I like this song more than most of "Low Budget"! 70s albums: Lola Muswell Hillbillies Preservation 1 Soap Opera Showbiz Percy Schoolboys Sleepwalker Preservation II Misfits Low Budget ... a quick list, haven't given it too much thought.
Thanks for asking; still not great, but always hoping to improve the next day: a sure sign that I'm feeling a bit better will be if I start doing more involved posts again on this thread, I just don't have the focus just now. Hoping I'll be better in time for Give The People..., because that's a big favourite of mine that I want to write about at length if possible!
Wrapping up Low Budget: A Gallon of Gas - Back to the blues with a Mannish Boy-ish riff. The Kinks do a really nice job of distilling blues rock and it fits the humorous lyrics. Misery - As several have said, a companion to Attitude. It's a fun, gritty rocker. Loose and yes, Stonesy. Lyrically, another good self-help message from Ray. Moving Pictures - One of my favorites from a totally solid album. I hear some new wave flourishes for sure. My main impression is that the song has the vibe of a Sly & The Family Stone song. I'll have to try and figure out what it might be. Perhaps it's nostalgia, but I've loved this record since I initially played it. One of the first LPs I bought with my own money. It's been great to focus on it as an adult and to read all of the great thoughts and critiques from my fellow commenters. Very interesting to consider that some of the songs might have an autobiographical bent to the lyrics. I wouldn't change a thing about the record and it's been a blast to be cranking it the last week or so. Ray and the band created the record they needed for the market. It works beautifully and still stands as a major achievement. Hidden Quality - A really cool bonus track. It would have been a fantastic flip side. Sounds like a Greg Kihn kind of song where he's channeling 60's pop-rock...like The Kinks!
Hidden Quality When was the last time the Kinks did power pop - Till the End of the Day? I haven't taken a proper look but it seems to be a style that Ray avoided after the sixties, which is a real shame because they were so good at it. As a tune I really like Hidden Quality and can't understand why Ray shelved it. The album would have been improved had he ditched Misery (no offence, Misery lovers), and made this the last song instead of Moving Pictures. A hidden treasure.
Re: Massive Reductions. My vote is hold it off for Word of Mouth. It’s the context most of us know the song, even though there are recording variances between the b-side and LP versions (I don't think the song itself changes? but maybe I'm wrong.) The idea of following a strict chronology has been kind of on/off anyway. After all, were it followed, then (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman and Low Budget the single—which were known to the public, charted and peaked half a year prior to the album coming out—would have been discussed in advance (like this thread did with Waterloo Sunset being discussed before Something Else.) It felt natural discussing Superman and Low Budget in context with the album. That’s how I see it, anyway.
I am trying to sort my Kinks alternate albums out. I just compiled a 1980 alternate Kinks album titled Duke. I find myself very clever. Back to Schoolboys, I also made a shorter edit of Education but I don't think it's stabilized yet. As for Low Budget, I thought I would replace Moving Pictures with Hidden Quality, which I like a lot, but the sound quality is not sufficient. So I just removed Moving Pictures, put my edit of Catch Me Now I'm Falling as a closer and moved In a Space to Side 1. I'll see if it works for me. I could also keep Moving Pictures but put it at the end of Side 1. Don't know.
Back to "Moving Pictures" for a moment, if I may.... Just as "National Health" seems to demonstrate that Ray was listening to "Shattered," "Moving Pictures" may show an acquaintance with "Some Girls."
Hidden Quality: a gem of a song. I like this a lot but don’t know what I would have done with it in real-time. It’s a throwback to earlier Kinks so doesn’t seem like it would fit on the Low Budget album (even though I prefer it to any of the last three tracks on the lp). But that’s because I value ‘flow.’ And I’m stuck trying to decide what to do with it for my playlist. In terms of flow it would fit very nicely into the Pye era list…but that’s not where/when it was created. Decisions!
Jim Rodford. James Walter Rodford was born in St Albans, Hertfordshire July 7 1941. Sadly he passed away January 20th 2018, at the age of 76. From roughly 1955-1964 he was in a band called The Bluetones, a popular local St Albans band. In 1964 Jim was responsible for helping his younger cousin Rod Argent put together The Zombies, though he was not a member at that stage. From 1964-1969 Jim was a member of The Mike Cotton Sound, and we seem to have heard of them before . From 1969 to 1976 Jim was with Argent, and was a founding member. Interestingly Bob Henrit was also in argent, but we'll hear from him a bit later. Over 1977 he was in a band called Phoenix. and from 1978 to 1996 he was a member of the Kinks. After the Kinks Rodford seems to have done a few multiples, being in an Animals follow up band called Animals II, then Animals and Friends, whilst simultaneously being in a reformed Zombies, that later also ran concurrently with stints in the Kast Of Kinks and a band of his called The Rodford Files. With Argent, standing at the back.
