State of confusion (the album): Much like our fearless leader, this too is where I got off the kinks bus. I suspect fearless leader and I must be relatively close in age, and I am guessing that may have had something to do with it. The early 80s would see an uptick in new hard rock and metal bands. As I have noted more than a few times, I am a fan of loud guitars. 1981 through 1984 heralded the arrival of newer heavier, speedier bands like Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe and The Scorpions among others, and as a guy between the ages of 16 and 18 years old during this period, these are bands that I adopted as my own. They were harder than bands like the stones and the kinks and these new bands became what we listened to within my circle of friends. I know most the Avids here will look dismissively/derisively at the following list (feel free to poke some fun, I am a lawyer, I have think skin) (…but don’t you dare say anything negative about Maiden’s Piece of Mind, it’s an all- time metal classic), but to give you all a sense of what I was listening to in 1983: Dio - Holy Diver Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind Motley Crue - Shout at the Devil Def Leppard - Pyromania Queensryche - Queensyrche Thin Lizzy - Thunder and Lightening AC DC - Flick of the Switch Triumph - Never Surrender As a result, where the previous run of Kinks albums from Sleepwalker thru GTPWTW had filled the growing need in me for some screaming guitars, by the time State of Confusion was released in 1983, I was buying and listening to a lot of much harder hitting albums. Oddly though, I was still listening to a lot of straight ahead rock. Undercover by the Stones came out that year and I bought and liked that (I am not sure like it as much these days, but that’s for another thread). Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell, Joan Jett, Uh Huh by Mellencamp, Yes 90125, Journey Frontiers and U2’s War we’re all getting heavy spins. So why no Kinks? don’t recall ever even buying State of Confusion. I do remember not being enthralled with the title track, which was what I was hearing on rock radio at the time of release and I was not (then) a fan of Come Dancing (which was so popular it could not be avoided even if one tried). Thus, my memory says I probably skipped the album all together. Therefore, unlike Sleepwalker, Misfits, LowBudget and one for the road , this will be the first Kinks album in a while that we will be discussing that I really hadn’t listen to 40 years ago when it first came out. …and I say, my loss. I have spent the last several weeks with the album and I quite like it. I have also begun spinning Word of Mouth, another one that I skipped, and that one sounds even stronger to me. Looks to me like we still get some more good stuff to enjoy from this band coming up.
I can relate. Many of those albums or others by those bands I bought between those years at roughly the same age during that period. Undercover moreso than Tattoo You made me a Stones fan. I still love it. The Kinks I liked but didn't really start buying their albums till college and then I went on a spree.
Long Distance is so Dylanish with its outlandish nicknames for the road crew that Dave occasionally plays the lead lick off Like A Rolling Stone during the verses as a comment (or joke). For a long time that was my favorite song from this album - one that didn’t even make the album. It was clearly written during the blush of his and Chrissie’s romance. Ray wrote some other lovely songs for this, obviously including the big and well-deserved hit Come Dancing with its excellent production and fantastic video, establishing Ray’s period mustachioed persona, but also Heart of Gold and Don’t Forget to Dance. Out of the shouty ones, I always liked the title track. It sounds a bit like the Clash, who of course borrowed blatantly a few times from the Kinks. Overall though, at the time it came out, this one was for me like the other Arista albums, it has a few great tracks and several less great ones. It was great to see the Kinks all over MTV and to hear Ray lean back into some pop territory. Cliches of the World augured some experimentation by Ray in a direction I never much appreciated, one he would take farther in the MCA era with songs like “It”. I’d rather hear Rock & Roll Cities!
