I had no idea what this was referencing, so I looked it up ... I am guessing Macadam Cowboy, is another name for Midnight Cowboy? as best as I can tell
"A Face In the Crowd" After a few humorous tunes we get reminded that there are some very poignant and touching moments on this album. It's a song for Kinks fans who were not necessarily thrilled with all the quacking on the last track. "Mister can you tell me who I am?" is a line that I can hear Bowie singing. This is a beautiful piano ballad with lovely playing by all involved. Side B is loaded with the goods!
Yes of course ! Sorry ! This is one of many instances where the English title is translated... as another English title. A weird French tradition.
OK, so this is John Barry again, ripping off his own them from 2 years before. [Edit : I wrote pretentious and inaccurate garbage here, I destroy it]
(A) Face in the Crowd The parenthetical (A) is odd. But other than that, this is quintessential Kinks that wouldn't sound out of place on Lola vs Powerman or Percy. Although if it was Percy, it probably wouldn't be a face in the crowd... The tinkling piano... the occasional bass from Dalton that makes sure its presence is known at times... the heartfelt straight vocal... the harmonizing... Another song that over the past few weeks I didn't even realize was only 2:17 in length. But really, isn't "Don't want to be anything that isn't really me" really the lesson learned by Norman during this album? He didn't really need to be Starmaker... Or maybe he did to realize that really all he needs is Andrea to make it all worthwhile? And now he accepts what he is. This is really a very enjoyable album to listen to.... Really glad to have these tracks in my Kinks arsenal now.
I was thinking about the A in brackets.... The A personalises it.... the removal of A somewhat depersonalises it. Perhaps Ray was suggesting that this is, or can be about A specific individual, but also generalising about all those faces in the crowd.
(A) Face in the Crowd Is it just me, or does this seem to be the inevitable outcome of the story here? Listening to this song at this point in our journey, It just seems like the soap opera just had to end up at this point. Maybe it's the story itself, or maybe some innate understanding of Ray and his lifeview from having studied his previous work up to this point.... or the two together. Oh, and btw, I also think this a very lovely song, and that it's too short.
(A)Face in the Crowd Between Ray's vulnerable vocals and the music, this song gets me in all the feels. From the first time I heard this, it makes me weep. Ok, there...I said it. How can you explain music that hits you so emotionally? I can't. This bit kills me: Mister, can you tell me who I am? Do you think I stand out Or am I just a face in the crowd? I think of Ray writing this and FEELING this. His life and meaning in the big picture. But I also think of it on a very personal level. What's my life worth in the big picture? It's filled with existential angst for me. It's a short song and not a ton of lyrics, but it has deep meaning to me. It's a very humbling song.
Football is life for your cute dog then Ted Lasso is the besto. Ouch. No offence, but that pun should have come with a health warning!
'(A) Face In The Crowd' and the finale were the only two Soap Opera tracks I'd heard prior to this thread thanks to their inclusion on the Celluloid Heroes CD compilation years ago. I've always enjoyed it but it takes on a new meaning within the context of the whole LP. Listened twice today while "iced in" here in New York. Really enjoying it. It's so great to be discovering great "new" Kinks material at this late date. Wonderful album
Ouch. No offence, but that pun should have come with a health warning![/QUOTE] Yes that's why I did not first hyphen it to see if It went through.
"Theme from Midnight Cowboy" is what "(A) Face in the Crowd" always reminded me of also. I forgot John Barry had done a similar theme in "You Only Live Twice." I wonder if part of the lyrical inspiration is Ray realizing that he must, or feeling that he is forced to, soon focus on writing more conventional potential hits that fit into the mainstream pop scene, and stop acting like a clown in these old-time vaudeville revues. (Perhaps this is what @Fischman was referring to with reference to Ray's lifeview). Maybe Schoolboys was to be his final bow before he chose to focus on commercial success with a different record label... I've got to stop faking it, I've got to start facing it, I'm going to take my final bow Then I'm going to take my place in the crowd. I know I'll get used to it, I've got to stop acting like a clown.
