25/40 edit: 8 of my initial 15 that didn’t make it in Round 1 have now been inducted here in Round 2.
1/2 again today. The Hard Way did not make my list. It’s is a good one from Schoolboys, with great performances by the brothers Davies - a great memorable guitar riff by Dave, and a great vocal performance by Ray. I just don’t think of it as a great stand alone song outside of the Schoolboys concept. She’s Got Everything was #26 on my first list, and #11 on my second. It’s another one that benefits from the Kronikles factor. It’s joyful and exuberant and made me happy as a teenager, bringing back memories of a first girlfriend. And now….it makes me feel like a teenager again when I hear it. It’s been a favorite for a very long time.
One for me today. I took the easy way and put The Hard Way on my list (no. 12). Love both the enunciation on the studio version and the frantic speed on One for the Road. Also saw it live a few times in those big arena shows in the early 1980s. I had to leave She's Got Everything behind in my tied for 41st leftover Pye.
I was 19/40 on the first list and I have 18/55 for the current list. 22 more possibilities and I also have 4 that are in my second round top 10! Sadly, I don't think it will be any of those. (one Pres. 2/one Something Else/one Village Green/one Pye single) I'm guessing out of the five remaining there will be one Word Of Mouth, one or two Arthur, and I have no idea about the others. I would really like to see another Something Else song make it. I have three more on my list. And of course I would love if we get some Preservation Act 2 representation on the list.
It remains to be seen if @Fortuleo's and a few other Avids Reservation Pact will result in a Representation Fact for this album!
Signed Book All Ray And Mick As They Write! THE KINKS All Day and All of the Night ~ SIGNED by Ray Davies & Mick Avory 1st | eBay
45 Don't Forget To Dance 1983 State Of Confusion 346 points On 13 lists 5 top 10 A lovely song off the State Of Confusion album that came in at 166 on my big list 44 Where Have All The Good Times Gone 1965 Kontroversy 357 points On 12 lists 8 top 10 Another that just missed my submitted lists coming in at 81 for me. Always loved this, particularly the One For The Road version, and another song that Van Halen recorded a version of.
YES, i was pretty confident of seeing this dance track as quite a few Avids avow it's ace and did not want to be left with (or be the owner of) a lonely heart! It was #21 on my first top 40 and #4 this time around so just one from the consensus par and ever a sentimental favourite of mine. Perception is everything so this is a great reminder for those of us that may lean towards melancholia or see their glass as half full and appreciate a gentle reminder to count their virtues and blessings. My mother may have said Don't Forget To Stop And Smell The Roses rather than Dance but it's all the same and just goes to show what you can achieve with the right attitude!
44) Where Have All The Good Times Gone (357) <43 #7 45) Don't Forget To Dance (346) >50 46) She's Got Everything (337) >74 #10 47) The Hard Way (333) <46 48) Do It Again (329) >54 49) Apeman (320) <48 #23 50) Wonderboy (318) <44 #5 51) Come Dancing (317) >52 #32 52) Lazy Old Sun (302) >66 #16 53) Supersonic Rocket Ship (301) >97 54) Young And Innocent Days (297) >91 55) God's Children (287) <47 #14 56) Alcohol (285) <53 #27 57) I Need You (283) <45 #4 58) Yes Sir, No Sir (265) >75 59) Schooldays (264) >78 60) Berkeley Mews (263) >67 #21 60) Sitting In The Midday Sun (263) =60 60) (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman (263) >89 #15 63) A Long Way From Home (262) <49 64) Holiday Romance (260) =64 64) Looney Balloon (260) <58 66) Sleepwalker (257) >111 67) Fancy (238) =67 #12 68) Did Ya (236) >98 69) Brainwashed (234) >106 70) Stop Your Sobbing (228) <55 71) Harry Rag (225) >137 72) You Make It All Worthwhile (220) <56 #17 73) People Take Pictures Of Each Other (219) <61 74) Starstruck (217) <69 75) Moments (215) <73 75) Rainy Day In June (215) >90 #20 77) Big Black Smoke (207) <62 78) Father Christmas (206) >100 79) I Go To Sleep (200) <77 80) Destroyer (198) >112
The good times haven’t gone anywhere except for maybe J.J. on that American seventies sitcom? This konsidered kult klassic was kutoff from kontainment on my first list however klaimed #30 on it's second try. I would have placed it higher a decade ago when for me it was a pin up track but now having discovered the Kink katalogue it's still a klassic kut despite being left unkronikled & kwickly kinda kiboshed!
81) (A) Face In The Crowd (195) <80 #37 82) I'm In Disgrace (193) >95 82) Mr. Churchill Says (193) >99 82) Powerman (193) >119 #31 82) Set Me Free (193) <76 #19 86) Muswell Hillbilly (191) <51 87) Low Budget (185) >103 88) Daylight (184) >117 88) Look Through Any Doorway (184) >107 #29 90) This Is Where I Belong (182) <65 #8 91) She Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina (181) <59 92) Jukebox Music (180) >118 #33 93) Heart Of Gold (179) >101 94) How Are You (173) <86 95) Catch Me Now I'm Falling (169) >176 96) Where Are They Now? (167) >172 97) Afternoon Tea (166) <71 98) Holiday (162) >161 98) Sitting By The Riverside (162) >109 100) Nothing In This World Can Stop Me Worrying About That Girl (161) <92 #11
We'll certainly discuss the injustices some oversights created in this top 100 when it will be complete but we now know that one of them has been avoided : The Kinks Kontroversy was the poor relation of the sixties album so far with only one song until today. But with the inclusion of Where Have All the Good Times Gone, it has been duly rectified and the album is now on par with the first two, and even a little bit higher ranking-wise on average. The two tracks that were chosen (the other being Till the End of the Day, of course) were once the A-side (Day) and the B-side (Times) of the same extraordinary single. This makes me understand a bit better why the Kinks were long considered a singles band… not because the albums weren't good enough but because those singles were mind blowing, really. Tired of Waiting/Come on Now; Set Me Free/I Need You, Dead End Street/Big Black Smoke, Sunny Afternoon/I'm Not Like Everybody Else. Autumn Almanac/Mr Pleasant, Days/She's Got Everything and this Where Have All the Good Times Gone/Till the End of the Day combo. Fabulous stuff!, certainly unmatched except by you know who. I didn't rank the song but it always was an obvious favorite from the KK LP, with the Like a Rolling Dylan delivery, the Time is on My Side/Yesterday/Help quotes and Ray's paradoxical awareness/prescience of the turning point that 1965 was in the sixties culture. Fortunately, a lot of good times were still to come! And the Kinks were a huge, indelible part of them.
