I may have my formula mixed up, but I seem to remember a joke song by someone (that I couldn't find) and it was something like "how to have a number one song" and the secret chord progression was I VI IV V (a turnaround yea?) Journey Don't Stop Believin' is this pattern isn't it?
Rush Hour Blues. stereo mix, recorded Aug 1974, additional overdubs done Oct 1974 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London He gets up early about seven o'clock, The alarm goes off and then the house starts to rock. In and out of the bathroom by seven-o-three, By seven-ten he's downstairs drinking his tea. So put a shine on your shoes, Put on your pin-striped suit. Can't lose those early-morning-can't-stop-yawning, Push and shoving rush hour blues. Wife: Darling are you ready? You'll be late for the bus! Star: Don't rush me baby While I'm using my brush. Wife: Get a move on darling You're cutting it fine. Star: Cool it baby I've got plenty of time. So put a shine on your shoes Put on your pin-striped suit. Can't lose those early-morning-can't-stop-yawning Push and shoving rush hour blues. Soon I'll be just one of the commuters Waiting for the subway train. I'll be rushing up the stairs And in the elevator. By the time that I get there I'm gonna feel like a mole in the ground I'll be caught in the crush I'll be pushed and be shoved, And I'll be trying to get the subway train. I'll be fighting with my brief case And my umbrella, Every morning and every night. Some people do it every day of their lives. Wife: Read the paper later You'll be caught in the queues. Star: Don't rush me baby While I'm reading the news. Wife: Darling get a move on You're cutting it fine. Star: Cool it baby I've got plenty of time. A quick cup of coffee and a slice of toast and the Star (or should we say, Norman?) is off to do battle with the rush hour queues and traffic jams. In the rush hour queues No one gives a damn. No one knows where I'm going to No one knows who I am. I'm sitting in my office In the metropolis I'm just part of the scenery, I'm just part of the machinery. Chained to my desk on the 22nd floor, I can't break out through the automatic door, I'd jump out the window but I can't face the drop I'm sitting in a cage with an eye on the clock. I'm ready to start paying my dues, I've got to lose those early-morning-can't-stop-yawning, Push and shoving, rush hour blues. Well I'm ready to start paying my dues, I've got to lose those early-morning can't-stop-yawning, Push and shoving rush hour blues. Written by: Ray Davies Published by: Davray Music Ltd. This track is really interesting. It starts off with a nice four note hit, and then moves into a rock and roll song, but then it moves again into something a little different. We actually get a really interesting series of sections that all come together as the longest song on the album, and there is a lot going on in here. Lyrically this is a pretty straight forward look at the "packed like lemmings into tiny metal boxes" idea. We open with Starmaker/Norman getting up and getting ready for work. Then Andrea starts to get onto him for hanging around, emphasising that he needs to get on with it so he isn't late. Then we get Starmaker/Norman in his office realising that this is like a trap. Locked in a cubicle or an office, doing some kind of mundane office work, and unable to leave. It makes him want to jump out of the window, but he "can't face the drop" We get a pretty straight forward picture painted of the work-a-day life. "Some people do it every day of their lives." Musically we open with the kick drum, and then the urgent pounding of the four note hit. This makes way for the rock and roll section of the song. The change that comes in is excellent, and although we're still at the same tempo, we get an excellent chord progression that keeps on moving, and is highlighted by some excellent note runs, that are led by the bass, that is really pounding out some heat here. We break into a jamming type section with the guitar and piano knocking out some excellent little lead bits. This takes us back to Norman and Andrea and there back and forth about leaving on time. Then we get an even better change up. The bass leads us in nicely, and we get a very seventies piece of somewhat funk/rock, that is highlighted by some nice horn work. We get some nice clean rhythm guitar. Also we have more nice little lead guitar and lead piano section breaking it up nicely. This is a nice groove that the guys have going on here. I'm not sure yet, but this might be my favourite track on here. It is an excellent piece of writing musically, and keeps me interested from start to finish. Lyrically it does what it needs to do.... I suppose one could be critical of the transport being referred to as a bus, a train, when rush hour normally relates to car traffic, but I think really that it is a broad sweep of all the activity and the various forms it takes. I have had to use all three over the years, and although the traffic is often parking lot slow, I still prefer to be in my own world while I get my head together for the day ahead. Anyway, for me this track is a winner, and a real musical journey to match the theme of the song. I understand some may not like the spoken, or acted parts, but they don't bug me. More good fun from the lads here.
Here is the proper version of Ordinary People, with a lead into Rush Hour Blues live (at the Beacon 1975)
Actually when I saw that image of Ray, this is the television character I thought of. Mork from Ork debuted on Happy Days.