You Can't Stop The Music. Single by The Kinks from the album Soap Opera B-side "Have Another Drink" Released 23 May 1975 Recorded August - October 1974 at Konk Studios, London Genre Glam rock Length 3:12 Label RCA Songwriter(s) Ray Davies Producer(s) Ray Davies stereo mix, recorded Aug 1974, additional overdubs done Oct 1974 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London And so Norman decides to stop living out his fantasy of being a rock star and accept reality. This is the end for Norman but not for us because there will always be someone ready to take his place -- after all, everybody's a star! You Can't Stop The Music Let's all raise a glass To the rock stars of the past, Those that made it, Those that faded, Those that never even made the grade, Those that we thought would never last. Singers come and go, And stars fade away. They vanish in the haze And they're never seen again, But the music just keeps playing on. They can't stop the music, They can't stop the music, They can't stop the music playing on. I've been half a million places, I've seen half a million people who stare, I've been a star and down and out, I've been put on, sat on, punched and spat on, They've called me a ******, a spiv and a fake, They can knock me down and tread on my face, They can't stop the music playing on. Let's all raise a glass To the rock stars of the past, Those that made it, Those that faded, Those that never even made the grade, Those that we thought would never last. Singers come and go, And stars fade away. They vanish in the haze And they're never seen again, But they can't stop the music playing on. Written by: Ray Davies Published by: Davray Music Ltd. The first thing that strikes me on a closer listen, is the opening lyric, which seems to be Ray's rock star tip of the hat, in the same way Celluloid Heroes was for movie stars.... but as always with Ray's tracks like this, there is an underlying theme that everybody is a star, which I think is a way of grounding the idea that movie stars, rock stars and Ordinary People, are all just Ordinary People. It is Ray trying to be the great leveller. Yes these people strived to be great singers, or actors, and some made it and some didn't, but they are no different to those who strove to be great electricians or ambulance drivers, and some succeeded and some didn't.... the difference with Norman was that he didn't strive to be a great rock star/singer, he just pretended he was a great rock star/singer and it was stopping him from being the best Norman he could be .... The song seems to be a tack on type song initially. It has very little to do with Norman, Starmaker or Andrea.... it actually seems somewhat like a coda to the album, or perhaps an afterword in a book. It has a sort of "Ok Norman wasn't a rock star, and there is nothing wrong with that, but there have been some great rock stars, so raise your glasses, and let's toast those who have enriched our lives with songs that have made us laugh, cry, learn ... or whatever. The verse after the first chorus seems to be the poignant heart of the song. I think here we have Ray writing directly as Ray, and it has an almost rebellious reaction to the whole idea of stardom. I've been half a million places, I've seen half a million people who stare, I've been a star and down and out, I've been put on, sat on, punched and spat on, They've called me a ******, a spiv and a fake, They can knock me down and tread on my face, They can't stop the music playing on. Ray had certainly been all over the globe, as a member of, the leader of? the Kinks. I'm sure he saw more than half a million people, or perhaps more that, more than half a million people saw the Kinks. He was a star in the sixties, and seemingly deliberately turned his back on that to some degree to follow his own whims. While he wrestled with life, identity, relationships, fame, expectations and commitments. Being in the spotlight resulted in all sorts of physical and verbal assault ... which may be why Ray never seemed to fully embrace the idea of being a rock star. Yet, in spite of all of it, he has songs that have gone down in the history books, and no amount of kickback will remove them.... In spite of going through this catalog and seeing how stunning it is in consistency and quality, it seems the majority may well never experience that, because to be a Kinks fan means to patiently allow the songs and albums to soak into our being. These aren't fast food hits of sound, for the most part, they require you to engage fully, and allow the songs and music to seep in, becoming more and more rewarding over time.... BUT, Ray has probably a dozen songs that will likely always be remembered and loved by the majority, regardless of anything else the band did.... Certainly it is hard