The Kinks - Album by Album (song by song)

Ha ha. I just watched this clip and couldn’t decide whether or not to post it. Stern being obnoxious again, but Ray plays some nice rhythm guitar considering the situation he got himself into. This is really early Stern. I believe 1986 is when he moved to NY.

 

I sincerely hope you get this nightmare resolved with minimal financial and emotional anguish. I know you read and understood my unfortunately similar posts a few weeks ago concerning the after-effects of hurricanes and natural disasters that have affected me the last few years.

 

Thanks Michael and yes I did read your posts though perhaps was not convinced cognizant of the ongoing impact you still face.
Yesterday the two builders realised something should be done aside from pointing the finger at each other or telling me my home was illegal so as you can see they affixed some solid chalkboard sheeting.



I was away when they called me from my front door wanting access to the home and had the perverse pleasure in telling them I wouldn't be dropping anything to attend and that they could gain access by rounding the corner and pushing aside a plastic sheet!

 

In addition to the Come Dancing posted by Michael above, for a while on YouTube there was a clip from a retrospective HS show of Howard complaining how Ray refused to sing ‘Lola’ properly when he appeared, instead just strumming it instrumentally and forcing Stern and his posse to sing lead. A brief clip of that version then followed. Presumably that was also from the 1986 show although maybe not. I can see Ray not being comfortable about the music performance sections of the Stern show, which from what I’ve heard seem very ‘play your hits for me NOW, performing monkey’ so it makes sense he’d try to flip that in his favour. I also can’t imagine such a guarded person as Ray being comfortable with the rest of the content of Stern’s show, but he went back so it mustn’t have gone too badly.. would love to hear those shows to see how Ray vs Stern went down. Ray would later face off an even more obnoxious radio host in 2010, but that’s a story for later in the thread…

 

Destroyer.

live, stereo mix, recorded 1 Jul, 1987 at Mann Music Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Personally I really like this version...

Ray is having a lot of fun with it, and they are either playing around or have a very scripted show with set pieces that are well executed.

Ray says he was talking to a policeman before the show and he said his name was L.O.L.A, and we launch into the song.

I think the extended break after "stop" works really well.

We get an electric keyboard fill in there and Ray asks if "that was a piano?"
Ray asks the crowd if they're on medication and everyone hollers, but it strikes me that one female seemed to yell louder than everyone else, and we head into the Dr Dr section.

This is energetic, fun and entertaining. I reckon it takes the cake as the best version I've heard.

 

Apeman.

live, stereo mix, recorded 1 Jul, 1987 at Mann Music Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Ray plays the intro to Lola, and then we get the obligatory "wwaaaayy oooo"

Instead of doing Lola, we move into Apeman, and that seems to be a pretty good way of going. It seems like Apeman probably hasn't had that many plays in recent years, so even if someone was disappointed in not having Lola, I'm pretty sure most would have been pleased with Apeman popping its head up.

It is a shortened version, but I think It works.

 

Come Dancing.

live, stereo mix, recorded 1 Jul, 1987 at Mann Music Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

This is pretty much a straight reading of the song, it is just a faster version. I assume that the pace of the song is driven along by live adrenaline.

This is good, but there isn't really anything of particular note to highlight I don't think.

Ray obviously has a bit of fun with the spoken section. We also get an additional bit of chat during the outro.

 

Art Lover.

live, stereo mix, recorded 1 Jul, 1987 at Mann Music Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

It was interesting to go back to this one.
Having been away from it for a while since the studio version, it seems like the study and digging I did on it while we were doing the Give The People What They Want version possibly/probably leaned me deep into the song and it's cryptic nuances.

I must say listening to this version on the live album, my main thought was, they should have just let this song rest.
I stand by my feeling that Ray should have taken a lot of the misleading lyrics out, and allowed it to be the song it was supposed to be.

This song is played well, and works, but without a lyrical rewrite of some sort, it sort of leans past vaguely ambiguous and into creepy .... and it's sad, because thematically it's a topic rarely touched upon, and one of the tragedies of the modern world.

 

Hoping to chime in later but currently at a rare live show for me....

Right now at a primary school bush dance.

The band incorporate Metallica, Queen, Death Metal, Comedy, Very long hair to headbang with and are actually very engaging and appropriate for the gig!

 

OK, 'The Road' might be the least distinctive Kinks live LP overall, but conversely it might have the best opening to it's live potion with Ray's masterfully arch intro and extemporizations around 'Destroyer'.

 

I suspect 'Apeman' was back in the set because the group had recently re recorded it for the Club Paradise coundtrack.

