70s albums: Lola Preservation 1 Soap Opera Showbiz (studio only!) Percy Preservation II Sleepwalker Misfits Muswell Low Budget Schoolboys
My updated bottom-end (to date): ‘Schoolboys In Disgrace’ ‘Misfits’ ‘Low Budget’ ‘Soap Opera’ ‘Sleepwalker’ (on the bottom) I don’t factor in ‘Percy’ because it’s a soundtrack. Edit: I’m not factoring in the first two albums, too, because I didn’t stumble upon this thread until page 50…and whatever was being discussed.
I might need a few days to consider the output of the 70s. I think Lola and Misfits are pretty high in my estimation. And of course Low Budget. But as to the rest. Arggghhhh! This is hard. I do know that Preservation II is probably last. (sorry!!!)
Gallon of Gas A Kinksian twist on the car song. I love the extra verses. Cadillacs have always been a popular car in popular music, including the blues so it is fitting that he sets these lyrics to a blues sound. A song a year earlier with a hard rock bluesy sound also involved owning a Cadillac but not being able to afford the gasoline to drive it. Both are great songs. I used to think this was just a generic blues filler track but I've re-thought my view on this. Gallon of Gas fits the Low Budget-theme (extending it to the song's music). It also provides both a humorous social commentary and a wry energy crunch twist on both the car and Cadillac songs. There is more than a little RCA-era showtune and dance hall lurking beneath the hood in this one too (particularly the backing vocals). It's a blues that is more Broadway than Beale St. Maybe he was recording this one during the day while the Boss was writing Cadillac Ranch at night.
Moving Pictures / Low Budget (album) I am going to preface this with the fact that I played my (now) 200+ song Kinks playlist on shuffle for about 3 hours of a 5 hour drive this afternoon (we are driving up to Quebec City and Montreal this weekend). A few points. I think Moving Pictures fits perfectly among the 60s Pye records. Yes, the sound is 1979, but I am talking about the song lyrics and structure. The lyrics, as Mark noted, evokes VGPS, and takes the idea one step further. While we may loathe looking back at pictures from “those days when you were happy a long time ago” (don’t show me no more, please)… and while we may take pictures to either prove that we really existed, or to show that we love one another… life goes on, past these moments, and the world keeps going round. Don’t you fret, because you can’t stop the music. Anyway, the song structure of Moving Pictures, with its 3 different sections juggled around for a few minutes, seems pretty similar to Tired of Waiting for You. Both songs even include a section with a softer, higher vocal (“it’s your life… and you can do what you want…”). They are tight, memorable songs comprised of 3 or 4 seemingly simple musical ideas, with a great riff. I put this in the upper half of Kinks album Klosers. Now regarding Low Budget (album), I think this is the strongest of the Arista albums so far. It is hard to compare to the RCA concept albums. I think the songs here are absolutely kwirky and stand up pretty well with their earlier songs. More so than I thought they would, coming into this. Listening to 200+ songs from 64-79 on shuffle for a few hours makes you realize that Shouty Ray makes an appearance on Powerman. Throaty Ray makes an appearance on House in the Country. It turns out this album isn’t that different to me. I’m sort of amazed. Last thing… my wife is not a big Kinks fan, so props to her for listening to this playlist in the car for 3 hours… but the one song that she really has taken a liking to is This is Where I Belong.
Low Budget - the album I really enjoy Low Budget. It's a fun album with plenty of variety. It's hard for me to rank it against their other seventies output, but I'd put it in the top half of those ten albums. My three faves remain Muswell Hillbillies, Lola and Preservation Act 1.
70s albums: Lola --------- Misfits Muswell Hillbillies Low Budget -------------- Soap Opera Sleepwalker Schoolboys in Disgrace -------------- Preservation 2 Preservation -------------- Showbiz
Bless your wife for putting up with soundtrack. My husband would do the same. Like you, I don't see a mind-blowing difference between the Kinks of yore and the late 70s Kinks. There is something indefinable about this band. I recently picked up UK Jive which is late 80s Kinks...sure, there are some songs I'm not as enthused about, but overall, this is the Kinks and it makes me happy.
Moving Pictures Another pleasant departure on this album and with a good topic. It does strike me as a more common to early 80's sound so Ray is trendy here. As for the lyrics I agree with some other Avids who stated that Ray has sung many times about life, moments, pictures and film and generally always made a better first of it than this which remains a curious closer.
Oops, you caught me... I don't think it's a bad song but unfortunately I just can't get past the relentless pounding kick drum to want to listen to it often. In Americana, Ray said "A Gallon of Gas" was an homage to Leiber and Stoller. He started writing it in NYC after having dinner with Mike Stoller. "I wanted it to be in the style of the Coasters. Throwaway, low-slung harmonies that slid into one another without quite hitting the pitch."