to see a day where You Really Got Me, Waterloo Sunset and Sunny Afternoon, at the very least, won't be seen as important songs in the history of rock music. So all the mockers and detractors are really wasting their breath, because Ray and the Kinks are in the books, no matter what anyone thinks of any certain part of the band's catalogue. The music speaks, and You Can't Stop The Music speaking to those who have embraced it, and that is many. We lyrically end the song back in the Celluloid Heroes type territory, and I think it works on that level. In this instance I think the acoustic guitar opening, serves the purpose of showing Ray to be the balladeer, or troubadour, leading the charge. The chord arrangement is a somewhat generic G L O R I A kind of thing, and even the electric guitar accents that come into the song are kind of distant echoes of that. I think this as intentional, and it is altered suitably, so that it sounds like a completely different song... and, well, it is a completely different song, and serves a completely different purpose. It is somewhat a tribute song, and I get the feeling that the vague similarities musically, also work as somewhat of a tribute..... in fact we again get some horns coming in, and they have a sort of Van Morrison feel.... Do we know if Ray was particularly close to, or fond of Van? I ask only because I have heard a few passing Van Morrison tips of the hat across the catalog, or so it seems to me at least. On a closer look I appreciate this song more than I previously did, and I can see it as a logical conclusion the Soap Opera album, but I have generally found it to be a slightly lesser closer for a Kinks album ... I actually like it more now, after diving deeper, but it still feels a slightly underwhelming finale in many ways, even if it is appropriate. To some degree it seems odd that this is a single... It seems to continue the seventies tradition of picking a lot of odd singles ... in many ways A pretty good song, that closes the album well, but isn't a highlight, and may well leave the album with a feeling of fading off a little.
The Kinks present A Soap Opera. This is seemingly the black sheep of the Kinks album family, and certainly before having a closer look, and a more focused listen, it was for me. This album has so many layers, and I get the impression, as somebody pointed out, that Ray changed his mind several times about what this album was actually going to be about. To some degree anyone that saw the Starmaker tv show, may have been confused by the album, to some degree, because Starmaker is certainly about a Star swapping places with an Ordinary Person, and how the environment helps shape that person's perception of life and who they are. The album seems more to address the schizophrenic nature that we all, to some degree, have, of the life we are leading and the life we would like to be leading.... or perhaps how we would like to see ourselves, rather than how we actually do see ourselves..... but I also get a slight feeling of it being Ray exploring himself ... the pop hit writer of the sixties, the intentionally somewhat obtuse contrarian of the late sixties, exploring things that just weren't cool in the hip and groovy world of the summer of dru.... I mean love.... and beyond. I get a feeling that underneath this story, there is a hint that Ray was considering quitting the music world. I get this distinct feeling that Ray was wondering how he would manage as an Ordinary Person... particularly whether he had the capability to be a traditional sort of husband, in light of things having gone so wrong with Rasa. I also think this ties in very closely to the not so distant concert where Ray essentially said he was done, and then almost died through his despair, with some strong help from intentionally incorrectly used pharmaceuticals..... I also get the feeling that the concert staging of the album somewhat suggests this also. With Ray making the big reveal, after all the Norman nonsense, that I am actually a star, I am Ray Davies of the Kinks, and here is one of my songs that will live forever in the rock pantheon. Personally I actually find the album to make perfect sense as a story, it is more that the story has a lot of angles and may seem to fall off the track for some due to that, but as a concept album/play/story album/ theatre album, or however we want to describe this, I find the story is quite clear, with the only ambiguity really coming from who Norman is, and who the Starmaker is, but that resolves itself in the flow of the album ... for me at least. Like watching a tv show with my wife, constantly asking "do you think ....?", and that kind of thing, the story reveals itself as we go along, but we can't help somewhat trying to solve the riddle before the