and while we're on live, here is a concert from 1987, but interestingly "It" doesn't appear to be on the setlist here.. The KinKs live WXRT broadcast from 1987 at the Riviera Night Club in Chicago. INTRO/DO IT AGAIN THE HARD WAY LOW BUDGET COME DANCING WORKING AT THE FACTORY LOST AND FOUND WELCOME TO SLEAZY TOWN THINK VISUAL THE VIDEO SHOP LIVING ON A THIN LINE GUILTY MISFITS LOLA STATE OF CONFUSION A GALLON OF GAS ALL DAY AND ALL OF THE NIGHT I GOTTA MOVE CELLULOID HEROES TWENTIETH CENTURY MAN YOU REALLY GOT ME TILL THE END OF THE DAY
I'd say @Michael Streett's point still stands : Ray insisted on his "double LP" idea, got just the one live disc (with a "big" new single) but bought himself some side project time to do the 80 Days musical, which was his plan all along. This theory's the best we've got, so I'll endorse it. As far as It is concerned. A little bit of Thin Line moody synth chords in the long intro. When we get into the song proper, lyrics and delivery are excellent, not subtle, mind you, but sometimes, you just want to get the point across. There's a bit of Preservation to it, yeah, and also a Sleazy Town vibe, done with a rhythmic nod to Van Morrison’s Moondance, only with drums that really, really, really hurt my eardrums. The jazz prog middle section was perhaps entertaining if you were lucky enough to attend the show, but when I'm home (as Paul said), it's my bathroom break. I mildly enjoy the ending, with Dave’s screaming backing vocals, like it never ceased to be 1971/1972. All in all, I think it’s the key song to this whole set: had It been a great unreleased nugget, this LP would be hailed an essential Kult Kinks purchase. But alas, this was not to be… Allow me to be the first to say that frankly, I don’t like It.
I previously said that 'Maximum Consumption' was Zappa-esque, but with the part spoken word delivery, the US pop culture specific and satiric lyrics, the free form sounding but in fact pre-prepared jazz into blues musical accompaniment, and the fact it's an ambitious finished live product with no studio equivalent, 'It (I Want It)' it perhaps the closest The Kinks came to Zappa's actual working method, particularly contemporary (ish) Zappa circa 'Broadway The Hardway'. Difference is Zappa would have thrown a lot more interesting vocal variation and wacky musical references/detours that would have sold the end product (how appropriate) and predictable punchline better. I kinda find 'It (I Want It)' an only half (at most) successful experiment for The Kinks.
It To me, "It" is by far the most interesting thing that's going on on this album. Which could be mentally trimmed down to a single The Road/It. But unlike the former, It is up to its ambitions, if those include showcasing the instrumental versatility of the group at this stage and demonstrating that they can still surprise us. The 7/4 instrumental bridge is very well executed. And I agree with Avid @ajsmith about the obvious Zappa comparison, a Kinkified, rawer and English version of Zappa, without the incredible virtuosity that surrounds Zappa's concerts of course, for better and for worst. The subject matter is not original, and not treated in a peculiarly new way, but it's efficient, and most of all, the Gorbatchev-Reagan exchange (that I hadn't identified) puts it in an interesting perspective. As well as our Master, I remember the relief and the hope when the Iron Wall started to show promising cracks. But instead of dreaming of new found peace and the dawn of the universal reign of democracy, Ray is already thinking about the next stage, a world where exterior threats are gone (or so we thought) and Mr and Mrs John Doe are entirely left at the hands of the Corporation and the consumerist self-feeding dream. In 1987 it's not that bad. And right in front of an American audience.
I always found "It: to be a pretty interesting song. Definitely Ray's comment on consumerism. The audio montage includes then US president's Ronald Reagan's voice - a politician closely associated with the era. Personally I think "It" is one of Ray's most striking pieces of social commentary. And from my remembrance a pretty accurate portrait of the era. The 1980s struck me as a time where having "it" mattered to people in North America (still does). Ray nails it with his song and it is pretty interesting musically with a variety of musical sounds and rhythms to keep it all moving along. Plus I always like it when a band does material that is not officially released. Edit ,- agree with @ajsmith that it is pretty Zappa like.
