Loved the Kinks.
Enjoyed their 1980 “One for the Road” tour. Saw them at Curtis Hixon Hall in Tampa.
https://youtu.be/fPPCPqDINEk?si=aJvL_ycjzE8lskbY
The tour was a chaotic one, to say the least, poor ticket sales at the start of the tour left promoter Betty Kaye unable to pay the Kinks in cash, as she had originally promised. This understandably pissed the band off immeasurably. So, in retaliation, they delivered a shortened set in at their Reno show and put the near-empty Sacramento crowd to the sword with them having to comically sit through an extended version of ‘You Really Got Me’ for most of the concert.
Things then got even worse when the band decided they would cancel their San Francisco show if they weren’t going to get paid in advance. It was the last straw for the promoter and it saw Kaye fire back by filing a formal complaint with the American Federation of Musicians. The union had the power to withhold work permits for British musicians if they misbehaved on stage or refused to perform without good reason. That’s exactly what would happen.
The Low Budget album is fantastic. Ray Davies is a brilliant song writer. Black Messiah on the Misfits Album is worth a listen.
Livin on a Thin Line
BTTT!!!
So the union banned them for wrongthink and called THEM commies? Typical.
The song was inspired by Davies' memories of his older sister, Rene, who died of a heart attack while dancing at a dance hall. The lyrics, sung from the perspective of an "East End barrow boy," are about the boy's sister going on dates at a local Palais dance hall.[2]
"Come Dancing" is a tribute to the Davies' older sister Rene. Living in Canada with her reportedly abusive husband, the 31-year-old Rene was visiting her childhood home in Fortis Green in London at the time of Ray Davies' 13th birthday—21 June 1957—on which she surprised him with a gift of the Spanish guitar he had tried to persuade his parents to buy him.[3] That evening, Rene, who had a weak heart as a result of a childhood bout of rheumatic fever, suffered a fatal heart attack while dancing at the Lyceum ballroom.[3][4]
Where my life comes full circle with this song, is that my Dad had rheumatic fever while he was in the Navy during WWII and years later died of his weakened heart just like Rene.
This ban may have been a blessing in disguise as they turned their backs on America and write the beautifully symbiotically British ‘Waterloo Sunset‘ which is one of the most gorgeous songs in existence which is, of course, a love letter to The Kinks’ hometown of London.
Definitely a blessing in disguise. They lost out on the chance to make money but they retained their selves. So many musical acts gain money and lose themselves while doing it.
From 'Do It Again' by The Kinks
Standing in the middle of nowhere
Wondering how to begin
Lost between tomorrow and yesterday
Between now and then
And now we're back where we started
Here we go 'round again
Day after day, I get up and I say
I better do it again
...
The days go by and you wish you were a different guy
Different friends and a new set of clothes
You make alterations and affect a new pose
A new house, a new car, a new job, a new nose
But it's superficial and it's only skin deep
Because the voices in your head keep shouting in your sleep
Get back, get back
Back where you started
Here we go 'round again
Back where you started
Come on do it again, do it again
Back where you started
Here we go 'round again
Everyday, I get up and I say
Do it again, do it again
Probably stating the obvious to his fans, but Ray Davies ranks alongside the very best songwriters. He gets overlooked too often.
Wife and I saw Ray Davies with a so-so backing band in 2006. He played for over 2 hours to a crowd of probably 1200. He still never got to a lot of his ‘good’ songs.
He talked about Dave Davies turning ‘You Really Got Me’ from a bluesy number to an outright rocker. Ray’s version is that Dave spit at the band, turned to face the back wall of the crummy little studio, and ‘played the chords that put us into rock and roll history’.
Many great tunes. Jukebox Music, Mr. Big Man and the Sleepwalker album....underrated.
Just listened to Misfits on One For the Road. Think I’m done crying now.
I watched The Beatles on Sullivan, as I sat there on the sofa... I was also watching my sister’s gush at the Beatles on Sullivan and I thought to myself what the heck is going on?
So I came away from that moment knowing that the Beatles were a chick band.
Kinks, Yardbirds, The Nice, ELP, Yes, ELO.
But the Beatles? pfffft... even when they were psychedelic and hip and mod... nope. In time I was diggin’ the jazz scene, all aspects of it. Sure I listened to Rock and whatever... but the Beatles? I never gave them that second chance to make a good first impression. And I still don’t understand the draw.
God Save the Kinks!
I looked in the mirror and what did I see
A nine stone weakling with knobbly knees
LOLA turned out to be reality here.