 

Oct 1963 - Nov 1966 -
Apr 1967 - Feb 1970
Nov 1970 - Jun 1976
Feb 1977 - Dec 1983

Starstruck promo video/ Days video/ Sunny Afternoon TOTP

Oh Tokyo live in 1982 - lyrics

Album flow chart

Live In Frankfurt in 1984

Nov 1984 Word Of Mouth
Do It Again - video - live 84 - live 87 - SNL - interview
Word Of Mouth - SNL - live 84
Good Day - live 84 - 12"
Living On A Thin Line - live 84 - Dave 2001 - Sopranos
Sold Me Out
Massive Reductions
Guilty - live 89
Too Hot - single
Missing Persons
Summer's Gone - Full length
Going Solo - original album edit

The Dave songs up to this point

Kompilations part 4 - 1984

The Arista Years

Kompilations Part 5 - 1985
extras - 69, 73, 77
Supersonic Rocketship alt mix
Celluloid Heroes mono
Moving Pictures alt mix

Interview

Magazines - 2 - 3 - 4

Jul 1985 Return To Waterloo - documentary - Fan Soundtrack - Movie
Intro
Return To Waterloo - alternate - info - promo video
Ladder Of Success - the late mix
Going Solo
Missing Persons
Sold Me Out - original lp mix
Lonely Hearts - album version
The Good Times Are Gone/Not Far Away
Expectations
Return To Waterloo/Voices In The Dark - alt mix

The Great Lost Kinks Movie -Village Voice 1985

April 1986 Absolute Beginners/Quiet Life

June 1986 Come Dancing With The Kinks

Kompilations pt 6 - 1986

Ray promoting Think Visual
Musician Magazine
Interview record
EC Rocker Magazine
Ray 86 Interview
People Magazine
Ray guest VJ

Nov 1986 Think Visual
Working At The Factory
Lost And Found - video - live 87 - excerpt and questions
Repetition
Welcome to Sleazy Town - live 89 - Ray Interview with Sue
Video Shop
Rock And Roll Cities - Video - MTV
How Are You? - video - tv 86 - video
Think Visual - live - live 87
Natural Gift
Killing Time
When You Were A Child

Ray and Howard Stern

1987 Kompiles - Hit Singles - The Kinks Are Well Respected Men

Jan 1988 The Road - Setlists
The Road - video - Ray on Letterman 88 - single edit
Destroyer
Apeman
Come Dancing
Art Lover

1988 80 Days (complete album)

Kinks live TOTP 1994

2001 Dave Davies Fragile
Violet Dreams
No More Mysteries
Wait
Bright Lights
Give Something Back
Hope
Long Lonely Road

Dave Creeping Jean live 2004

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)

2019 Kast Off Kinks with Ray

2022 Celluloid Heroes

Rob Kopp has made his 1999 Kinks discography 'Down All The days Till 1992'

US Chart Stats
The Music Industry Machine

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
Jim Rodford
Ian Gibbons
Andy Pyle
Gordon Edwards
Clive Davis
Bob Henrit

 

Good catch and reminder! I think there’s also an instrumental / set up logic in these first few songs, they all share the synth horn / synth marimba sounds and the resonator guitar (which is interesting for our projected quiz), before the show shifts in a very different direction with Clichés of the World. Some beautiful ooh-oohing by Dave Death of a Clown Davies on Apeman and Come Dancing, too. On the latter, I like how he doubles the fake horns hook on guitar. Very nice touch. I don't think it was on the studio version? These are very confident entertaining live cuts of big hits and big songs.
Sometimes a live LP's a great listen and sometimes, it just makes you wish you were in the room. In this case, I can feel the excitement and wish I could rush back in time and buy my ticket right now. This Destroyer destroys the original Destroyer, doesn’t it ?

 

"Destroyer" - The album version gets close to my threshold for arena shoutiness - I think this live version probably crosses the line. Ray has some fun with the song structure, but I don't think I'd be keen to listen to this one again in a hurry.

"Apeman" - This is actually quite a nice version, just a pity that they only perform half the song!

"Come Dancing" - A surprisingly decent version of this, the faster pace takes your mind away from the fact that some of the elaborate arrangement from the studio version is missing.

"Art Lover" - Again, this stands up pretty well. I'd take the studio version of this any day, but I think I'd be happy with this if I was at the gig.

Quite impressed so far, bearing in mind that I'm not a fan of live albums. Nice to hear the Ray/Dave vocal blend present and correct where it is needed.

 

Featuring the off colour double entendre/punchline that Ray couldn't resist appending to live versions: 'Ray, I came dancing tonight'. I remember some fans on the KPS mailing list found this a bit distasteful/tacky, but I dunno, ok it's perhaps a bit groanworthy, but I don't think it cheapens from the theme of the song: lets face it, the palais and dancehalls were sexy scenes in their day, even if they seem quaint seen through the gauze of the passing decades.

