Cheers........and down the hatch folks, personally i just had some brown sugar (chocolate really that tasted so good and it's 11:54pm so) just around midnight!
Red Alert Don't know if this link works but it is for an original UK stereo VGPS and bidding is fierce! KINKS Village Green Preservation Society PYE LP stereo 1st uk pressing unipak u | eBay
Avid Fortuleo how did you like Paws of Fury? I have a friend who liked it a lot, but then again, he likes those types of movies. Mel Brooks is now the same age of my sainted mother. The 1967 version of The Producers is my favorite movie of all time. I read his autobiography, All About Me! earlier this year. The most surprising story about him was that he attended the Virginia Military Institute during WWII for an officer’s training course. My youngest nephew attended VMI, which has a beautiful campus, but is a rather strict place unlike other colleges, as you can well imagine. Mel himself enjoyed his time at VMI, learning how to ride a horse and wear a sword. He said he also enjoyed the Southern ladies, although he didn’t go too far since they were wearing corsets
...i'm getting behind...again. Attended a wedding on Friday night (on LonGisland) and am now recovering. LOL Around the Dial I thought this would be an automatic homeroom as I so love the album version. but I guess they squeak out a triple here. Maybe. It's good but it's not setting the world on fire. And Ray is stretching his voice a bit too much. Give the People What They Want A better than solid live version. This makes me wish that I was in the audience listening to it, so that's a good sign. You Really Got Me A classic. What more is there to say? The Road Everything was ok to very good. I think it's important to have recorded the live Kinks at various points in their existence. they are known for being an outstanding live band when they were all behaving and plugged in. Wouldn't want to be there on an off night though. but do I a need to get this album in my collection? probably not.
We will hit the second track from 80 Days tomorrow, so it doesn't look like you're too far behind mate.
There's a British woman selling loads of vinyl 15 km from the village where I'm staying now, but car problems and workload prevented me to go. But today there was a kind of garage sale (that's the translation I find for "vide-grenier", not sure it's appropriate) in the small village I'm in, and a guy was selling old records. Every year they look more worn-out and he maintains the prices, if he doesn't raise them. He wanted 70€ for the 2 items below, in not very good state. I had them at half the price but it's still far from a bargain. Anyway, I've got my substitute for the visit to the Lectoure market. I won't be able to listen to them for months but at least I can watch them. I heard that on the last ever Genesis concert, in March, Phil Collins said "after tonight, we'll have to get real jobs". Now that's funny.
Yesterday I put on "Spanish Train" on Spotify to hear how it sounded and asked my wife to guess who that was. After a few tries I gave her the clue "a guy who made a single hit in the 80s" and she found right away. I don't know if it's a good thing. [edit: I didn't answer to the right post, I found this one with the search engine, I thought I answered Mark's more recent post mentioning DeBurgh]
Yes, musically, Tools of the Trade was similar to about a hundred Leonard Cohen strummers, take your pick. Probably Sisters of Mercy or If it be Your Will. The vocal melody was heavily influenced by Cohen; the worker’s on the Western wall line was plucked from a poem of his I read at the time. The Muse had a jazzy, Cabaret feel to it, but v. menacing, sorta like Tom Waits’ The Black Rider. We were shooting for off-Broadway; I envisioned someone like Carol Kane circa Taxi as the muse, hers was the image in my mind as the part was written. For the wholesome bride-to-be, we wanted Zooey Deschanel...sorry, I’m having a laugh; no, we thought a Jenna Fischer type would work. Finally, for the conflicted writer, someone who could do befuddled like Jason Bateman. One problem, among dozens, was that, to paraphrase Mr. Cohen, I wanted it darker, while the financiers lived in happy-ending land. It all collapsed in such a comedy of errors, we left the rehearsal space as if someone called fire, our coffees steaming on the lip of the stage. Thanks for another great remembrance, this one starring Mel Brooks. Only last week, I rewatched High Anxiety, which doesn’t get mentioned with the same reverence as his all-timers, but for me is right up there. To think, both he and Norman Lear, who I believe just reached 100, are both sharp as a tack. Titans.
