All the soundtrack songs appear in the movie, with the one exception (as far as I could tell) of ‘Willesden Green’.
I wouldn't call it a bad movie but it's didn't get on any 'must see' lists for a reason. Still, it has an engaging plot and the acting wasn't bad. I remember taping it on VCR around 1980 - and subsequently copying just the bits with Kinks songs onto a separate tape. I don't believe any of the songs are played in full except God's Children over the opening credits. The other music scenes I remember are the protagonist walking around what I thought was Piccadilly Circus (The Way Love Used to Be), the protagonist in the zoo looking at a gorilla in a John Dalton suit - or vice versa (Animals in the Zoo) and a woman in a nurses uniform performing a striptease for the protagonist- a scene I recall quite vividly now I think of it (Lola instrumental). There are more songs than that but those are the scenes I remember.
AFAIR ‘Dreams’ gets the most extensive visual real estate in the film: it’s played all the way through or close to it and the visuals for it almost resemble a non band music video or a low rent version of a sequence from Ken Russell’s ‘Tommy’. Most of the other vocal songs just kind of get wasted parked in the background. As you mention though, the visuals for the instrumental ‘Lola’ (and also ‘Whip Lady’) scene (s) get pretty racy…
The Kinks – Golden Hour Of The Kinks Genre:Rock Style:Beat, Garage Rock, Pop Rock Year:1971 Side 1 1. Days stereo mix (2:52), recorded May 1968 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London 2. Wonderboy stereo mix (2:47), recorded Mar 1968 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London 3. Autumn Almanac simulated stereo (3:10), recorded Sep 1967 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London 4. Waterloo Sunset stereo mix (3:17), recorded Apr 1967 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London 5. Dedicated Follower Of Fashion simulated stereo (2:59), recorded 7 Feb, 1966 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London 6. Dead End Street simulated stereo (3:20), recorded probably 22 Oct, 1966 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London 7. Set Me Free simulated stereo (2:10), recorded 14 Apr, 1965 at Pye Studios (No. 1), London 8. Sunny Afternoon simulated stereo (3:31), recorded 13 May, 1966 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London 9. Till The End Of The Day UK simulated stereo (2:18), recorded 25-30 Oct, 1965 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London 10. Sitting On My Sofa simulated stereo (3:03), recorded 29, 30 Dec, 1965 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London Side 2 1. Victoria stereo mix (3:38), recorded May-Jun 1969 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London 2. A Well Respected Man simulated stereo (2:38), recorded probably 6 Aug, 1965 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London 3. You Really Got Me simulated stereo (2:13), recorded mid-Jul 1964 at IBC Studios, London 4. All Day And All Of The Night simulated stereo (2:20), recorded 24 Sep, 1964 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London 5. Tired Of Waiting For You simulated stereo (2:30), recorded 17, 18, 24, 25 Aug 1964 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London, with additional guitar overdub at IBC Studios, London in 29 Dec 1964 6. See My Friends simulated stereo (2:44), recorded 3 May, 1965 at Pye Studios (No. 1), London 7. Louie Louie simulated stereo (2:57), recorded 18 Oct, 1964 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London 8. Animal Farm stereo mix (3:00), recorded Apr 1968 at Pye Studios (No. 1), London 9. Shangri-la stereo mix (5:18), recorded May-Jun 1969 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London 10. Where Have All The Good Times Gone UK simulated stereo (2:48), recorded 25-30 Oct, 1965 at Pye Studios (No. 2), London This is a pretty solid compilation of material from the sixties Kinks. I sort of feel, looking at it now, that a different running order would have been better, but compiles have rarely been put together for optimal track sequence… in my experiences at least. I can see why someone would have picked this up in the early seventies, as it has most of the tracks folks would probably want, although I think Louie Louie should have been subbed for any number of songs that represent the Kinks better. It is very cool, and quite interesting to me that Shangri La got on here.