 

Avid All Down the Line, your situation reminds of this:

 

After “The Road”, the live album kicks off w/an energetic version of “Destroyer”laced w/Ray’s wit, then goes into “Apeman”, after teasing the audience w/“Lola”, which the actual audience probably got later on (Ray was always a tease about playing that song live). A serviceable edition of “Come Dancing” follows and then “Art Lover”, which Ray had some affection for to play even though it was four albums old at the time. A nice mixup of songs to kick off the album.

 

I don't even see it as off colour really.

The reality is, 99.9999999% of guys that took girls dancing, weren't hoping to do the foxtrot......

 

Was happy to do the foxtrot or equivalent, but hoped for some lovin' afterwards!

 

Teenage guys will crawl over broken glass and fight grizzly bears for some lovin' lol

 

Destroyer

Dave’s finds a perfectly menacing tone with his Telecaster Elite and adds some sizzling fills. A powerhouse performance by the boys, the energy level is through the roof; makes the GTPWTW version sound stodgy (well, it kinda was).
Around the time The Road came out, I met Patrick, who would become a great friend. We were both passionate about music, but different genres. Both passionate about sports, but different teams. By summer of ‘88, Pat was assembling a band for a local talent show. I was in my own band, but helped him to find a singer and rehearsal space. I had taken Pat to see the Kinks at the Beacon in March, and even though his band were leaning more toward covering the likes of Iron Maiden and Anthrax, I kept nagging him to put in a Kinks number. He chose Destroyer, and we gave this flaky vocalist we found, Jake Stagg, a high school sophomore, a tape to learn. Jake had lived around the block from me five years earlier, and once almost took my eye out as we ‘fenced’ with umbrellas. The next week was rehearsal, and I’m helping Pat arrange his guitar pedals, when Jake arrives; feather boa, spandex, possibly a strategically placed cucumber. I’ll never, ever forget, as Pat starts crunching his power chords, Jake begins spitting out the entire Philadelphia ad-lib rap. I caught Pat’s eye and then we had to immediately look away. Jake the Flake thought that was the lyric, as you do. Imagine that coming through the P.A. in northern NJ. Reveling in this theater of the absurd, we thought we wouldn’t inform Jake of his miscalculation, but someone clued him in, and on the night of the talent show, it worked well. Jake ended up with the young girls swooning while singing his selection for the night, Every Rose Has it’s Thorn. So he wasn’t completely useless; they actually came in second or third, I forget which.

Apeman

An abbreviated version, and not as adventurous as the Cajun-inflected take on To the Bone, but always welcome. Funny how Dave teases the listener with a snatch of You Really got Me before pumping out Destroyer, then Ray teases with the opening bars of Lola before settling into Apeman. At least the people at these concerts eventually got to hear these seminal classics, not so the poor purchaser of The Road, who had to make due with the likes of Think Visual and It instead. Suck it, MCA, indeed.

Come Dancing

A reasonable performance, though nothing special. The Kinks final big hit notwithstanding, it still seems to cause the pace of the concert to falter.

Art Lover

Another pleasant rendition, but further slowing down proceedings. The air is going out of the room and the next two selection won’t exactly be lifting fans out of their seats.


ps. @DISKOJOE if you ever see one of these in your travels please pick one up for me, I’ll even cover postage.

 

Sorry I can't see anything?

 

First of all, "Destroyer" rocked live. It was hugely popular with American audiences and was generally received with a very positive response. My recent listening included Roseland Ballroom in NYC at the end of 1983 - mid set rocked up sequence included "Destroyer" and "The Hard Way* and it blew the lid off the place, albeit the small venue attracted mostly Kinks fanatics. "Apeman" had been mostly absent from the show for some time. Good God I saw Club Paradise when it came out (Robin Williams in a bathing suit was not pleasant). "Come Dancing" is a natural choice and in the show nightly at this time. "Art Lover" is Ray saying I gave you the big modern hit but please hear this other somewhat recent song that I really believe in. As a big fan of this song I am glad it is included and as I have mentioned before, I find this rendition wonderful.

 

I see Mark more the horizontal mamba without the mam bit eventuating!

 

I was a huge Stern fan back in the 90s. Sometimes I would laugh so much I would cry.

one thing about Stern that a lot of folks don't get, he's an awesome interviewer. I've seen him get stuff out of people that I've never heard. I know many don't like his style, but as I've always said, my humor is at the 12 year old boy level. Farts are always funny.