It seems odd that I have writers block now, and the song of the day is "Let It Be Written". If I am a little quiet on this album, it's only because I don't know what to say! I am still absorbing this fantastic album, and just enjoying reading everyone else's comments. That little keyboard melody reminds me of a song, and it has been driving me nuts trying to figure out what it is. I started my morning yesterday and today by listening to this entire album. It's such an uplifting and joyous start to the day. The endless talents of Ray Davies never ceases to amaze me. Since it's Sunday, I will jump in on the Mel Brooks conversation. I was just watching a clip of him two days ago! I had just finished watching Bogart's excellent last film The Harder They Fall. It had me trying to do my best Bogart impressions. It led me to look up Bogart impressions online. One of the best, and the first one I came across, was Mel Brooks on The Dick Cavett Show. Mels' hilarious twist is that he does Bogart's sister, who of course sounds just like Bogart. Here is the clip with the added bonus of his impersonations of James Cagney's Aunt Hilda and Sinatra.
Your mom is a unanimous, first-ballot hall-of-famer. As for sainthood, from what I make of her situation, she would breeze through the beatification process. More Kinks concert footage, this time from France, has found its way onto YouTube. @Fortuleo, were you at this gig, and if so, are you the man (for it’s always a man) whistling throughout?
Yes, Avid the late man, “garage sale” would be the correct translation. We also use the terms “yard sale” or “tag sale” or even “estate sale” (if the owner of the house died and his/her heirs want to dispose of the contents of the house) here in the States. Are those records French or UK/EU pressings?
Avid Pyrrhicvictory, thank you for your kind words about my mother. She can get cranky and I’m surprised that the NKVD never recruited her for her intelligence gathering capacity (a/k/a being nosey), but we’re all human and she’s still a special person. Also, too bad about your musical. It seems that Leonard Cohen will be remembered for two songs, “Suzanne” from his early career and “Hallelujah” from his late period. Another underrated Mel Brooks film to me is Silent Movie, especially seeing the only person who has a speaking part. Finally, I don’t think it was Avid Fortuleo who was the whistler in that French Kinks gig. I suspect it was Avid The late man myself
My two favourite old school Leonard tracks are Bird On A Wire and Chelsea Hotel.... probably. I prefer the earlier albums, but love the later songs in a concert environment, particularly Anthem. Mel Brooks plays goofy, but always seems like he is very clever. I enjoy his humour most of the time.
Thanks! I don't know, the OFTR I bought seems to bear both a German and a French code. Maybe it's a WWII edition?
Kinks Kinks is all we see… My kids have about 80 days of summer vacation. Today, we spent this entire sunny morning, sunny afternoon, and clear evening in Wildwood, NJ, down the Jersey Shore. There were many faces in the crowd there. A day full of the Atlantic Ocean, pictures in the sand, miles of boardwalks, roller coasters, log flumes, water slides, and lazy rivers (there’s a water park on the pier). Not exactly the kind of environment where you’d see things that make you think of the Kinks. But, the thing is, with this thread, it really is all encompassing. And today I had two extremes for things that made me think of our band. First, the one that many casual fans may recognize: And then the second, one that only avid members of this thread would recognize: “It” is a ride there spins and swings. Can you handle “It”? I didn’t go on it, but I did go on a wonderful wooden coaster overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Moments to remember all our lives, indeed.