Nice touch to add the song illo at the top of your rundown, Mark! I always liked the way the line ‘Some People Do It Every Day Of Their Lives!’ is delivered as if to say ‘can you believe this is a daily reality for so many?’ it’s another kind of ‘there but for the grace of God’ moment. I think this was the song from ‘Soap Opera’ that lasted longest in the set, surviving all the way up to the Xmas 1977 shows before it was binned in the stadium era.
Unlike many other rock songs decrying the soul-deadening aspects of the straight working world, from "Taking Care of Business" to "Bus Rider," this one is not in the least mean-spirited or condescending.
"Rush Hour Blues" This is great, and it's the centrepiece of the Side One suite. Starts off as pastiche rock & roll (in a similar way to "Jack The Idiot Dunce" on the next album) but soon becomes more interesting. The middle section drives up the intensity, and then the closing section slows things down, ready for taking us into the monotony of office life in the next track. I think June Ritchie overdoes the anxiety a bit, which threatens to become annoying, but overall it keeps the show rolling along nicely. The focus is still very much on Ray, but the contribution of the band is more pronounced in this one than the previous track. The fact that "scenery" and "machinery" rhyme is a gift for lyricists.
Even though it contains two things I criticized the last track for 50s pastiche and dialogue I actually like this track. The pastiche part doesn't last long and I just try to ignore June Ritchie's terrible performance. Apart from the dialogue this is a good stand alone track which works regardless of the concept.
I find "Rush Hour Blues" pretty interesting - it is a montage of different musical landscapes tied together by a portrait of our rock star coping with some of the mundane realities of the working world. I love the rock n roll sections and the guitar/piano break. Listening to the live show the other day, this seemed a centrepiece of the Soap Opera presentation.
Ahem… it may be Side 1's centerpiece, but this is not the most distinguished Ray Davies song of all, is it ? First section (the waking up part) sounds like a track Elton John could’ve written for Ringo to sing in his Brandy Alexander + pills years. The band’s next attempt at the same kind of bar rock’n’roll parody, with an almost identical intro (rudimentary riff, insistent percussions waiting for the song to happen, mocking semi-speaking delivery by Ray) will come to more straightforward and satisfying results on the next album’s great ballroom dancing number Jack the Idiot Dunce. Then we come to what can be referred to as the “Bowie/Lou section” and now, Dave’s killing it. The riffs hit hard, the lead licks are tearing the sound apart in a very powerful way. Meanwhile, Ray’s vocal melody is unusually (but suitably) uncertain, he seems to be ad libbing to follow the panic-attack induced lyrics. That's my favorite part of the song, with a fantastic solo and a real sense of alienation. The last section, just after the exquisite “cool it baby I’ve got plenty of time” hard stop, is the weirdest. Before evolving into a more mundane slice of heavy blues, it starts off as a… Traffic jam. And I mean the band Traffic jamming, not the other kind of traffic jam. But… but could this have been done on purpose ??????
Rush Hour Blues I agree with @mark winstanley and @ARL that this is a great number. It takes off like a rock'n'roll pastiche but Ray has the good sense to change direction at the 2:30 mark. The last two minutes is the grim reality of jostling with hundreds or thousands of people every morning just to be a small cog in a big office. Purists would say any sort of steady white collar work disqualifies you from singing the blues. But that I think is part of the joke. Ray (or Norman) has the yawning, push and shoving blues. To quote the Four Yorkshiremen, "luxury!". It's a long way away from any blues Son House or Howlin' Wolf would have recognised. It's a steady job Ray - and you don't have to travel so far to work.
Rush Hour Blues: Starts like an old time rock n roll number, dovetails into some husband and wife dialogue that I am guessing most will hate but I find pretty entertaining and fun to mimic, some great rockin’ instrumental jamming with Dave right out front leading the charge, then a sudden left turn into, out of nowhere, a bluesy gospel to take us to the finale. Fun stuff and one I really like.
Hi- In case anyone is interested....................... Poll--The Weakest Link: The Kinks LOLA VERSUS POWERMAN AND THE MONEYGOROUND, Round 1 Join in on daily discussion, and vote towards your (consensus) favorite song.
I like this song. Not a stand-out track, but it does the job efficiently, and I actually love the dialogue and June Ritchie's performance. Maybe because I'm French and people tend to like it when foreigners (in this case English people) stick to their clichés.
Unlike others on this thread, I’m not any good at breaking down the musical qualities of what makes for an engaging or fun song for me, but, for what it’s worth, I used to sing this song in the shower all the time getting ready for work. It always gave me a little lift.
Rush Hour Blues Not a great song, but very enjoyable. The female vocal makes it one of the most 'play-like' of any of the tracks. This is one though that could have been Ray and anyone. It doesn't sound like The Kinks. I really wonder why Dave stuck around during this period. Could you have imagined George Harrison's reaction if The Beatles were doing nothing but "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" type songs had the Beatles survived to this point?