Where Have All The Good Times Gone - has been central to my Kinks "playlist" since first encounter c. 1976, an iconic Kinks song. Don't Forget To Dance - wasn't familiar with this one until this thread. Now a favorite and the song with most versions on my 2CD alt mixes & edits comp (mostly curated by Michael Streett) where it appears 4 times (UK 12" mix, US single mix, Australian 7" mix & Alternate mix).
I’m like you my Aussie friend!!! This one, I really hoped would be included. It was #8 in my first list, #2 in the second one, a heart wrenching set of lyrics, deep and full of sensibility, one of the best women songs Ray ever wrote, in the tradition of Little Miss Queen or Darkness, Two Sisters, Juke Box Music, Out on the Outside etc. Funny how his character studies are always full of empathy when they’re about women and more acerbic when they’re about guys! I’m aware that this song’s not to everybody’s taste, because of the somewhat cheesy synth pop arrangement. I must admit that it’s a sound I’ve long been allergic to myself but for some reason, not here, as it feels like the arrangement helps paint the picture and tell the story in the most successful way. It's part of the slow dancing feel of the track, you see the emptying ballroom, the disco ball shimmering and this “nice piece of old” dancing alone or with a random guy she’d never want to speak a word to after desperately putting her face on his shoulder for three minutes and a half. It’s a very desolate song, one of the most touching I’ve ever heard about feeling dejected because of getting older, less attractive, losing touch with the present, the future and the very possibility of romance or happiness, at least in your mind. Note how Ray reserves his very best lines for the best chord change (Bm) in the song, the wonderful ”yes, you / with the broken heart” and then the unmatched “I’ll say / that you dance real close” (probably my favorite line in any song he’s written). Both work as extraordinary emotional punches in the gut. The To the Bone version is pretty nice too, underlining how Ray devised this song as another Misfits, and I guess it deserves to be posted again. Surely it will be get more appreciation by all that are allergic to 80’s synth pop. I'm so happy this song made it all the way up to this beautiful #45 rank, as it means so much to me…
45 Don't Forget To Dance (#12 on my first list, up to #5 on my alternate list) This song never fails to bring a tear to my eye. Never. I can't help but sympathize with the protagonist, despite the gender difference. Ray penned a real beauty here, and he delivers it with total conviction. 44 Where Have All The Good Times Gone (#4 on my first list, up to #3 on my alternate list) How did this not make the group list? I know we got a few of those early three chord proto punk rockers on the list, so one of the biggies might not make it, but this one.... really? For my money, this is truly best of breed.
"Don't Forget To Dance" actually squeezed into my second list at #40, knocking a potential entry from Preservation Act 2 out of the 40. Yes, it's a lovely song, but how much I enjoy it depends on how receptive I am to the 80s at that point! It's possibly a song that sounds better when I hear it in my head than when I actually play the disc. "Where Have All The Good Times Gone" is obviously a classic, but it's not one that I considered for either of my lists - I just have so many more that I like better. The Kontroversy track that I've been trying to get into the list is "The World Keeps Going Round", but that's clearly not going to happen!
Traveling a bit so just popping in. Thanks to @CheshireCat for the Ren dive. Really interesting stuff, I’ve got a buddy who will eat this up so I’ve got to see if he’s familiar with Ren. I’m not a completist, but have several Nils records and some Grin on a compilation. @Brian x did a superb job of giving us an overview. So glad to see Wonderland get some love, the song and the album. I remember hearing him cover Randy Newman’s Baltimore on our rock station and then getting a tutorial from my oldest brother on Nils and the Neil connection with a side of Newman essentials. These lyrics from Wonderland just popped into my head, just makes me smile: Where the boys and girls like to dance on the way to SCHOOL, And even the pretty girls think that being NICE is cool. Ain't no locks upon THE DOOR, ain't no country fighting no war, Ain't no boss or president here, and no judge to keep score I’ve got both songs on Monday’s reveal and will catch up later.
I had forgotten to note all my cuts that landed between #81 - #100 so have finally corrected the scoreboard though under what Grounds-man? 1-40 = 23 44-100 = 24 I think this means I knew less about the fringe favourites than those who have known the full or near to full catalogue over more years than myself. Still if I fluke the last 3 I will reach 50 and be officially mediocre and so in Ray's eyes I will then rise!
Just for balance here are 10 UK 60's singles and their B sides by another London group who i think are also comparable Mr @Fortuleo though i don't want to end up with a quarrelman! The Last Time/Play With Fire (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction/The Spider And The Fly Get Off Of My Cloud/The Singer Not The Song 19th Nervous Breakdown/As Tears Go By Paint It Black/Long Long While Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadows/Who's Driving Your Plane? Let's Spend The Night Together/Ruby Tuesday We Love You/Dandelion Jumping Jack Flash/Child Of The Moon Honky Tonk Women/You Can't Always Get What You Want
