The Kinks - Album by Album (song by song)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mark winstanley, Apr 4, 2021.

  1. Steve62

    Steve62 Vinyl hunter

    Location:
    Murrumbateman
    Your observations correspond to my samples over time. Were I to question these mysterious objects with my nearest and dearest she would probably question my Shrines to the Music Gods placed strategically around the house. So there will be no questions!
     
  2. Fortuleo

    Fortuleo Used to be a Forum Resident

    Yeah, from cooking to porcelain, Ray has indeed taken this "kitchen sink" thing literally.

    OK, then. So Norman (or whoever) “hates” his life but his wife makes it all worthwhile, and he loves her dearly. You’d think he’d be at peace now that he’s made this profound breakthrough but… he can’t take the ducks any longer. As with shepherd’s pie, he’s put up with them for too long. And from what we see on the record’s cover, I can see why.

    I’d certainly hoped @mark winstanley would help us figure out where this craze for ducks on plates used as interior decoration came from. Was it an English thing? A worldwide fad? And why ducks in the first place? If you google “duck plates”, you get hundreds of horrendous images. But “lamb plates” don’t get you any results other than food. Could this also be related to hunting?

    Anyway, the song is one of the funniest the Kinks ever did, and that’s saying a lot. It seems the “quack quack” sound was made by Dave with a wah-wah pedal. Just thinking of using ducks plates as a rock song subject is hilarious. But using that stupid sound as a rock’n’roll hook is really… something else. A small reservation on my part: I’m a Gosling enthusiast but I think the song would be better, angrier or, dare I say, meatier, if the piano was less upfront. It would be more satisfying (and even funnier) as a full-on guitar assault in my (not so humble in this case) opinion. Just noticed the fact that the verse is almost note for note Supersonic Rocket Ship repurposed in a raging boogie setting. Do I see a hidden meaning in this? You try it…

    The days go by and the great songs just keep on showing up on what’s turning out to be a magical second side, one of the most consistent the Kinks did after the sixties. Yep, consistent. The second side of The Kinks Present a Soap Opera. There, I said it.
     
  3. Lovely number. My wife and I occasionally visit a Ted Baker shop, the decor of which really toys with concepts of traditional un-hip Britishness. There are teacups and teapots with cozies and ducks on the wall.
     
  4. Steve62

    Steve62 Vinyl hunter

    Location:
    Murrumbateman
    Ducks on the Wall
    I keep mentioning the word "funny" but it's the first word that comes to mind for a few of the songs on this album. As a stand-alone song it's well played but nothing special - thanks @ARL, I get the 10CC Rubber Bullets vibe too. And the quacking can be annoying if you aren't caught in the moment. But it's fun all the way through and I become militantly anti-duck after listening to this song.
     
  5. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    Is this the funniest song Ray ever wrote? It must be in the mix! As someone whose mother still has her ducks on the wall, I love this song!
     
  6. GarySteel

    GarySteel Bastard of old

    Location:
    Molde, Norway
    I find "Life Goes On" to be his best funny one ( :eek: ), but I guess that makes one of me :D

    "Ducks" is hilarious. And I agree with @ARL on first impressions on both the album and the song. But man, did it grow on me.
     
  7. GarySteel

    GarySteel Bastard of old

    Location:
    Molde, Norway
    Hats off, Ma(rk)estro. The usual great write up, then :)
     
  8. GarySteel

    GarySteel Bastard of old

    Location:
    Molde, Norway
    My pleasure, Sir.

    And why not have both? A second helping, if you like ;)
     
  9. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    @ARL and @Steve62 already beat me to the (pretty upfront) 10cc comparisons. This is kind of like the greatest (early) 10cc they never wrote. Mark mentioned that Dave's guitar sounded creamy but should that be Cremey? It's pretty similar to that brash sound that Creme and Stewart made a trademark of the early 10cc productions. Also, if this were a 10cc song, the vocals would probably be doled out like this: Creme sings the verse in that piercing androgynous falsetto, probably Stewart Gouldman and Godley join him for the chorus, (a la 'Life Is Minestrone') and then Godley takes the 'when I went to a cocktail party' bridges solo with his trademark contrasting bass.
     