This seems like a subtly superior setlist to the mid 1987 ones The Road was drawn from, in that it draws a bit more evenly from their career without edging anywhere near 'hits out for the lads' territory. The Dave sung Sleepwalker and Too Much On My Mind (presumably what the band was working on in Rays absence as mentioned by @Michael Streett above) in particular are neat tasteful additions: I always thought 'Face To Face' got a very raw deal in terms of setlist representation so it seems very astute on Dave's part to pluck this one from obscurity and the dust of two decades. I always like it when an act revives a deep cut oldie through their own choice as it reflects their own opinion of their catalogue.
I listened to "It" last night - it wasn't easy to find! Eventually I found the video with the full album. It sounds like "Think Visual" (the song) taken to a whole new level of intensity lyrically. Whereas I like that song, this one feels like being hit over the head with the idea of consumerism. Musically it's feeling very 70s prog to me - after 4:00 it's sounding almost Yes-like with the strange time signature. The closing bluesy section is the least interesting part for me. It's certainly a very interesting track - one that I definitely need to investigate more closely when I have more time - but whether I'm going to end up liking it is another matter, and one I'm not sure about at the moment.
Theatrical Ray is back! With a slight tweak to the lyrics I could imagine this on Soap Opera. I love the intro, the song proper not so much, but at the very least it's interesting! I wonder if there's a studio version in the vault?
I missed mentioning it in that intro, but notice the housewife is assaulted by politics, and then seduced by the soft manipulative marketing
It (I Want It) Ray writes a piece for his ballerina wife to choreograph so naturally it’s a bluesy number about rampant consumerism. Issues? Ve haff issues! The Reagan/Gorbachev dialogue carbon dates the song from jump, Ray’s Hi There rap is naff, and the organ solo is hopelessly dull. And of course the message was a cliche even then. Back when Ray was an elite lyricist (remember?), he name-checked stars of the silver screen, now it’s stars of the small screen. To paraphrase Norma Desmond, I am big, it’s the songs that got small. So am I about to slate this song? Nein! It has redeeming qualities: Dave’s high harmonies during the She got what she wanted, now she don’t want it no more finale (luv that section), Dave’s searing leads, Dave donning Ray Ban’s (you had to be there). Overall, I like It. One last demerit though, that’s bothered me for years; why on earth is it sub-titled I Want It when Ray, in the monologue addressed to the world’s haus frau’s, glumly snarls You want it, don’t you? For further (and better) listening on the subject of this song, we direct the gentle Avid to the witty and incisive Step Right Up by Tom Waits.
‘It’: hmm,…hmm, no, I don’t think this one works at all. The introductory portion is jarring in a concert setting (and I very much doubt that the audience wants to reflect on a housewife watching daytime television and, if they did happen to pay attention, were probably baffled by the Gorbachev-Reagan dialogue. I know I am!). Post-intro, the song is allright. Kinda interesting as a Kinks oddity but that’s all it is, an oddity.
It Not for the first time Iam listening to a contemporary Ray Davies song, hearing bits of other things and struggling to definitively place any. Ray opens by asking us to imagine a particular scenario which he would do again on Storyteller as a segue into Victoria. A topical song in Ray's consumerism wheelhouse and he makes pretty good use of a 70's styled blues riff which proves durable and versatile throughout the piece. I can hear the form and feel of licks as disparate as the Kinks own electric one in The Contenders and (though less frenetic) to give a further blow by blow account, later on Jeff Beck's Scatterbrain. Towards the end the band slows and Ray sings with an affectation that recalls A Gallon Of Gas. I don't mind the words even though at times Ray does try to cram in all those period people and programs though I tend to prefer and focus on Ray's delivery. P.s. Yes Mark despite several listens this cut also seemed to pass me by I guess due to me losing some engagement by side 2 and the way the track kicks off and takes a while to get into any memorable groove. P.s.s. Dave contributes some wonderful counterpoint lead guitar!
