ray’s "I’m Not Like Everybody Else".<\/p>\n I could write on and on about "Living On A Thin Line", but it’s something you HEAR!\u00c2\u00a0 It SOUNDS like the lyrics.\u00c2\u00a0 While George Bush acts with unfounded confidence, the rest of us live on a thin line.\u00c2\u00a0 We don’t feel confident, we feel SCARED!<\/p>\n "The Video Shop"<\/p>\n The Kinks moved on to MCA.<\/p>\n The band delivered a TRUE follow-up to "Come Dancing".\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 But without the hokiness and faux-sentimentality of the predecessor number.<\/p>\n At the height of video rental mania, "Video Shop" was a natural.<\/p>\n But nobody’s heard it.<\/p>\n
I’m a twentieth century man but I don’t wanna be here<\/em><\/p>\n
She can’t see my motivation
Just give me some security
I’m a paranoid schizoid product of the twentieth century<\/em><\/p>\n
Give me William Shakespeare
You keep all your smart modern painters
I’ll take Rembrandt, Titian, Da Vinci and Gainsborough<\/em><\/p>\n
And I’ll show you a man who’s a liar and in debt
There’s no one alive who can’t be purchased or enticed
There’s no man alive who wouldn’t sell for a price
Money talks and we’re the living proof
There ain’t no limit to what money can do
Money talks, money talks<\/em><\/p>\n
It was almost enough to contemplate suicide
I turned on the gas, but I soon realized
I hadn’t settled my bill so they cut off my supply
No matter how I try, it seems I’m too young to die
Life goes on and on and on
Life goes on and on and on<\/em><\/p>\n
Isn’t it strange, we never changed
We’ve been through it all yet we’re still the same<\/em><\/p>\n
He plays records day and night
And when he feels down he puts some rock ‘n’ roll on
And it makes him feel alright
And when he feels the world is closing in
He turns his stereo way up high<\/em><\/p>\n
In the era of MTV, "Come Dancing" was a monster.<\/p>\n