    Last edited: Feb 3, 2022
  10. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    LOL yes indeed ... same here ... well mainly that my records and cd's take up valuable space that some kind of trinket could occupy :)
     
  11. All Down The Line

    All Down The Line The Under Asst East Coast White Label Promo Man

    Location:
    Australia
    Caught In The Act.............
    2 Overt & Kinky Exhibits!

    [​IMG]

    Was anyone in attendance and in a raincoat,
    as didn't Ray spray alcohol over the front rows?
     
    paulisdead, DISKOJOE, Zeki and 5 others like this.
  12. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I can only assume it is like the Dogs Playing Poker picture ... it got made, captured people's imagination, and became "a thing"
    Lava Lamps come to mind here also ... and my wife has a Lava Lamp in the front room that I just fixed for her :)
     
  13. James H.

    James H. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Runnemede, NJ
    I am not a chef, but I like to cook.

    You put your garlic and/or onion first to heated oil and/or butter. You cook the onion and garlic to the point it starts to sweat. You will smell the aromas, especially the garlic. Then you add your meat of choice, your other vegetables. If you cook your onions and garlic too long, then you will have fried onions and your garlic not only gets fried, but tastes bitter.

    That is how my mother taught me and if you watch cooking shows on PBS, that is how they always cook with garlic and onion.
     
  14. All Down The Line

    All Down The Line The Under Asst East Coast White Label Promo Man

    Location:
    Australia
    A second recent ebay listing below that someone has preserved!

    [​IMG]

    Did this sway anyone to buy the new 2LP Set?

    N.b. Sorry for the quality as it's from phone to camera and back to said phone......the typed content may be naff too as i am doing this on an excersize bike at the gym!
    Yes sir, no sir Headmaster Mark....... As ever reporting beyond the call of duty!
     
  15. GarySteel

    GarySteel Bastard of old

    Location:
    Molde, Norway
    Which is often the only option one should consider in such situations :D

    I have a den where my records and blurays reside and I've hung framed posters of a few musical heroes (Keef, Page, Patti Smith in a Keef t-shirt, David Lee Roth being very David Lee Roth-y, Coltrane, Miles, Zappa, Chrissie Hynde, Billie Holiday) and some framed record sleeves. I refuse to call it 'man-cave' or something barbaric like that. The GF has a few trinkets and pictures on non-mallard related stuff in the living room and some orchids, which our kats just love.

    So it isn't too threathening even for a man :D
     
  16. palisantrancho

    palisantrancho Forum Resident

    Ha. Nice! This is the exact recipe that I bookmarked after looking at several online recipes. This one looked best to me!
     
  17. GarySteel

    GarySteel Bastard of old

    Location:
    Molde, Norway
    Great post.

    That is the correct way, indeed. Sometimes I cook the onions for a minute or two before I add the garlic because it is a bit more fragile but it really doesn't make much of a difference. When the onion becomes a little translucent it is time for the meat of your choice. Or not if you are a vegan or veg, of course.
     
  18. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    [​IMG]

    Weird Al Yankovic is, perhaps not that surprisingly a huge fan of this song, and chose it as one of his top ten songs in a Washington Post article in 2003. the relevant excerpt follows:

    'The [Dr. Demento] show also introduced him to the Kinks' "Ducks on the
    Wall," a track from one of the Brit-pop band's least successful concept
    albums, "The Kinks Present a Soap Opera." It's the somewhat muddled
    story of a nebbish who dreams of rock stardom, and is best remembered
    now for a few moments of inspired lunacy, "Ducks" among them.