So as a, sort of, day off, I thought we could look at the State Of Confusion tour. The State Of Confusion Tour. The band were recording the album from September 1982 through to March 1983, and Come Dancing was released as a single in November 1982. The album came out in June 1983, and perhaps seven months was too long to wait to release the album after the big hit single? As we discussed already, the band did the US festival on Sept 4th 1982, and then it seems like they headed back to the UK and started working on this album. Come Dancing was recorded in October of 1982 and released pretty promptly, and that is likely to try and maintain the momentum that the last two albums had given them. Again as we already discussed, the band toured around Scotland and England in December of 1982, and it seems like this was the methodology of the band, tour around home while recording, release an album and go to the US. In recent years, that spread to heading to places like Australia and Asia and such also. The songs for the album were recorded by March 1983, and yet it was three months until the album was released, but I can't find any details as to why the seeming delay, but with the Kinks it seems like this is par for the course. Interestingly Bernadette was recorded May- June 1981, and so it seems like it is a leftover from Give The People What They Want, and that may be why if feels somewhat out of place on here.... and when we see the songs leftover from these sessions, it is likely that we will probably scratch our heads and wonder why they never made on the album instead. So in April 1983 the Kinks headed across to the US again, playing their first show in Cincinnati on April 8th. April 10th they played Chick Evans Field House DeKalb Illinois. Around the Dial State of Confusion The Hard Way Catch Me Now I'm Falling Destroyer Yo-Yo Come Dancing Don't Forget to Dance Lola David Watts Art Lover Back to Front Gallon Of Gas Labour Of Love Celluloid Heroes Till The End Of The Day ? All Day And All Of The Night encore: Pressure Low Budget encore 2: You Really Got Me It's a really solid set, but certainly leans towards the Arista tears recordings, which I find really interesting. The band were definitely trying to avoid the nostalgia act title. The band toured around the North-East, and then on April 26th they went to Cow Palace in California Around the Dial Definite Maybe State of Confusion The Hard Way Destroyer Yo-Yo Come Dancing Don't Forget to Dance Lola (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman A Gallon of Gas Art Lover Till The End Of The Day Bernadette All Day And All Of The Night Pressure Low Budget Celluloid Heroes You Really Got Me May 5th at the San Diego Sports Arena Around the Dial State of Confusion The Hard Way Catch Me Now I'm Falling Destroyer Yo-Yo Come Dancing Don't Forget to Dance Lola Back to Front Where Have All the Good Times Gone Low Budget Superman Pressure You Really Got Me/All Day And All Of The Night They toured around the South-West, and then headed inland to the central South. Playing a very similar set at the Rupp Arena in Lexington Kentucky on May 18th. Then it was up to Pennsylvania and New York and then two shows in Canada, Montreal and Toronto, and again the set stays pretty similar to the San Diego set, but Lola apparently morphed into a blues of some description. They headed back to the North-East of the US, and we get a set change up after pretty much two months of much the same setlist, so far as I can tell. May 28 Glens Falls Civic Centre New York Juke Box Music Destroyer Low Budget A Gallon of Gas Around the Dial (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman Art Lover Don't Forget to Dance Pressure Yo-Yo Come Dancing Lola All Day And All Of The Night Celluloid Heroes You Really Got Me It isn't a huge change, but Come Dancing and Don't Forget To Dance get split up.... and it did seem odd that they had been tagged together so far in all the sets. Most significantly though is the inclusion of Juke Box Music, which as we had noted seemed extremely rare to get a guernsey in Kinks setlists. Interestingly the US tour ended on June 11th, one day after the release of State Of Confusion. The band appears to have shut down for six months until returning to the North- East corner for some shows in December, which closed the year out playing three shows in a row at the Roseland Ballroom, New York, on the 29th 30th and 31st, and it seems it would be a pretty good way to bring in the New Year to me. 30th December Roseland Ballroom Around the Dial Definite Maybe State of Confusion Catch Me Now I'm Falling Where Have All the Good Times Gone / Tired of Waiting for You Don't Forget to Dance Come On Now The Hard Way Destroyer Yo-Yo Come Dancing 20th Century Man Superman Lola All Day And All Of The Night The band also spent January touring the US, and I assume it was to try and reinforce the success of State Of Confusion charting at 12, and trying to keep the momentum up. They Played The Hampton Coliseum January 7th, and this may be the most interesting setlist of that particular tour. Around the Dial Definite Maybe State of Confusion Where Have All the Good Times Gone Tired of Waiting for You Destroyer Yo-Yo Come On Now Don't Forget to Dance Come Dancing 20th Century Man The Hard Way Catch Me Now I'm Falling Gallon Of Gas Muswell Hill;billy Lola Dead End Street Superman/Shakin All Over Till the End Of The Day All Day And All Of The Night No huge changes, but it's nice to see Dead End Street and Muswell Hillbilly come into the set. March and April 1984 the band did 8 shows in England, and 1 in Wales. March 30 Royal Court Centre Nottingham Around the Dial The Hard Way Where Have All the Good Times Gone Tired of Waiting for You Dead End Street Destroyer Harry Rag Come Dancing Don't Forget to Dance Lola / Blues Property State of Confusion All Day And All Of The Night I Gotta Move Till the End Of The Day Waterloo