The Empire Song (Our World). stereo mix, recorded 16 Mar, 1987 at (possibly) Calliope Studios, New York Characters - Preacher, Mrs Fix, Gladstone, Archbishop, Astronomer, Fix Forever, forever This empire will last forever Forever, forever This empire will last forever Looking at the heavens For a sign from God to come But the face of God will blind you Because God is the sun And the sun goes round the earth And sets in the far West But the empire is the world And the sun will never set This is our world Our world, our world Our world, our world I can tell you what you need to know About the upper and the middle and the classes below About the cruelty and the scandals, injustice and greed In our world, in our world That will last forever more 'Cause they're saying it's all gonna end And there's a holocaust a-rising over the horizon Today the empire stands alone Against the forces of evil and the great unknown It's gonna darken the sky and blind out the sun And eclipse our world They thought would last forever more Our world, our world, our world, our world This throne of kings is sacred 'cross this emerald isle set in a silver sea This is our world And any man who opposes it will have to answer to God and me This is our world United we stand, divided we fall Our world, our world Raise the banner high, hear the bugle call We're the best with our backs against the wall And protect the throne and stand alone And preserve our world They said would last forever more Sure as mother is the moon and father is the sun The pleasures of the flesh will condemn us each and everyone United we stand, divided we fall Our world, our world, our world, our world Our world, our world, our world, our world God save us all Out world, our world, our world, our world Will last forever more It was not a mystic turn of fate That made this tiny island rule the world This is our world It was God that made this nation great It was our fate to dominate this world This is our world United we stand, divided we fall Blessed are the patriots, protectors of this country and our queen This is our world Preserving law and order while using new technology To intercept our enemies, detain subversive forces From bringing down the standards of our world This is our world God bless Queen Victoria And let the sun never set On our world Written by: Ray Davies Published by: Davray Music, Ltd. This is a pretty straight forward idea of the mentality of most Empires, not just the British Empire... and the idea that there was something particularly wrong with the British Empire is a little silly, as history shows repeatedly that pretty much all tribes, countries and empires have tried to hold others under their power, when they were able.... just a sad reflection of human nature. In many ways this track feels like a companion piece to Victoria/Arthur, perhaps even a prequel of sorts. We are in the Victorian Age here, and of course Arthur was like a requiem to the Victorian Age, but here we are in the thick of it, and that is going to speak to a lot of the attitudes and angles that come up across the course of this album/play/theme. Obviously one of the themes here is the cross reference of the empire "where the sun never sets". It could be misunderstood that this means that it will never end, but it actually speaks to the fact that over the course of a 24 hour day, part of the empire is still in the sun. Quite simple logic really, but easily misunderstood ... The other thing is that this phrase was not coined specifically for the British Empire, it was used in the ancient Egyptian Empire. Mesopatamian, Persian and Roman empires all used the phrase as well. It was a common sign of pride in how vast certain empires actually became. For our purposes it takes us directly back to the lyrics of Victoria, and the Arthur album... Interestingly, I don't think the sun actually ever sets on what is now the British Commonwealth either. The defining theme through the song is that it is Divine providence that this Empire is what it is, and obviously that is going to depend on people's personal belief systems as to how they interpret that.... to me it is interesting that so many folks over the centuries have claimed to have God on their side, and yet behave as if He doesn't exist, committing atrocities that He would never condone... but such is the nature of human rationalisation.... Anyway, not trying to start a thing, just trying to set a context for the lyrics here. Ray does a really good job of leading the narrative from the perspective of the character/s here. Hopefully having the characters that are singing each song will help with the context across the course of the record. In many ways this is one of the more complex albums and sets of songs to look at, because of the way the story is presented. Musically the opening sort of makes me think of a technique Devin Townsend would use much later on in a track like True North. Melodic accented keys, with a high pitched soft voice used to add colour to them..... but don't stress if you dislike Devin Townsend, this is not that, just a similarity is a specific type of writing and arranging technique for this short intro. Then we get that plaintive vocal from Ray over a sparse pad-like backdrop. Then we get the acoustic guitars and some keys punch in with a nice rolling feel, that again works in a propulsive manner to drive this track forward. Again we seem to dance along the edges of having a verse chorus structure... they are there, but there is this flowing in and out of sections, that make it feel like a whole, rather than connected parts. Again I like the subtle melodic deviations that really give this a nice feel and sound. I get the feeling a lot of these tracks were supposed to be done with strings and horns, rather than the synth, but the synth doesn't bother me personally... and that is part of the reason I sort of feel like I would have loved this to have been completed... but it works for me as an album as it is. Also, here we are still in a somewhat more straight zone of the album.... The diversity across this album is quite broad and the two openers are fairly straight, even though not in the Kinks' more recent styling... These are their own animal. Where the opening track works as a great scene setter, this track sort of carries that on, and works as a sort of context setter......