That's exactly my point. I haven't read X-Ray since right after it came out over 25 years ago and in my mind it ends sometime in 1973. Without an index, I hardly ever try to use it for reference in looking up stuff post 1973 even though there are some things there as we see with the MCA reference above. The fact The Road was not a contract fulfillment after all is good info. We don't know what MCA/London actually wanted, or at least I don't. Had Think Visual been successful, they may have given Ray more time and leeway for the actual studio follow up contract completer which came in real time 2 years later (if we assume it was just a 2 studio album deal with or without options). But since it was not, maybe they wanted something quicker as in one year later and Ray was not prepared for a band studio album in summer/fall 1987 without tapping into his 80 Days well. Ray was collaborating with different people on different aspects of 80 Days during this period and maybe they had commitments to other projects and they had to get this done when they did. All theoretical based on the info we do have, but the live album as a stall is still plausible nonetheless. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This Chicago show is from March 1987, so "It (I Want It)" had not been written yet or rehearsed. This occurred later in June 1987 and they debuted the song on stage in Albuquerque, NM on June 10th, 1987 including the ballet dance part. "Cliches Of The World (B Movie)" is also not part of the Chicago show, but was back in this same June time frame a few shows later as another dance feature according to Hinman. No studio version of "It (I Want It)" is known to exist, no actual recording info has ever been noted. Outside of "The Road" recorded in Sep 1987, there is nothing else recorded in the studio by the band during this period to draw from outside of the 80 Days demos which had been put down by Ray and Ian Gibbons in (probably) March 1987. There is no indication the full band ever recorded any of these properly. But stranger things have turned up over the years, so you never know I guess. It (I Want It) (I Like It) (Mostly) As usual I leave the lyrics to others - musically this is very interesting and right in my wheelhouse in the progressive vein. The atmospheric intro I like (not so much the Reagan/Gorbachev stuff voiceovers, but whatever), then the various sections that are quite ambitious to work out on the road in the middle of a tour, but they pull it off with ease. The 7/4 time sections obviously appeal to me and even the Hammond Organ sound (made by a synth here) sounds good to me and I think Dave pulls off some very good soloing which differ somewhat in his usual style of soloing. The blues section at the end doesn't quite work for me but that's not that long. And lastly, I will give Bob Henrit some props on this cut in particular. We're slow to give the man credit in this thread so I'm doing it now. The prog aspect of this track is where he came from (Rodford too) so this style of music is no issue for him. There is very good drum work going on here with lots of ghost notes, fills, rolls, intricate bass drum and ride cymbal work going on. The mix again of the snare is too loud which distracts and detracts from these other aspects I'm describing (the mix, that's on Ray), but the actual drumming is top notch (and that's on Bob). Some folks may think it's stiff, but I do not agree. I call it in the pocket and that's a place a drummer actually strives to be especially while pulling off the drum work in this track.
It’s surprising that no one has commented on the visual aspect of “It”, which I did see live at Great Woods, especially considering that Ray wrote it in the first place for his then wife to perform her ballet moves. What I do remember after the Reagan/Gorby statements from the 1986 Iceland summit and the spoken intro from Ray is that several women came on stage dressed up as stereotypical housewives, w/curlers and mops and they started dancing to the song, eventually losing the housewife dresses and continuing to dance in ballet leotards. As a song, “It” was rather experimental and a bit of a throwback to the 70s theatrical Kinks. It wasn’t something that one would expect from an “arena rock” band. You have to give Ray the community college try in presenting something a bit different. Speaking of rock musicians writing a piece for their significant others’ dance interests, here are the Zombies doing “Conversation of Floral Street”, which they composed for several of their significant others’ dance troupe:
It (I Want It) I want it... to sound better. As a recording, I don't like it and probably won't go back to listen to this often. But, as a song and what they were trying to do, I like It! The different sections are all pretty interesting, and Dave's main riff is great. Overall, it reminds me of Demolition with the spoken word/verses, riff, and how you can't have this song without Dave's involvement. He's a key part here. Someone else mentioned Soap Opera too, and yeah, thematically it does fit in there too. But I think more Demolition/Preservation with the manipulation and how the powerful make profits off the backs of the villagers (the ordinary people?). Here is the only video I could find of the actual performance with dancers & mops (labeled as Offenbach, Germany, 12-20-1989):
Interesting you brought this up. This track (actually "Conversation Off Floral Street" - looks like that US single has it spelled wrong - interesting) was released as the B-side of a Zombies single in that interim period after the demise of the Zombies and while Argent was being formed in 1969. "Conversation" was recorded by the Zombies themselves (minus Colin Blunstone) but the A-Side of this single "Imagine The Swan", despite being released as The Zombies was actually recorded by Argent the band, with Rodford and Henrit (and Rod Argent and Russ Ballard of course). @DISKOJOE let me know if you (or anyone else reading this actually) has The Zombies Zombie Heaven box set. I have a question and something for you to check if you do.
