Kinks Ray Davies Is Turning ( Turns ) 70 . Why It Matters

L.A. Times ^ | 7/19/14 | Mike Boehm

[sushiman]

Saturday is Ray Davies' 70th birthday, but I'm not writing this as an offering or a note of congratulations..

Having bought 53 pieces of vinyl or CD plastic by the Kinks, both of his books, his two solo albums of new songs and 30-odd concert tickets, I think I've already thanked and celebrated him in the way he can most appreciate. I hope what I’ve paid him has given him a fraction of the enjoyment I’ve had in return.

[radiohead]

<Waterloo Sunset is one of the greatest songs ever.

It is pretty good. In 1974 I spent a semester at the Univ of London. I lived in the burbs and took a train into town. Every time the announcer mentioned Waterloo Station, I’d think of this song. It was just surreal to me to actually be in the place mentioned in the song.

[ChildOfThe60s]

That’s good.

I have his live performance at the Bottom Line 1997. Good stuff.

[D_Idaho]

“Ever heard of Johnny Mercer?” Oh sure. He was actually a little before my time, but my folks listened to a lot of Andy Williams, Tony Bennet, etc. so I heard a lot of his tunes when I was a kid.

[Hotlanta Mike]

Good deal, wished I had seen them back then as well.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

Their best stuff was their less well known "quiet" music, like "Village Green" and "Muswell Hillbillies."

Above all, the "Kinks" had heart. "Waterloo Sunset" could be the perfect example.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

The lyrics to “Catch Me Now I’m Falling” is so appropriate these daze....

So true. It's 1978 all over again. "Superman," "Gallon of Gas," and "Low Budget" are as appropriate today as they were then.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

Was he the one that wrote that great song mocking the communists?

Dunno, but he was definitely a cultural conservative. I love "20th Century Man" and "People in Gray."

20th Century Man

This is the age of machinery,
A mechanical nightmare,
The wonderful world of technology,
Napalm, hydrogen bombs, biological warfare,
This is the twentieth century,
But too much aggravation
It's the age of insanity,
What has become of the green pleasant fields of Jerusalem.

Ain't got no ambition, I'm just disillusioned
I'm a twentieth century man but I don't wanna be here.
My mama said she can't understand me
She can't see my motivation
Just give me some security,
I'm a paranoid schizoid product of the twentieth century.

You keep all your smart modern writers
Give me William Shakespeare
You keep all your smart modern painters
I'll take Rembrandt, Titian, Da Vinci and Gainsborough,

Girl we gotta get out of here
We gotta find a solution
I'm a twentieth century man but I don't want to die here.

I was born in a welfare state
Ruled by bureaucracy
Controlled by civil servants
And people dressed in grey
Got no privacy, got no liberty
Cos the twentieth century people
Took it all away from me.

Don't wanna get myself shot down
By some trigger happy policeman,
Gotta keep a hold on my sanity
I'm a twentieth century man but I don't wanna die here.

My mama says she can't understand me
She can't see my motivation
Ain't got no security,
I'm a twentieth century man but I don't wanna be here.

This is the twentieth century
But too much aggravation
This is the edge of insanity
I'm a twentieth century man but I don't wanna be here.

People in Grey

I got a letter this morning with some serious news that's gone and ruined my day,
The borough surveyor's used compulsory purchase to acquire my domain,
They're gonna pull up the floors, they're gonna knock down the walls,
They're gonna dig up the drains.

Here come the people in grey, they're gonna take me away to Lord knows only where,
But I'm so unprepared, I got no time to pack and I got nothing to wear,
Here come the people in grey, To take me away.

Me and my baby gonna get on a train that's gonna take us away,
We're gonna live in a tent, we're gonna pay no more rent, we're gonna pay no more rates,
We're gonna live in a field, we're gonna buy me gun to keep the policemen away.

I'm gonna pass me a brand new resolution,
I'm gonna fight me a one man revolution, someway,
Gonna beat those people in grey,
But here come the people in grey,
To take me away.

Here come the people in grey, To take me away.

People in grey have gone and taken away my right to voice my complaint,
Her Majesty's Government have sent me a form, I must complete it today.
But it's making me blue, don't wanna tell all my secrets to The people in grey.

Gonna pass me a brand new resolution,
Gonna fight me a one man revolution, someway,
Gonna start my rebellion today.
But here come the people in grey,
To take me away.

Oh, Lord, those people in grey,
I gotta get back at those people in grey,
Here come the people in grey,
To take me away.

[sushiman]

My fave period is 66-69 ...Face To Face , Something Else , Village Green Preservation Society and all the singles they released during this period like Autumn Almanac, Sunny Afternoon , Deadend Street , etc...

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

-— My fave period is 66-69 -—

Same here. Someday that music will be rediscovered, and Ray will get the respect he deserves, although the Kinks are better appreciated in Britain, where “Waterloo Sunset” always rates near the top in polls there in all-time popularity for pop singles.

[pallmallman]

I’ve just come from a thread about Katy Perry...to a thread aout Ray Davies...that’s enough to give you a nosebleed.