reveal. To some degree the opening track is to blame there, because it is directly tied to the Starmaker tv story, and so it does somewhat throw out a red herring in regards to the actual plot here. As for where the album sits in the Kinks catalog..... well that's a hard one.... partly because the catalog is such a high quality catalog from pretty much start to finish, but also because in many ways this has elements that could make it sit up the top, but in other ways it has elements that fall a bit short ... and for the general public, it probably requires too much attention to ever really sit in a place of honour, as per a Village Green or Muswell Hillbillies type release, where it is more about whether you enjoy the styling of the songs, than an inherently deeper look at the guy singing them. There were some comments about Ray losing his subtlety after the sixties, and I do understand them, but in some ways this album almost suffers from too much subtlety .... Initially when I listened to this album, it came across as a little soft ... and I don't mean that in regards to punchy rock songs vs beautiful ballads or anything like that ... I mean in the sense that it just didn't seem to have anything that grabbed me particularly. It didn't seem to have a specific styling or sound that jumped out..... perhaps it sounded a little bland ... perhaps the attempts at humour didn't gel with my younger mindset .... I mean this is the band that gave us so many deep and personal observations of life, and always seemed to have a sort of edge to their music, yet always came across as personable and humble.... there was a humanity that made what they did special .... and on here, without looking more closely, we have some nice songs, and a bunch of attempts at back slapping laughter, but when you're a "Serious" rock fan, who has time for these comedic sidelines? that serve no purpose in the real world (and yes I am making fun of myself there) Upon looking more closely, I see a very serious album that is framed in a humourous way, so as to maintain that Kinks humanity that I love so dearly. This could have been framed in a way that really made Norman a loser, and objectionably highlighted that, but instead we get Norman the dreamer, tired of his boring life and feeling like there should be more to it. This could have been framed in a way that made Ray the fallen rock star, who used to be revered, but is now shunned by the critical community and the music buying public... perhaps even laughed at, as just not being relevant anymore..... But what I see is an album that somewhat gently looks at all those aspects, and in a very human way explores and melds them into something much less confrontational, and spiked with generous doses of humour to make sure that it can't be too consistently confrontational. This is most definitely a conscious decision by Ray after the very confrontational Preservation albums.... and I think for some the more confrontational approach of Preservation is what makes it more compelling, and the subtleties inherent in this album, can make it seem somewhat dull by comparison. Then I think there is the aspect that to some degree, every single one of us is Norman ... We all have dreams unfulfilled, and things we feel we could have been, and in some cases, and much more detrimental to our mental health, should have been.... This album holds up a mirror to the dreamer in us, and sort of says "it's nice to dream, but don't let that dream destroy your reality, because your reality isn't as bad as your dream makes it seem, and your dream isn't as wonderful as your reality may make it seem" That can be a very hard thing for many people to look at. So The Kinks Present a Soap Opera is a much better, and a much deeper album than I had ever personally realised. I can certainly see aspects that folks aren't that keen on, and understand them, but having lived in this album for about a month now, trying to crack what it was I don't like about it, I actually found nothing, I do like it. Is it in the top tier albums that I would try and get folks who aren't familiar with the Kinks to like? .... probably not, but not because it isn't another Ray Davies subtle masterpiece, but because it is probably an album that requires more work on behalf of the listener than can be reasonably expected of the casual listener. To me this is a very Kinks album, the sound and style may or may not be, but the album itself is the very core of what I love about the band. The undying need to try something, regardless of what anyone else is doing, and regardless of what anyone else may think about it, and I think that comes down to the eversearching Ray Davies. Living in his own world, doing his own thing, occasionally looking up to see what all the fuss is about.