Sunset Heart Of Gold You Really got Me Celluloid Heroes April 2nd Hammersmith Palais Around the Dial The Hard Way Where Have All the Good Times Gone Tired of Waiting for You Dead End Street Destroyer Oklahoma U.S.A. Come Dancing Don't Forget to Dance State of Confusion Property Lola David Watts 20th Century Man All Day And All Of The Night I Gotta Move Waterloo Sunset Pressure Heart Of Gold You Really Got Me April 6th Manchester Apollo 20th Century Man The Hard Way Where Have All the Good Times Gone Dead End Street All Day and All of the Night Get Back in Line Come Dancing Don't Forget to Dance State of Confusion Property Lola David Watts All Day And All Of The Night Tired Of Waiting For You Low Budget Destroyer Waterloo Sunset Heart Of Gold You Really Got Me April 7 Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool Around the Dial The Hard Way Where Have All the Good Times Gone Tired of Waiting for You Dead End Street Destroyer Come Dancing Don't Forget to Dance State of Confusion Property Get Back in Line Lola David Watts All Day And All Of The Night encore: I Gotta Move Low Budget Waterloo Sunset encore 2: Heart Of Gold You Really Got Me encore 3: Celluloid Heroes Till The End Of The Day It is interesting that they picked a different set of album tracks to play in the UK to the US from State Of Confusion, and it is also interesting, but not surprising that the band played more of the older songs in the UK... The band certainly seem to be tailoring their shows for the audience to some degree. I can't find any specific reason for the 5 or 6 months off in 1983, except perhaps rest and relaxation ... unless there is something that was going on that I can't find.... Perhaps Ray had started playing with his Return To Waterloo idea? I'm really not sure. After their final gig on April 9th in Leicester, the band's next performance was November 17th on SNL two days before the Word Of Mouth release... and the Word Of Mouth tour followed on directly from there. So it's an interesting insight into what the band were trying to do from my perspective, and it shows some more consistent/persistent setlists, but tailored to each market ....
'Come Dancing' wasn't issued as a single in the US until April 21st 1983 though, becoming a top ten chart hit there soon after.. it had been originally issued as a UK single in November 1982, but flopped, and only became a UK hit in late summer 1983 after it became a US hit.. so the SoC album pretty much came out in the very midst of the songs transatlantic success...
Wasn't this due to Dave dropping out from doing some initially planned 1983 dates due to his issues at the time? (as mentioned in one of the contemporary interview videos posted upthread).
What were my albums for 1983? .... In 1983 I had been an album buyer for 3 years, and I was moving into my main concert years too. I had recently discovered Led Zeppelin, and so I was working my way through Led Zeppelin albums. Robert Plant had released Principle Of Moments and that was a big favourite of the day, and I also saw him on the Principle Of Moments tour in 83. I discovered U2 via the same place as Led Zeppelin, 96fm, and I had heard a live concert hour of a show in Boston that I loved, and everyone in my family thought I was insane. U2's War was fast becoming a favourite album of mine. I discovered Pink Floyd via The Final Cut, which remains today one of my favourite albums... and in typical style I went on to check out the rest of their material as I was able. I too had become a big fan of Iron Maiden and Piece Of Mind joined the party. The Police had Synchronicity I discovered Stevie Ray Vaughn and Texas Flood, and Stevie would blow my mind in concert a couple of years from here. I had been a Dylan fan since I was a little boy, and Infidels was the new album, and I still love that album. I had been softening to the idea of synthesizers, and based on the strength of the two songs I was hearing on the radio (Pale Shelter and Mad World) I bought and loved Tears For Fears The Hurting. Big Country's The Crossing made a big impact. The Stones Undercover wasn't an instant favourite of mine at the time, it was unusual to my ears, and I had been a Stones fan since I was a little boy via a best of my parents had. Stones I had been an Acdc fan since I was a pup and Flick Of The Switch was an addition to the collection. Another huge thing in my year was the acceptance of Cold Chisel. When I first heard them it was via the song Choir Girl, which had been a huge Aussie hit, but didn't really grab me at the time, but the single off Circus Animals, "You've Got Nothing I Want" really grabbed my attention, and I bought a Chisel album, I think it was East, and I loved the band. the diversity of style really worked for me. In 1983 Cold Chisel decided to call it a day, and so in 1983 I went and saw Cold Chisel The Last Stand in Perth at the Entertainment Centre, and it turned me into lifelong fan. The band were superb and I would put them up against any live band I have ever heard. I was enjoying lots of different music... I started recording my own songs on a little 3 in 1 stereo via a couple of super el cheapo target microphones.... It turns out in hindsight that 1983 was a pretty big year for me musically. By the time we move to 1984 I leave school against everyone's advice and start working in the bank, at the ripe old age of 15, and I was doing an accountancy course at night, but it was boring as dirt.... but I had an income, and one of the first things I bought was a cd player, and one of the second things I bought was a new guitar
The albums I bought in 1983: Billy Bragg - Life's A Riot With Spy vs Spy The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge The Comsat Angels - Land Echo and the Bunnymen - Porcupine The The - Soul Mining XTC - Mummer It wasn't until 1985 that I started investigating "old" music, and my world became wider than new wave/post-punk.
