@DISKOJOE it's always nice to see you post your friends revue for review. I think he's Sam........ & Dave on his own!
@markelis I thank you for your presentation also as I struggle to keep up with an unexpected 15 clips a day! I sure enjoyed some of the soloing and went for the vocals most on the acoustic cut. Some Stones feel around the place with The Dogs and if I can be of help with your best live Stones versions project just sing out!
squeeking in right at the end of free-form sunday to speak to any fellow ancient history enthusiasts here (I know of at least one). A moon-landing level breakthrough: Vesuvius Challenge 2023 Grand Prize awarded: we can read the scrolls!
Thanks for your insights. I've checked and just have one Dogs D'Amour single in my collection. 'Victims Of Success' from 1990.
Just spotted this on another thread..... Kinks - Misfit Record - promo EP Why a square 45 in a circular die cut sleeve. It doesn't really fit does it? Oh wait........lol. MISFIT!
@Fischman this is an artist of assurance with appreciable diversity as one calling card even if one doesn't wish to pursue access to all areas.
72 You Make It All Worthwhile 1975 Soap Opera 220 points On 8 lists 4 top 10 Didn't make my big list... in fact only three songs from Soap Opera did 71 Harry Rag 1967 Something Else 225 Points On 11 lists 1 top 10 Harry came in at 123 for me This is slightly odd as it is clearly a fun song, but it is delivered with a sort of sombre tone. Love it. Something Else is an album that would be rated number one in many bands discographies, but in the Kinks discography it struggles to make the top 5 for me
Not much time to contribute these days. I don't have many of these songs on my lists, as far as I can remember ((A) Face in the crowd is on my 1st list but not on the 2nd, second time this happens to me, I think). I love most of these songs though. Today's titles may be the first that really surprise me (even if I kind of like them both). Edit: I wonder if those songs were part of @Fortuleo 's predictions! Edit 2: so many things were said in the last few days, and great artists discovered. Thanks to all. I would have enjoyed a little discussion about Le Manège Enchanté/Magic Roundabout, which rings a few childhood bells even though I seldom had an opportunity to see it, since I grew up in a no-TV home. I didn't know there was an English adaptation! I must have seen enough of the French original to be really surprised when I discovered that the Ancient Greeks had named one of their heroes after Pollux, the dog from the Manège Enchanté. I never quite managed to take the twin Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux) seriously after that (also considering that "Castor" means "Beaver" in French).
Thank you for introducing us to Robbin Thompson. That first song reminded me (fairly or unfairly) of Bruce Springsteen then he went into unexpected directions in those other songs. My favourite is Too Many Secrets, with Out on the Chesapeake not far behind. Sweet Virginia Breeze is getting into Van Morrison territory (to my ears) in style and quality. After hearing the first three "unknown" artists I can envisage a Venn diagram where these different artists intersect more with the Kinks than each other - which would be quite a thing if it happens.
At last! Both of today's songs were in my first and second lists. "You Make It All Worthwhile" is the highlight of Soap Opera for me. The between-verse dialogue might make it more of a comedy number, but it goes way beyond that as Ray's delivery is full of sincerity as the song builds towards its conclusion. And of course the shepherd's pie section is priceless. It was #35 on my first list and #16 on the second list. "Harry Rag" is a rousing singalong with an irresistible hook and the lyric is both highly visual and amusing. I love the "hoi" before the final chorus - I'm sure it must have been an inspiration for The Jam. It was #34 on my first list and #20 on the second.
The chorus of "Harry Rag" is of course applicable to some of the other Cockney rhyming slang that Ray has referenced, e.g. "Rosie Lee, Rosie Lee / Do anything for a cuppa Rosie Lee / Then he curses himself for the life he's led / And pours himself a Rosie Lee and puts himself to bed" "Daisy Roots, Daisy Roots / Do anything for a pair of daisy roots / Then he curses himself for the life he's led / And laces up his daisy roots and puts himself to bed"
You Make it All Worthwhile: How can anyone dislike the song that gave us (in our thread discussion) recipes for shepherd's pie and cottage pie? That's a rhetorical question of course. This is another song that only makes sense in the context of its concept/theatrical album but it's still fun to listen to at any time. Keeping the fun times going, Harry Rag is one of the most unashamedly fun, knees-ups in the Kinks Kanon. I reckon you could play this and Have a Cuppa Tea in a nursing home and have all the oldies dancing and singing along. Hopefully I'll get to test that theory one day: when I'm in my nineties.