    "I love it because it's about something really random," Yankovic says.
    "A guy who is just driven crazy by the fact that this girlfriend or wife
    has ducks on the wall. It was so random I thought it was brilliant.

    "I'm always amazed people don't see the Kinks in the same pantheon as
    the Stones or the Who and the Beatles. They're right up there for me.
    Ray Davies is one of the greatest songwriters of all time.
    "

    It's possible WAY (as I doubt anyone calls him) wasn't aware of the specific cultural context of duck ornaments in UK society which makes the choice of them as the focus of Norman's revulsion perhaps less 'random' than he took it to be but it's still not hard to draw a line between the bathetic triviality of the subject matter of DOTW and a lot of Yankovic's work.

    Surprisingly Al never seems to have attempted a full blown Kinks style pastiche, but the original track 'One Of Those Days' from his 1986 album 'Polka Party' seems to lean very heavily on Ducks for it's tune and arrangement, and given his openly professed love of the Kinks song there's no way that can be a co incidence. Less certain but also possible is it's influence on Huey Lewis parody 'I Want A New Duck' from the preceding LP.

     
    Last edited: Feb 3, 2022
  19. GarySteel

    GarySteel Bastard of old

    Location:
    Molde, Norway
    Hah! Kozmic koincidence or just the Kinkdom united? That is the question ;)

    Some people like to add corn but I feel it doesn't suit my palate in this particular dish.
     
  20. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Folks in the US love corn.... it is in everything in some form or another.... even all their soda has the highly disgusting, unhealthy, toxic mess that is high fructose corn syrup, instead of sugar
     
  21. GarySteel

    GarySteel Bastard of old

    Location:
    Molde, Norway
    Yikes! That sounds a bit disgusting really.

    I love corn on the cob for BBQ and in Mexican (inspired) dishes, but I feel that it has nothing to do in a Shepherd's or variations of this dish.

    Ah, the Kinks thread. Foodie heaven and some great choons too.
     
  22. pantofis

    pantofis Senior Member

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    Ducks On The Wall

    This song brings the term "duck test" to a whole new level. You can play it to anyone who claims to love the Kinks and see if they can get past the insistent quacking, then they have passed the test.
    I struggle a bit with how it fits chronologically in the story on the album and it kind of disturbs the dramatic flow. Has Norman's wife gone to bed already and he's having a goodnight drink in the living room? Or are Norman and Andrea together on the sofa, as at one moment he states that he can't ball...
    The melody in the verses reminds me of "Supersonic Rocket Ship" but it's a great rocking little track, and when I think of it it both shakes up the proceedings and you can put on a little dance before settling down to the melodrama of the next on.
     
  23. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    Another fantastic British pop song to allude to duck ornaments is 'Piggy Bank Love' by the Bonzo Dog Band from 8 years earlier: ironically given they were the wackier group, a more sober, wistful song than the Kinks track and not a million miles away from domestic miniatures like 'Two Sisters'.

    Anyway I've always found it's line 'plaster ducks in pairs/flying up the stairs' offered as a detail of the humble aspirations of middle class middle century British newly weds, incredibly moving. Neil Innes songwriting genius (although sung by Viv Stanshall in a falsetto of atypical restraint and sincerity).

     
    Last edited: Feb 3, 2022
  24. Vangro

    Vangro Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
  25. stewedandkeefed

    stewedandkeefed Came Ashore In The Dead Of The Night

    "Ducks On The Wall" - I always knew the title but the song's purpose was lost on me for years. The duck quacks put it in novelty record territory (and Weird Al's love of the Kinks is not surprising) but it is a good rockin' tune as well. The randomness is one of the appeals of the song. Warren Zevon later wrote a song about Elvis Presley called "Porcelain Monkey" (this hideous sculpture still sits in the TV room at Graceland) and used the title object as a symbol of all that went wrong with Elvis. Here, I find Ray's purpose to be similar to Zevon's. Those ducks on the wall are the objects our star just cannot tolerate.
     

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