I think that Schoolboys In Disgrace is the turning point of the Kinks musically and every album after it, while perhaps louder or faster is working within the same orientation of 50s pastisches, rock, blues, ballads and a smattering of pop and British dance hall. If that observation is accurate I don't see it as a bad thing at all. The Kinks embraced what they were: a rock n roll band. I see, aside from theme, musically at least Low Budget and Schoolboys are pretty similar records in the sense of the Kinks getting back to basics. At the same time they are very different records as well.
Misery The return of the Attitude character? Ray singing about the other side of himself in both songs? I would imagine being bi-polar back before it was really recognized properly, if at all, as it was called manic depression or misdiagnosed, was probably very frustrating for Ray and others with it. I could see Ray using his somgwriting for inner diaolgue with himself. A form of therapy by using his muse in lyric writing. This is a sad song lyrically juxtaposed by a souped up 50s rock vibe that also evokes both the Band and the Stones. It's a short, punchy and playful tune that takes itself far less seriously than its subject does. I first heard the Band and Rick Danko in Ray's vocals and Kinks music on Showbiz's Here Comes Yet Another Day (the Touissant-inspired horns). This song is an overlooked highlight of Low Budget (even by me) that is sort of buried as its penultimate track. It would fit in well on Exile On Main Street because it has that same tossed off, effortless feel that disguises how strong of a track it is. Don't sleep on Misery. It's a minor classic.
So, Low Budget? Sadly it did not rise in my estimation. Nearly half the tracks didn’t register in my memory before hearing them here. And I probably played them a lot back in the day. So why do I have not one, but two, copies of the 12 » single of Superman? I actually have a lot of the twelve inch singles going forward. Have no idea if they’re extended tracks or different mixes or whatever. OK. Back to Low Budget. I should like it more than I do. A lot of the songs have attitude and lots of Dave. But I’m just not hearing great songs. Nothing I would say was bad. Just not great. I think many of them translated better live. Not a bad thing, but not one that makes me want to go back to the album. Really intrigued by the unreleased stuff. All new to me.
Which reminds me. I should try and take some pics of the twelve inch singles jackets as we roll along as I suspect they’re not exactly common? Try to remind me.
Lola...(fantastico! up there with their very best) Muswell.... (loved the turned down sound, freaking love it) tie Misfits ....(very good! maybe cause it hit me at a good time) tie Sleepwalker (came in for a peep good stuff) Showbiz (good but mixed) Schoolboys (headmaster!) Preservation 1 (grew on me) Low Budget (some lost me but lots a good) Soap Opera Preservation II Percy (never heard it)
Hidden Quality. stereo mix (3:05), recorded 20-30 May, 1979 (backing track), early Jun 1979 (vocals) at Power Station, New York (backing track), Blue Rock Studios, New York (vocals) I got a girl, she's such a mess She makes a rubbish bin look almost kind of sexy[?] She's got a stain down her dress It makes it look like she's been dancing in a sewer [?] But they [?] But underneath that poverty I know she's got hidden quality Underneath that crude exterior I know she's got something superior Oh whoa-oh I know she's got hidden quality Oh whoa-oh I know she's got hidden quality Though she'll never be a movie star She really got a lot of class Though she'll never be a movie star She'll really [?] [?] she loves me, ohhh I love her, I love her, I love her, I love her, I love her Underneath that poverty I know she's got hidden quality Underneath that crude exterior I know she's got something superior Oh whoa-oh I know she's got hidden quality Oh whoa-oh Whoa I know I'm not a pretty sight But hidden deep within me there is [?] Casanova I know I no Romeo I'm not a Valentino, but I might as well be [?] But what they don't know Underneath this poverty She knows I got hidden quality Underneath this crude exterior She knows I got something superior Oh whoa-oh She says I got hidden quality Oh whoa-oh Whoa Written by: Ray Davies Published by: Davray Music Ltd. As we see in the lyrics here, this is a demo, and some of the lyrics aren't that easy to make out. I have never heard any of these extra tracks, so this is going to be a suck it and see approach for me. This song kind of sounds like some of the sort of alt pop bands of the late seventies early eighties in Australia.... The Sunnyboys come to mind first. This is a sort of straight forward kind of song, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. Lyrically we have a "don't judge a book by its cover" type of lyric. With so many words hard to decipher, it makes it a little hard to get too deep into the lyrics, because a word here and there can make a big difference to what a song is saying. Essentially with this lyric, it leans towards the idea that we all have hidden qualities, no matter what our outside appearance may suggest. Musically I really like this track too, aside from the more modern sound, it kind of sounds like it could be a much earlier Kinks song, in its styling.... almost a kind of Face To Face era type of song. It is light and breezy, fun and bouncy. A very cool track. I like the switches between minor and major key accents, and I think it brings some nice tonal variation to the track. We open with clean bouncy chords, and I think the melodic construction works well. The half-time feel change works well. The backing vocals work very well.... It also seems like to some degree that this would have had singalong potential. I like this, it sounds like early eighties alternate-pop, which was reflecting the sixties anyway. Cool song.