Strange to consider that this was the Kinks 1984-96 rhythm section circa VGPS playing on some comparable baroque pop! As an aside, I'm prob not alone on this but for years I had no idea that Rod Argent sang lead on this and several other Zombies tracks, as he sounds very like Blunstone to me.
Side bar thought: Ray’s obsession with suburban housewives. Possible exam question: name the bored housewives songs with extra credit if there’s a mop involved.
It: Our Peerless Leader said most of what I would say. Even right down to the fact that I didn’t really paid attention to the song until this morning. Nonetheless, it’s pretty easy to like right away because it’s right in my wheelhouse. Lots of good riffing and lead guitar work from Dave, Ray sounds energized, like the topic was really intriguing to him. I might be inclined to edit out the beginning and stick the slightly abbreviated version on my playlist of live songs. I’m not sure if it sounds like a fully formed song to me, but it makes for a good jam session. I also agree with the headmaster that, as I think I mentioned in my earlier post about this album, it’s a shame they didn’t get into the studio and do additional recording around this time, as both this song and the song The Road, show the whole band sounding pretty energized. I’d like to have heard more recorded material if this is the kind of stuff they were working on at the time
I haven’t had a chance to listen to this, so I have no idea about the sound quality or how well they are playing, but I would argue that the setlist looks like it would have been perfect for the planned double live album, rather than what we got with The Road. It only has four songs that would be a repeat from OftR. You could easily drop LowBudget, put The Road in as the opening song as they did on The Road album, And probably even stick It (I want It) in as track 20 to replace The Road. Repeating three songs (ADAAOTN, YRGMand Lola) would not be so awful anyway as they are their biggest hits. Meanwhile, you catch many of their recent songs to show they are not turning into a legacy act. Personally, I would’ve also dumped Art Lover and replaced it with Better Things and Heart of gold, then you really would’ve had something. I don’t dislike art lover, but it’s definitely towards the bottom of my list and I think the general consensus is that if I had focused on Heart of gold or better things, there might of been more interest from the public. At the time of its release, The Road didn’t look very interesting to me. This double live album, with my modified tracklist, would have been very appealing and I would’ve bought it right away I bet. It’s easy to second-guess in hindsight, but I’m betting this was approximately what Ray had been thinking about.
I never knew It was a musical number with dancers! In a way, it's even more baffling to include it (enough of this lame joke already!!) on a record where, as many remarked, it (damn…) leaves almost no impression at all, which is crazy when you think it's (…) almost 7 minutes long. Thanks @DISKOJOE for the reveal, and thanks @donstemple for providing the link. I still don't know what to make of… this song, precisely because I don't consider it a song proper. It's a "number", the likes of which I used to enjoy in the Kinks' repertoire, when it was all about them, numbers, stories, koncepts, mise en scène (I love that the English speaking use this wonderful french word), performances. But here, on this bizarre eighties pop live record in which a lot of songs are faster, shorter, abbreviated, it makes little sense to get this jokey jazz prog extravaganza, threatening to unbalance the whole listening experience. I've listened to this LP many times when I was young(er) and didn't have the Lost & Found comp yet, because it was the only way to access The Road (the song), and I always considered today's track to be an almost improvised throwaway interlude, with expert turns of phrases and turns of phrasing, perhaps, but in line with the short novelty numbers of Show-biz. I never knew it was supposed to be a show-stopping epic, of Alcohol dimensions (if not songwriting quality), which I now understand it is. The Kinks's live output remains a great mystery, all their live albums are fragmented compilations, not a single one of them is an actual trustworthy document, and only One for the Road a compelling, structured listen. I can't believe this band, and this thread, full of surprises, deceptions, detours and diskoveries. note : I too have Zombie Heaven and am in it whenever I listen to it (not It).