I can’t remember exactly what I bought in 1983, and as I was 13 there wouldn’t have been a lot, but I was into pop - lots of UK synth pop, plus I had Thriller. I also got into Bowie via Let’s Dance and started exploring his earlier stuff. Queen were probably my favourite band.
In 1983 I prob hadn't progressed much beyond 'Wheels On The Bus' in terms of musical taste, although I have been told I used to enjoy headbanging to a Saxon LP my parents had in the house as a tiny tot (they weren't fans: my Dad had acquired a promo LP through his work).
There is a small Saxon connection to The Kinks, in that they covered 'See My Friends' last year to close out their covers album 'Inspirations':
Pretty neat to see XTC's Mummer on a few people's lists. By 1983 as I look back I was into a weird mix of MTV influenced music and college rock introduced by older friends and my reading. So, I loved ZZ Top's Eliminator but was also into REM's Chronic Town and Murmur. My beloved middle brother was still head long into the Kinks but though I recall the album cover and a couple of the hits, I don't remember much about it. 1983 was the first time I saw the Kinks live. We had floor seats and it was a blazingly good show. "Come Dancing" was a big hit and I remember that they played the little intro from the video as the song began. At one point somebody threw a Harley Davidson ball cap on the stage. Ray scooped it up and put it on, did a little jig and said something like "Yee-Haw" with a country accent and then threw it back out. I caught it and had it in with my rock memorabilia for a few years. Ended up giving it to a pal who wanted it for the Harley logo.
Not related to where we're at just now, but Dave posted this 2004 live video of 'Creeping Jean' to his Facebook the other day, which I missed when we discussed that track. Apparently this is from his last show before his stroke:
First off, Avid Markelis, as a fellow attorney, I believe that you have invented a new concept in your term "think skin" As for what else I was listening to back in 1983, I believe that I was listening to Punch the Clock by Elvis Costello when I wasn't playing SOC. My big three faves around that time were the Kinks, Elvis Costello and Otis Redding; I still like 2 of those 3 today. I also was listening to the Clash, Lou Reed/VU, Madness, Nick Lowe, the Ramones, basically a mis mash of New Wave and 60s oldies/soul music. I also still listened to the radio, which was WBCN and an oldies station as well as American Top 40 with Casey Kasem.
I loved those albums. Along these other heavies: Zebra - s/t Blue Oyster Cult - The Revolution by Night Gary Moore - Victims of the Future Ozzy Osborne - Bark at the Moon Black Sabbath - Born Again I was also solidly aligned with the hard rock/metal.of the day. Didn't have much appreciation for much else at the time. And yet, that didn't slow down my Kinks konsumption one bit. From the day I discovered them, they were at my side no matter what kind of musical phase I was going through at the time.
STATE OF CONFUSION TOUR I saw the Kinks on this tour for the 2nd (and final) time in Portland, Maine. Looking at the set lists, I think the one from the Cow Palace looks closest to what I remember. It was a great show. Lots of energy from the band and the crowd. Somewhere I have a copy of the set list. I'll have to look for that to see how my memory and reality agree (or differ)!
In 1982 I was heavily into heavy rock - Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Def Leppard (when they still were), Scorpions, Ozzy, Dio, Thin Lizzy (Thunder and Lightning was as metal as they got) and Saxon's bludgeoning meat and mashed potatoes metal from Yorkshire. Given my familiarity with Saxon, there is NO WAY I'm clicking on that video to see what they did to See My Friends Edit: I wasn't just a headbanger: I still bought the Kinks, Billy Bragg, XTC, Marillion, Cold Chisel and other stuff I could barely afford.
Don't worry: It's actually fairly faithful, although I certainly don't agree with the guy in the comments who says it betters the original!