Yeah, You Can't Stop the Music is a weird one. As far as epiphanic climaxes are concerned, it’s not anywhere near the same league as You Make It All Worthwhile, at least for me. As a part of Soap Opera in general, it has no relation whatsoever with the “play” we’ve just made the effort to make sense of for the last couple of weeks. And if we’re really engaged in Norman’s emotional journey, one's got to admit it’s hard to follow the subdued grace of (A) Face in the Crowd with an unrelated “encore” celebrating pop. If Ray’d known his every word would be under the close scrutiny of a @mark winstanley led thread, I bet he would’ve been more scrupulous about consistency… Then again, taken as a Celluloid Heroes’s pop music counterpart it doesn’t stand the comparison either, even though some lines are superb and well delivered, especially in the opening and closing verses. So better not compare it or contextualize it too much. Then, you realize it’s quite good in its own terms. The guitar(s) is/are great, the horns are exciting, Ray’s nasal singing tone make him the missing link between Dylan, McGuinn and Tom Petty. In addition to Them's Gloria, note the Help! quote (“vanish in the haze”) and the little Satisfaction-like rant in the middle (with @ARL's dear old shouty Ray making another appearance), complete with an ebullient Solomon Burke Everybody Needs Somebody to Love feel. I too like to think these 1964/1965 references are intentional, Ray tipping his hat to the Kinks origins, a decade before the recording and release of Soap Opera. In the Guardian piece @ajsmith shared with us the other day, Ray explained he subverted the pop industry success game by transforming his trade into a day-to-day (nine to five ?) job, which was never supposed to be the plan. You Can’t Stop the Music is the theme song of that idea. It is disguised as a celebration of “the rock stars of the past” and those who “didn’t make the grade” but it’s actually about “those that we thought would never last” but did, namely the Kinks themselves. This is not abstract but personal, the whole point being to take a bow at his own band’s longevity, confronting anyone (harsh critics, dogmatic fans, disappointed record labels) who’d ever got in his creative way, and defiantly telling them “you won’t stop MY music”. Let's all have another drink to that!
I always heard the line: I've been half a million places, I've seen half a million people who stare, as echoing the line: All night stand, Been around seen a thousand places. All night stand, Seen a good half a million faces. ..from Ray's 1966 demo 'All Night Stand' written for the Thom Keyes/Shel Talmy book/unmade movie project of the same name and recorded by The Thoughts. Now, this (probably) wasn't an intentional bit of conceptual continuity (although who knows with tricky old Ray) as much as going back and mining the same seam (and why not, given that The Kinks never recorded the earlier song) but it's interesting that (after 8/9 years much more expansive touring) the number of places has multiplied x 500, but the number of people remains the same half a million.
Oct 1963 - Nov 1966 Apr 1967 - Feb 1970 1965 Never Say Yes 1966 Trouble In Madrid Dave reviewing singles of 67 Nov 1970 Lola Vs Powerman And The Moneygoround The Contenders Strangers - live 1970 - Dave live Denmark Street Get Back In Line Lola - TOTP - video - alt version Top Of The Pops - video Moneygoround - mono This Time Tomorrow - 2020 mix A Long Way From Home - live 70's - Ray live Rats Apeman - video - alt stereo - alt mono - ToTP - Calypso - live 94 Powerman - mono - 2020 mix - live 70's Got To Be Free Anytime The Good Life 1971 Golden Hour Of The Kinks Feb 1971 Percy (movie) - trailer Mar 1971 Percy (soundtrack) God's Children Lola The Way Love Used To Be - Ray live Completely Running Round Town Moments - Ray live Animals In The Zoo Just Friends Whip Lady Dreams Helga Willesden Green God's Children Outro The Follower 