Now I am finally confused. I thought we were counting down from 100 from the recent list? Will it be 140 total Kinks songs or are we only counting down the next 60?
The next 60 @palisantrancho. So, 100 down to 41. I'm usually the most confused in every bunch but maybe not here!
You could also say the same thing about hundreds of other Kinks songs. I remember "Live Life" not getting the highest praise when we covered it. The discussion starts on page 846, if you are interested. I just glanced at it to refresh my memory, but it looks like some of the negative comments were made by people who dropped out of the conversation long ago. I love it and had it on my second top 40, but it eventually got cut. There are just too many songs to vote for. It does make my list of top 100 Kinks songs. I think it may show up in this list because I believe everyone here is 100 percent a real Kinks fan.
Our friend Doug Hinman also contributed to this elaborate study of Jeff Beck from 1965-1980. Jeff's Book: Chronology of Jeff Beck's Career By Christopher Hjort & Doug Hinman 9780964100534 | eBay
Ok Avids i know i heard this LP piecemeal track by track on the thread but right now tonight I'm losing my schoolboy virginity and i needn't have been nervous as I'm enjoying the smooth sounds. Why i waited until 55 is a disgrace but i guess some jackets you just don't want to open and peek inside? Schoolboys In Disgrace 1975 The Kinks US RCA Cat: LPL1-5102 Custom "Lined Looseleaf" Inner Bag **Edit: "Mark av you paid for this further education yet or does we gotta do dis da hardway wif Ray's gangsters?"
97 - Afternoon Tea 1967 - Something Else 166 point On 8 lists 3 top 10 This came in at 101 on my big list. I like it a lot, but as we are seeing, there are an awful lot of great tracks in this catalog, and I keep telling myself that when I look at the results and see the surprises and realise the disappointments. 96 - Where Are They Now? 1973 - Preservation Act 1 168 points On 6 lists 3 top 10 This came in at 46 for me, and really only just missed out on my top forty due to the weight of numbers.
Nothin' In The World Can Stop Me Worryin' About 'Bout That Girl I kind of rediscovered this song in an unexpected way last year. I was at former Go-Betweens member Robert Forster's gig in Stockholm in August and "Nothin' In The World..." was played in the speakers before the show. Not having listened to the Kinda Kinks for a while at the time, it took me a few seconds to place the song but it sounded really good being played loud in the speakers on that beautiful August evening. I have been listening quite a bit to the song since and even though it just missed my 41-80 list it really is a gem. Was this song ever played live by The Kinks (or by Ray as a solo artist)? Sitting By The Riverside I love this song but it somehow didn't make it to my 41-80 list either. The dreamy feel of the song really evokes a lazy summer's day with a loved one. Whenever I hear the song I can just sense the summer scents, the meditative slow flow of the river and perhaps a bird chirping up in a tree. The song is so perfectly sequenced on the Village Green Preservation Society album between the majestic "Big Sky" and my Top 2 Kinks songs, "Animal Farm" (#2) and "Village Green" (#1). Holiday The original version on Muswell Hillbillies is great, but the live version on Everybody's In Showbiz is the definitive version for me. I really like The Kinks songs that were clearly inspired by music hall/vaudeville and both Ray and the band seems to have enjoyed performing it. One aspect I find fascinating is that it sounds like a humorous song but there is also a fair bit of social criticism within the very well-written lyrics. Afternoon Tea This made it to my 41-80 list. Such a wonderful song with very cinematic lyrics. It does help that both my wife and I love afternoon tea with scones and take every opportunity to visit nice places serving this Where Are They Now? A very solid album track for me and an essential part of Preservation Act 1. I am glad that it received votes.
Where Are They Now got lost in the pack and to be honest was never in my kontention for any of my polls. I don't drink Afternoon Tea but used to really love this track and it still holds appeal for me so featured at #29 in my 2nd Top 40 list or overall #69 if you so prefer. N.b. I had always thought that Ray sang Madonna and not My Donna but let's not take a(nother) Holiday! Score: 2 of 5 i think?
"Afternoon Tea" has crashed in the rankings from list 1 (71) to list 2 (97) It made my second list at #32 - the song possibly deserves better than that but the odd stereo mix on Something Else does it few favours. "Where Are They Now" has soared the other way, from 172 -> 96 A great song, and surely one of the earliest examples of 60s nostalgia in song, but didn't make either of my lists.
Afternoon Tea A factoid that got a bit lost in the flurry of posts following the first Top 40 was that, to the best of my knowledge (note the disclaimer) Something Else was the only album where all of its songs received points. This is the album where Ray started to show the breadth of his talents. Afternoon Tea is a Kwintessentially Kinksian tune, where Ray blends the typical youthful obsession over love (or lust) with his atypical love of older traditions - in this case, taking afternoon tea. Lovely. Where Are They Now? I think I had this top 5. There's something about the sentimentality of the song that strikes a chord with me. It's another of Ray's obsessions - looking at what's changed with the passage of time - but done in an affectionate way.