I hope you're not advocating the Russian approach to protests. Whatever jobs they have they presumably lose when they are locked up. Personally, I was relieved to see Americans arguing with each other without pulling out guns - such is the tone of news we tend to see about the US. More's to the point, it looked like much ado about nothing. A slow news day.
‘Harry Rag’ was #11 on The New 40, moving up from The Original #36. A brilliantly fun song. I have two Soap Opera songs on my submitted list but not ‘You Make It All Worthwhile.’ I mentioned this earlier but I was rather dismissive of ‘Soap Opera’ initially but have found that it has improved with age.
I’m just happy that the translated portions of the scroll didn’t say things such as “The Kinks have stunk since 1971” or “Paul was the better drummer of the Quarrymen”. Seriously, as Avid Brian X has said, a very big breakthrough in ancient history studies. I wonder what future archaeologists will discover about us, especially since most of our regular communications are no longer print based and are dependent on technology.
Thanks for the lead on The Poet & The Dragon. I never heard about that release but I am going to track it down. Nice tie back to The MEZ' comment that the Dogs sounded a bit Hanoi Rocks too. Dregen did great work on one (or a few?) of Michael Monroe's recent solo releases, and seemed to fire Monroe up, so that sounds like a hunt that'll be worthwhile.
Apparently, the protests were about the restaurant’s alleged ties to this guy and like Eleanor Bron in Help!, I cannot say any more due to the forum’s rules: Danny Masterson - Wikipedia
Well, I’m 0 for 2 today, but after such a great day both here and in the real world yesterday, let’s just say that You Make It All Worthwhile. It’s also President’s Day here in the States, so another day off! We’re catching up to Australia! PS: “Harry Rag” is pretty cool too.
72 You Make It All Worthwhile Ranked #10 on my first top 40, and rose up to #5 on our next top 40. This one has got humor, it’s got heart. It’s so campy but I love it. It’s perhaps the main reason the album is called Soap Opera, with the overdramatic organ as Starmaker expresses his hatred for Shepard’s Pie. I love how Starmaker says he’ll write a whole verse about her cooking, and then Ray does just that. This is so enjoyable for me to listen to, and since I know the concept so well, I can listen to this one standalone and every time, it makes me laugh and it makes me smile! So after a long day of working on the files, I’ll listen to You Make It All Worthwhile. 71 Harry Rag Originally unranked, but made it to #36 on my second list. It’s got one of those Ray Davies melodies that seem like they always existed. I love the military tone of the drums. And “soon they all reckon she’ll be pushing up the grass” is one of Ray’s funniest lines in the entire katalog. I can’t help but sing along to this one whenever I hear it. Nice to see both these uniquely Kinky tunes get their due!
Hurrah ! Victory ! We did it! I want to personally thank each of the eight voters that made it possible ! I almost advocated for the second kountdown in hopes that the uniquely sublime shepherd pie tune would land a spot in it. And it happened, despite the silly dialogue and the outré actress, who’s become music to my ears. Yes, music! It was a revolutionary #9 on my first list and climbed to #3 here. To be fair, climbing (and growing) is all this song’s been doing in my estimation in the last 25 years of passionate listening. And I don’t expect this ascending movement to stop anytime soon. I won’t try to list the highlights that just keep coming and coming in this extravagant, ludicrous, wonderful, irresistible masterpiece, but I think Ray (and band) manage to be funny and dramatic from one second to the next, one emotion nurturing the next, like laughter and tears and then laughter again often do. When Ray sings « You make me laugh and you make me smile / you make it all worthwhile”, I recognize the wonderful humanist stance I love so much at the end of Two Sisters. This is the same genius melodic writer and the same theme, only done in a different, less restraint (to say the least) idiom. I love every second of it. Alright, alright, I’ll eat it!!!