1971 You Really Got Me - Mini Monster EP Nov 1971 Muswell Hillbillies 20th Century Man - single - Alt Instr - Ray live Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues - live 73 - John Peel Holiday - live 73 Skin And Bone - live 70's - Ray live Alcohol - live 75 - cartoon Complicated Life Here Come The People In Grey - live 72 Have A Cuppa Tea - alt version - live 72 Holloway Jail Oklahoma USA - Ray Live Uncle Son - Alternate Muswell Hillbilly Lavender Lane Mountain Woman Kentucky Moon Nobody's Fool - Cold Turkey(Kinks?) Queenie Dec 1971 Muswell Hillbilly EP 1972 Muswell Hillbilly single (Jap) Mar 1972 Kink Kronikles Aug 1972 Everybody's In Showbiz Here Comes Yet Another Day - live 74 - live 75 Maximum Consumption Unreal Reality Hot Potatoes Sitting In My Hotel - 76 remix Motorway You Don't Know My Name Supersonic Rocket Ship - fan vid - BBC live - band video - live Look A Little On The Sunny Side Celluloid Heroes - live 82 Top Of The Pops Brainwashed - Alt Mr Wonderful Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues - Alt Holiday Muswell Hillbilly - Alt Alcohol - Alt Banana Boat Song Skin And Bone Baby Face Lola Til The End Of The Day You're Lookin' Fine Get Back In Line Have A Cuppa Tea Sunny Afternoon Complicated Life She's Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina Long Tall Shorty History Sophisticated Lady January 1973 The Great Lost Kinks Album Apr 1973 One Of The Survivors/Scrapheap City (Ray Vocal) One Of The Survivors (single version) Ray's near death experience/suicide? The Kinks Live AT The BBC 1973 Oct 1973 Golden Hour Of The Kinks Vol 2 1973 The Time Song I'm Going Home Nov 1973 Preservation Act 1 Morning Song/Daylight - live 74 Sweet Lady Genevieve - Ray live - live 70's There's A Change In The Weather Where Are They Now? One Of The Survivors - Compile version - edit 1 - edit 2 Cricket - Cricket Money And Corruption/ I Am Your Man - Alt/ext Here Comes Flash Sitting In The Midday Sun - video Demolition - Peel sessions extras Village Green (Overture) Picture Book/People Take Pictures Of Each Other (live) May 1974 Preservation Act 2 Announcement Introduction To Solution When A Solution Comes Money Talks - Peel Sessions - Live 74 Announcement Shepherds Of The Nation Scum Of The Earth Second Hand Car Spiv He's Evil - Hippodrome 74 Mirror Of Love - Band Version - Hippodrome 74 Announcement Nobody Gives Oh Where Oh Where Is Love Flash's Dream (The Final Elbow) Flash's Confession Nothing Lasts Forever Announcement Artificial Man Scrapheap City Announcement Salvation Road Preservation Slum Kids - 1975 The Preservation concerts Providence Nov 30th 1974 Preservation Live - More live footage - Home movie footage Live - Midnight Special World Radio History May 1975 The Kinks Present A Soap Opera Everybody's A Star - Alt version Ordinary People - pt 2 live - live Rush Hour Blues - live Nine To Five When Work Is Over Have Another Drink Underneath The Neon Sign Holiday Romance You Make It All Worthwhile Ducks On The Wall (A) Face In The Crowd You Can't Stop The Music Starmaker Tv Play Tv Play 6 of 7 parts Soap Opera tour Soap Opera Concert Winterland 1977 Ray On Wonderworld 2005 Thanksgiving Day Ray live on Conan Obrien Oct 2018 Dave Davies - Decade - interview If You Are Leaving (71) Cradle To The Grace (73) Midnight Sun (73) Mystic Woman (73) The Journey (73) Shadows (73) Web Of Time (75) Mr Moon (75) - Why Mick Avory Pete Quaife - interview - Kast Off Kinks - I Could See It In Your Eyes - Dead End Street Rasa Didzpetris Davies John Dalton
Imagine my disappointment in 1980 when the Village People movie, Can’t Stop the Music, had nothing to do with Soap Opera. Talk about a missed opportunity…..
For the weekend, I'm going to post these three live bonus tracks, that I should have posted when we covered the songs.... apologies Ordinary People - the reprise from the live shows. I really like this version, as an addition. Dave really gets a spotlight to shine here.