Hidden Quality: A bit ragged and disjointed, but sounded like it could have worked if the band had pursued it. I do prefer it to many of the tracks on Low Budget! But I can also hear why they set it aside. It did point in the right direction for future endeavors like "Yo-Yo" that recalled the band's signature sound while moving forward. (I usually find that bands made the right call when I hear unreleased tracks! Whether it's because the song is presented in nascent/demo form, or something just isn't quite "there" about the song, it almost always sounds like the right choice.)
Hidden Quality Proto-Smithereens? Fun song. Yeah, I think I would have liked a whole album of Kinks doing this sort of alt-power-pop.
70s albums (where you will see a couple very nonstandard placements, although in most cases, the difference are so minor as to be meaningless): Lola Schoolboys Misfits Low Budget Preservation 2 Preservation 1 Sleepwalker Muswell Hillbillies Showbiz Soap Opera Percy
I knew it, that's why I found myself so clever. I even have an alternate Genesis Duke album of course.
Not bothered either way here. This is the one and only instance in the entire catalog where the later re-recorded version is the better and definitive version. Holding it until Word Of Mouth for side by side compare and contrast may illicit more conversation. I won’t forget to bring it up when we get there, even if everyone else does. My goal in bringing these types of things up chronologically in the thread is simply pointing out they even exist for those folks who are unaware.
I totally understand. I certainly didn't know it had an earlier version, and I am not super familiar with Word Of Mouth. I was surprised they were so similar with so many years between them.
Hidden Quality I suppose it’s fair enough when grading a demo to give an Incomplete, there’s nothing here that grabs me but who can say, with a little more watering and weeding it might grow into something. I have my doubts though, as the title itself, when sung, simply doesn’t work. A new phrase would be welcome. At least Ray cherry-picked that chorus for later use on one of SOC’s better efforts. Interesting as an artifact and a view of the path not taken, but, showing no weekend mercy, I’d skip it most every time. 70’s Most recent rankings(in no particular order?!?) Lola Muswell Hillbillies Preservation Act 1 Preservation Act 2 Low Budget Misfits Sleepwalker Soap Opera Schoolboys in Disgrace Everybody’s in Showbiz
"Hidden Quality", a song w/a lot of potential, w/ riffs that haven't been heard since 1966. The only problem is that Ray's vocal is too low in the mix. I would be very happy if the Kinks continued on this way. As for "Massive Reductions" my vote would be to wait until the Word of Mouth discussion comes around. Finally, have a lovely weekend Avid Ajsmith & get better.
I like the Smithereens comment. I saw them back in the day and I believe they did a couple of Kinks covers.
Yes they did and not only that, they backed up Ray and Dave in Boston in 1992 doing "You Really Got Me", which is on their odds & sods album that came out in 1995.
Yeah, it’s hard to tell for sure. He might be there in the backing vocals but I can’t distinctly hear his voice if he is. There are three rhythm guitars here one split left and one split right for the duration of the song and a third one is added in the center during the last chorus. All three of these guitars are playing unique parts but they sound like the same guitar and the same player to me so my guess is all of these are Ray. Same strumming technique on all of them. He says in the booklet from the box set they never got a band track he was happy with so that’s why it was never finished and left off the album. We see with the recording here they never got around to putting a lead guitar on this.
Anyone familiar with Argent knows that Rodford (and Henrit) had chops to spare but were not surprisingly toned down while in the Kinks. Different styles of music of course. Progressive rock vs Pop rock. Still there is some very nice bass guitar throughout the Low Budget album so Ray hadn’t fully reigned in the band yet.
Here's that odds and sods Smithereens album that I mentioned. They cover "The World Keeps Going Round" & back up Ray and Dave on "You Really Got Me". There's a lot of other cool stuff on it & I recommend it. I remember buying this the same day as the Beatles Anthology I and listening to it more than the latter! The Smithereens - Attack Of The Smithereens