I enjoy this track a lot (if that's not the point of listening to albums, then I don't know what is) but still consider it among the weakest in the entire collection. It sounds like something Ray dashed off in the amount of time it took him to write down the lyrics, filling space with "musical play" cliches in the plot between more interesting "proper" numbers, IMO. Everyone else today seems to think much more highly of this than I do, so I guess I'm flying solo today. Side note: doubling back to the discussion of a song that mocked the four chord formula of a hit 50's song. Didn't the stage musical Grease contain such a number? I seem to remember one from when I saw a production back in the day. I think it may have been left out of the film version, though. My memory is a bit cloudy on all of this.
Rush Hour Blues Another track where I like the transitions and the ultimate build. I can still pass on the dialogue... which is reminding me why I haven't listened to this album in some years.
"Rush Hour Blues": going back to the Soap Opera discussion, this is an impressionistic piece by Ray, using several changes of style, showing the usual working day of Norman's, w/it's tedious travel to a boring job that he has to stay at. The changes of style throughout the song are a plus & some of the lyrics are realistic, i.e., the dialogue between Andrea & Norman. Seeing this live, I wish that the suit & tie that Ray zippers from behind was really a thing!
I'm running behind at work and in this thread, so just a short comment from me on my lunch break; I've done a couple listens now in prep for this thread, and this is another one I really have to reappraise. Like Preservation Act II, I initially really struggled with Soap Opera, but I'm just a sucker for the campiness now, and I really enjoyed most of it. Also, as was said above, I appreciate that Ray's take on white collar life (on this song and throughout the album) is not mean-spirited. We'll explore it more later on the album and with Schoolboys, but I think Ray could tell from an early age that he wanted a career and life full of meaning; and he explains why he took a different road with this album. Starmaker: A great glam track. Derivative, sure. But uniqueness is not the reason glam is fun. Excellent vocals, fun sax, great bass playing. Ordinary People: There is SO MUCH to enjoy here, and it's been very adequately represented by the other Avids who already commented. I love everything about this track, we'll leave it at that. Maybe we'll get to the bottom of the "changing places with Norman" Greek chorus; if that truly is Mrs. Avory's Son, how cool is that?! Rush Hour Blues: Another winner, IMO. The mood change in the song is impressive; you start with that "Cool It Baby..." swagger, but then you hear Norman/the Star lose control as he gets to the office and has to deal with the piling up paperwork, and the track unravels from a tight boogie woogie groove to this messier theme with uncertain brass/sax in a similar way. Then of course, Mister Dalton comes in with a thick, resonant bass riff and pulls us into the last section. That's the only part where I'm a little let down; his riff sounds so good, and then we just go back to where we started somewhat, just with a slower tempo. I wish that final section was a little more interesting. That said, you put it all together and I think it works beautifully. One last thought on this one; the way Ray sings "some people do it every day of their lives!" really reminds me of Bryan Ferry. I never noticed it before, but I think there was some mutual imitation (and hopefully admiration) there throughout the 70s. BF certainly made campy yet classy glam an artform with These Foolish Things.
"Rush Hour Blues" "So put a shine on your shoes, put on your pin-striped suit" I can imagine that the dialogue would turn some off, but I think you are missing a really strong piece of writing from Ray. Yet again, we have a song that goes through many different styles and changes. It starts with that Jerry Lee Lewis rock n roll swagger that Ray loves so much. The second part is somewhat back in glam rock territory before we get to the bass break, and for a moment becomes reminiscent of The Grateful Dead in the groove and the vocal. I also like the comparison @Fortuleo made to it sounding like a Traffic jam! It soon breaks in with the horns to finish the song with some down home soul blues. I love every part of it. The hits keep on a coming!
Rush Hour Blues "I'm sitting in a cage with an eye on the clock." Now who's the animal in the zoo!? This is another really fun track. Dalton's bass is all over the place and I love it. I can't really add much to what you all said, but here's a couple thing I noticed: Mick's drumming... the intro foreshadows the bass riff with the bass drum. And then during the spoken "Don't rush me baby" parts... In the first one, he's doing some fast hi-hat work with a bass kick. But then for the second one, the hi-hat goes anyway and its just a bass & snare groove.... which flows into Dalton's bass breakdown wonderfully. I love how the final 2 minutes builds up bit by bit. Ray's vocal delivery there with "Chained to my desk on the 22nd floor" is so fun. The horn hits... The relaxed groove by Mick... yes, this song is a wonderful sonic experience. It's impressive that all these different styles/sections can work together in a single song. On that aspect, this is just as impressive as Ray's previous epics. So far this album is 3/3 for me.