A personal request To maintain this thread's positive vibe, I think it would be helpful if comments focused on what we like about the songs that come up. If we don't particularly like a song I don't think it's helpful to tell everyone how little we think of it. That sort of thing can be off-putting to those who regard that song fondly. After all, we've already been through the forensic song-by-song examination, warts and all. To recap, if there's something positive to say about a song that's in our collective top 100, let's hear it. And if there isn't, let's not. That is my request. Thanks
Ah, it was a cigar! Thanks! I have both of today's songs on both my lists. Respectively #2 and #34 in the first top, and #45 and #48 (WR) in the second (moderately consistent, I know).
96 - Where Are They Now?: Number 5 on my current list (drawn down from Original List #31). Sung by The Tramp, I assume, I love the lyrics and the poignant delivery: Where have all the swinging Londoners gone? Ossie Clark and Mary Quant And what of Christine Keeler, John Stephen and Alvaro, Where on earth did they all go? Mr. Fish and Mr. Chow, Yeah, I wonder where they all are now. —- And, then, continuing: Where are all the teddy boys now? Where are all the teddy boys now? The brill cream boys with d.a.s, Drainpipes and blue suedes, Beatniks with long pullovers on, And coffee bars and ban the bomb, Yeah, where have all the teddy boys gone? — Ties this back to one of the survivors, Johnny Thunder, riding his bike, playing his 78 rpm records. — I wonder what became of all the rockers and the mods. I hope they are making it and they've all got stead jobs, Oh but rock and roll still lives on, Yeah, rock and roll still lives on. —- A fantastic song.
Ba-ba-babababaa… or is it Pa-pa-papapapaa ? Was this kontroversy ever settled once and for all ? Such a sweet tune, it's nice to have it so close to Sitting by the Riverside, these are two prime examples of the way 67-68 Ray tailored his melodies, music, productions, to be direct evocations of the lyrics and themes developed in his songs. You could feel the air and sun "by the riverside" in yesterday's tune, this one smells and tastes like being in a cosy "salon de thé", surrounded by adorable people on their best polite behavior. This is not the most acclaimed "afternoon" song in the katalogue, and Riverside was not my favorite "sitting" one, but this is all perfectly delightful, in a Kinks kind of way. Where Are They Now, on the other hand, I don't like much, I think it's a lazy ballad, a Johnny Thunder rehash with random name dropping that hold no interest for me at all. Ahahah, nah, @Steve62, just kidding !!!! I hope you won't hate me for this… I couldn't help it. No,, this is one of the klassik Act 1 tunes, probably the one song that jumped at me first when I first got this Act 1 record, some thirty years ago, and a key part to Ray's early RCA run of sumptuous piano ballads: Oklahoma USA/Sitting in My Hotel/Celluloid Heroes/Where Are They Now/(A) Face in the Crowd, all stunningly melodic, tender and evocative. And the Johnny Thunder quote, which I first noticed when we covered it more than two years ago (page 605!!), is a stroke of genius. It anchors the nostalgia effect in a subliminal way, and it does so just before launching into One of the Survivors, a song featuring that very Johnny character. Fabulous! Zero for two list-wise for me today, but two for two love-wise.
Yes sir! Our first and it’s amazing. So much fun and a thrill that he loves his music already! Thank you!
I think we should refrain from downright song-bashing, but a certain amount of englightened criticism is welcome, as far as I'm concerned. I'm not asking that we should avoid an impression of single-party-countries-elections-score. On the contrary, we should stick to such scores, which implies a few percent of dissent to save democratic face. (Though the dissenters will still end up in prison of course).
97 - Afternoon Tea (Unranked by me) Totally disarming! There's a lot that would make this a second tier song, yet the ultimate effect is captivating, relaxing, and very smile inducing. Another that surely would have made it had my list gone to 100. 96 - Where Are They Now? (Unranked by me) Another song for which my appreciation grew due to participation in this thread, just not quite enough to make my list.
Another bonus of our second list is to give these songs further listens. I didn’t have either of these but more quality music that touches quite a few people in our group. A worthwhile endeavor to listen again.
97 - Afternoon Tea Unranked by me, but a delightful tune which (like Holiday) shows Ray’s sense of humor. You can almost see the little smirk on Ray’s face as he sings “You'd think at least she might have stayed to drink her afternoon tea.” And let’s not forget Dave on this track, who has some very tasty licks while Ray reminisces about those tasty scones with his Donna. 96 - Where Are They Now? Unranked by me, but I did have another “where” song on my list! Agreed with @Fortuleo on the genius quote of Johnny Thunder a track before bringing Johnny (and his gray sideburns) back. Whenever I hear it, it makes me smile. I would argue that the earliest example of 60s nostalgia came out in the 60s itself, and that was Do It Again by the Beach Boys. Wait, nevermind, I’m changing my answer to Chubby Checker’s Let’s Twist Again (1961), which described nostalgia for 1960’s The Twist.
“Afternoon Tea”/“Where Are They Now”: Two songs that I do like and enjoy a lot since I first heard them in the 1970s, but didn’t put on my list. Does anyone think that this Ray Davies guy has written a bunch of great songs or what?
