In reference to track sequencing: Lola, the single, was released in June. Lola, the album, in August/September (depending on market). So I still think this was deliberately placed before Top of the Pops (in the album) as it was a hit.
I think Ray definitely put more effort and focus into this being a hit single than any Kinks 45 since at least ‘Days’.., I mean there’s the story that his Dad told him over Xmas 69 that he really needed to write a new hit, plus the other one about him going back and adding the intro to the song to make sure it gripped listeners in the first few seconds… there were no UK VGPS singles cos The Kinks wanted to put focus on the LP, similarly the Arthur singles were more like extracts from a larger work.., ‘Plastic Man’ in between them seems like a frustrated self parody of a Kinks single.. ‘Lola’ definitely seems to me like Ray setting out to pull out every stop to seriously make a hit with a fervour he hadn’t mustered in years… not of course that even then a hit would be guaranteed, but it was certainly made more likely through the seasoned hit craft fairy dust applied here… as for writing about a trans subject making it less commercial, admittedly it was a risk as a ban could’ve ruined everything, but I think to an extent it was a mischievously calculated one that paid off as it gave the record that extra factor that would ensure enduring fascination than if, say it had just been more conventional ‘Oh What A Night December 63’ style story of sexual awakening.
Maybe! But Ray Davies is known to have, shall we say, "estranged relations with the truth" from time to time so I take his tale about his father and his writing a hit to order with an economy-sized grain of salt.
What? Six hours into today's discussion and no one has yet brought up Weird Al's parody "Yoda?" Come on, guys!
Alfred's vocal delivery is fantastic. I love the way the bass joins and before the whole band kicks in. The use of "s-o-d-a" just works so perfectly well. Definitely in my top tier of Weird Al songs. I just love the -- oh wait, wrong thread.
I took that to mean, in a world where more of us are confused about our gender identity than we would like to admit, here is one of the people who is actually sure of who they are. It's a deliberate lyrical twist. "It's a muddle up, shook up world... oh! you thought I meant Lola? No!" Not sure precisely what the dark brown voice line means but I see it as a poetic touch. It's a common poetric strategy to take an adjective associated with one of the senses and apply it to another. Like a loud shirt.
The reason Ray had to come back from the US tour was to overdub " cherry cola" over the original "Coca-Cola" because Auntie Beeb thought by mentioning Coca-Cola, it would be considered advertising which she didn't approve of.
Agree. The whole thing is very ambiguous. Better to just enjoy the track than attempt to work it out. For some reason I assumed it was only men who had dark brown voices but this is clearly wrong.
It was released as a single months before most of the album was recorded so the first anyone heard about ‘Lola’ would be as a single.. now the thing I’m not sure about in the exact sequence of events was, was the ‘Coca Cola’ version initially issued as the UK single? Or did it just get to the promo stage when the BBC intervened? I suspect the latter but don’t know for sure.
That's a fair call, but on the previous two albums Ray had been writing for himself, and his themes. It is altogether possible that it was a fluke, but it is also altogether possible that he set out to write a hit. It has more hooks than a fishing boat.... Also this kind of thing is not unheard of. For example Bob Seger set his mind to make a number one album with Against The Wind, and miraculously achieved it. It's a bet each way really.
When in doubt, go to Doug. In All Day and All of the Night, he states that the Kinks recorded "Lola" for the Dave Lee Travis Show on May 18. Afterwards,the BBC informed them that the "Coca Cola" reference violated its non commercial policy. The Kinks were now in the States on tour so Ray had to fly back to the UK on May 25 to overdub "Cherry Cola" on the BBC Radio version & an upcoming TOTP videotaped appearance, as well as the master recording of the single. The latter didn't come off right so Ray had to again fly back to London to get it right, which he did on June 1st.
That was exactly what I was getting at. Where is the "coca cola" single if it ever existed? Surely if it did exist it would have turned up somewhere by now? Even if there was only the promo copy I am surprised it has never seen the light of day.
Has anyone mentioned even the name "Lola" itself is bi-gendered? I mean, I think that is obvious, but don't recall if it was specifically mentioned. "The long and short if it is that 'lo' means 'it' for masculine nouns, and is also the word for 'him'. 'La', on the other hand, means 'it' for feminine nouns and is also the word for her. " -Source
There probably wasn't one because, as I said before, the Beeb informed the Kinks that Coca Cola wasn't going to fly, so that's why Ray made those trips to overdub "cherry cola" on the master recording of the single prior to its release.
True but I'd be surprised if Ray Davies were aware of that and it isn't just serendipity. Good observation, though. I'm Latino and hadn't even thought of it.
First I'll just point out how obviously rare the A A B A C A B A structure is. The only three other songs I can think of off the top of my head (there are probably more) that utilize it are Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride," Tom Lehrer's "Masochism Tango" and The Beatles' "I'll Be Back." The closest Ray ever previously came to constructing something in this manner was "Wonderboy," if you consider the "Everybody's Looking For The Sun" part to be bridge #1 and the "And The World Is Joy Every Single Day" part to be bridge #2. The line, "I'm Glad I'm A Man And So's Lola" is downright vaudevillian. George Harrison would do something similar three years later with the line, "Why Don't You Call Me Miss O'Dell?" and Jim Stafford would have a big U.S. hit with the similar play on words, "She's My Girl, Bill."