Some input guys... On Monday we have Massive Reductions at the moment. I know it is an outtake from the Low Budget sessions, but I was listening to Word Of Mouth yesterday to reacquaint myself with it, and it isn't really that much different. A different recording for sure, but the song is pretty much the same. It seems like if we look at it on Monday, it will make looking at it on Word Of Mouth slightly redundant .... but it will likely be about ten or so weeks away... Let me know what you want to do folks. Cheers Mark
What a cool little demo. After reading the booklet piece @Michael Streett posted yesterday in which Ray explained how the band put down demos in the studio in the absence of Dave, I find it super interesting to listen to this seemingly Dave-less Kinks track, a rare case of distinctly hearing Ray on the (rudimentary but enthusiastic) rhythm guitar. A typical Ray Davies message (there’s more seduction in some people than meets the eye) but with awkward/tentative turns of phrases that probably condemned it to remain unfinished and in the vault for almost thirty years. Like @Mark, I enjoy it tremendously. Ray's back in his default setting as a writer, the song being a garage pop tune in his perennial 65-66 style, which he’d almost abandoned since then. It's pretty rough and incredibly reminiscent stylistically of some very early outtakes like Time Will Tell or Don't Ever let Me Go. The structure is also 100% Ray : with three different melodic and rhythmic sections that come and go without establishing themselves clearly as verses, choruses or bridges. Let's just say this guy definitely liked to write plenty of bridges (Note : someone please help me out of my misery and find what the mellow one reminds me of!)… It’s not great, but it is exactly what an outtake should be : an open window on an alternate direction a band (or a record) could've taken at a specific time.
Oct 1963 - Nov 1966 - Kinks get a haircut Apr 1967 - Feb 1970 1965 Never Say Yes 1966 Trouble In Madrid Nov 1970 - Jun 1976 Ray interview The Kinks Move To Arista Records Feb 1977 Sleepwalker Life On The Road - OGWT 77 - ITV 78 Mr Big Man Sleepwalker - Mike Douglas - OGWT - Supersonic - SNL - Outtake Brother Juke Box Music - single - OGWT Sleepless Night Stormy Sky - OGWT 77 Full Moon - live 77 - Ray live Life Goes On - OGWT 77 Artificial Light Prince Of The Punks The Poseur On The Outside - remix Elevator Man Kinks Live Feb 1977 Ray acoustic Apr 77 Kinks Old Grey Whistle Test show 77 Kinks Live Dec 1977 Christmas Concert 1977 The Pressures Of The Road Nov 1977 Father Christmas - video - live 1977 - tv promo - Dave live May 1978 Misfits Misfits - tv 1978 Hay Fever - live? Black Messiah Rock And Roll Fantasy- the hotel room - live Paris 1978 In A Foreign Land Permanent Waves Live Life - US version - UK tv Out Of The Wardrobe Trust Your Heart - live 1979 Get Up 1978 The Misfit Record EP Lola live in the hotel room UK tv 1978 The Misfits Tour Live in Paris 1978 Sept. 1978 20 Golden Greats Jul 1979 Low Budget Attitude Catch Me Now I'm Falling - remix - alt mix - The Late Man, Sea Cows In Love Mix Pressure - live 1983 National Health Superman (ext. mix) - single/album mix - ext fan mix - video Low Budget - Extended mix - Live 89 - Ray Live In A Space A Little Bit Of Emotion A Gallon Of Gas - Live in 1982 - Full US single version - Alt mix Misery Moving Pictures studio outtakes Hidden Quality Mike Konopka Restores the Kinks for the Velvel Reissues The Low Budget interview Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Ray On Wonderworld The Kunks Ray on the Stones Live In Frankfurt in 1984 Kinks live TOTP 1994 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 Islands (78) Give You All My Love (78) Within Each Day (78) Same Old Blues (78) This Precious Time (78) Mick Avory Pete Quaife - interview - Kast Off Kinks - I Could See It In Your Eyes - Dead End Street Rasa Didzpetris Davies John Dalton John Gosling Andy Pyle Gordon Edwards Clive Davis
"Hidden Quality" Listened to this a couple of times now - sounded better on the second play. There are some nice bits in it, but the vocal is mixed too low. Lyrically, it's pointing forward to "Heart Of Gold" (where a couple of words are directly pulled out of this) and "Natural Gift". It does sound like it could have come from any Kinks era from about 1968 onwards, but would also be comfortable in the new wave/power pop world. It's not blowing me away yet, but sounds like it could be a grower. It's one of those outtakes that I wish I'd had 20 years ago when it would have had more chance of getting played. As for "Massive Reductions", it's always been a Word Of Mouth track to me, so I'd vote for leaving it until that album (ten weeks seems like an optimistic estimate though!)
"Hidden Quality" is a fun song - first of all, it is pretty archetypal Kinks in its sound. Pure power pop which I love (it's hard to imagine a later band like the Smithereens not being influenced by the Kinks and this style of song). It reminds me of Howlin' Wolf's more earthy "Hidden Charms" thematically. And it is a classic Ray "don't judge a book by its cover" song (surely "Lola" also qualifies).