Never Say Yes So, one out of the box. Apparently this has not been released on anything. Kindakinks.net has the lyrics, but nothing else. We are told this was written and recorded for Elvis, and it’s a shame that he never recorded it, even a demo, but that was the cutthroat world of music. People say to you that you're the only one they ever want to see Pat you on the back and tell you I can make you all you want to be Take 'em in and shake 'em by the hand Make believe that you can understand But never say yes Never say yes Kiss the girls and tell them that you'll love 'em and you'll never let 'em go Kiss the girls and satisfy but don't bare unto all the things you know She knows you will want to hold her near Hold her hand and whisper in her ear But never say yes Never say yes I don't need no loving girl to put me in a [?] and tie me down I don't need success to storm the world and let them know that I'm around I got everything I ever need Guess I'll always love this life I lead Cause I never say yes Never say yes I'll never say yes I'll never say yes Written by: Ray Davies Published by: Kassner Music Ltd. So this track was meant for the Spinout album, and yes the Pomus/Shuman track of the same name is on that album. Spinout was a return to form for an Elvis soundtrack, after the much lesser Harum Scarum, Frankie And Johnny and Paradise Hawaiian Style. Elvis had been trying to escape his movie contract and had been basically threatened with expulsion from the entire world if he didn’t fulfill it. I think to some degree it was part of the trigger for the turning point in his career, that led to the gospel album, the 68 NBC Special (68 Comeback Special as it is known now), and then the magnificent American Sound Recordings, that resulted in the wonderful From Elvis In Memphis, Back In Memphis albums, and the still remembered singles In The Ghetto, Kentucky Rain and Suspicious Minds. This particular soundtrack has two of my favourite late 60’s pre American Sound tracks, in Down in the Alley, and the wonderful cover of Dylan’s Tomorrow Is A Long Time. It is a terrible shame that the powers that be didn’t give the Kinks the slot here, but with Parker having alienated so many writers over the years, the one’s they did use got used a fair bit. I don’t think it would have made much difference to the Kinks in terms of popularity, as Elvis was in a lull, it would just have been nice for the guys to get a song on an Elvis movie soundtrack. I would certainly love @czeskleba To drop in and give us any extra details he knows from a Kinks perspective, because he is very knowledgeable about a lot of this kind of stuff…. Anyway, to the song. I almost get the impression that Ray is singing directly to Elvis in that first verse… but I am not sure how widely known the manipulation of Presley was in 65-66. I think @DISKOJOE covered most of the rest of that kind of stuff in his posts yesterday, linked HERE and HERE This song shows me that Ray had a good understanding of who he was writing for, and the type of song that the movie studios may have accepted. This is a quick and fairly straight rock and roll song. The main guitar chord riff is solid, but somewhat generic in its construction, but it is certainly the kind of thing the movies had shown to be interested in. Ray also sings in a lower tone, for the most part, I would guess in an attempt to sell the song with the arrangement most suited to Elvis. Contrary to popular belief, Elvis actually did have a solid musical brain, and would generally rearrange his own material anyway… so perhaps Ray should have just done it as a straight Kinks track? A lot of this is speculation though. So this wouldn’t be among Kink Klassics or anything, but it is a solid little track that I could have seen getting used on Spinout, or a similar type Elvis movie.
For comparison, here is the song that was used instead. Also we see that The Kinks weren't the only ones to have pretty dodgy album covers during the sixties.
I may well have borrowed this "Golden Hour" compilation from the university record library back in the 80s. Adding up the track times in my head it comes to 59:33, so buyers were slightly shortchanged! A pretty solid compilation of hits - obviously compiled before the two big hits of 1970. "Sitting On My Sofa" is a strange interloper, and "Louie Louie" still keeps cropping up in places it shouldn't. "Animal Farm" seems another random choice. I'd be interested in hearing some of these "simulated stereo" versions of the early hits.
This track is a great find - I guess it will find its way onto a forthcoming comp or SDE... I can't quite imagine Elvis singing it, but it's another decent Ray demo.
I thought someone may have dropped the album on youtube, but there was nothing, except a Russian guy washing it in his sink? I looked for some of the simulated stereo mixes, but all I found was a version of Set Me Free, that had the speed fluctuating, so it seemed pretty futile to post
I like this Golden Hour tracklist, but there’s always that element of “the compilers should’ve made their mind about this thing being exhaustively a non-LP tracks round up or a bona-fide best of”. That’s why I always go back to “Are Well Respected Men”, with ALL the non LP sides of the sixties and that’s why I’ve just finally ordered the vinyl of it… (this thread may end up being quite expensive !) But the true discovery of the week is this Never Say Yes Elvis thing that I’ve immediately added to my 1965-ish demo playlist, where it feels right at home. Whether they were “publishing demos”, things envisioned for films, for other artists, or even considered as potential Kinks material (with or without them as backing musicians), all these songs do sound like they belong together. It’s weird, and it gives a fascinating impression of Ray being in a kind of Carole King situation: a consummate craftsman songwriter at a very young age, apparently capable of anything and willing to diversify, but at the same time being almost forced to acknowledge his own personality and singularity, his artistic “voice”, by the strength and consistency of the material.
"Never Say Yes" This sounds like a perfectly serviceable 1964/65 Kinks track - it probably wouldn't have sounded out of place on either of the first two albums. I'm hearing a bit of "So Mystifying" in the hook.
Golden Hour This was probably my first Kinks album - on cassette - so i have positive feelings about it. But the track order is a dog's breakfast - they must have pulled the song titles out of a hat to get them that poor (YGRM and ADAAOTN next to one another - on side 2 - is bad enough). And am I the only person who noticed the compilers had no prior knowledge of Louie Louie - or else they wouldn't have spelled it Lovie Lovie I have far more positive things to say about the tracks and track running order (and spelling) on Kink Kronikles and on Lola, Percy and the Apeman come Face to Face with the Village Green Preservation Society....Something Else! Never Say Yes Ray wrote quite a few songs for other people in the early years and it's a shame this wasn't sung by Elvis - the song he did use with the same title is no better. The Kinks had a few early songs tilling a similar groove so I'm not that excited about this find.
At this stage, to me at least, what this does show, is how far Ray had come as a writer between 65 and 70..... also dare I say how far the band had come in the studio. I mean, compare the song, the sound and the playing on here to Shangri La or the Lola tracks.
I remember that Golden Hour compilation. I either actually owned a copy or a friend of mine owned it back in the early 1980s. I know I did have several of them at one time back then in order to have the songs from the pre Face to Face albums which were tough to get or were too expensive back then. I also remember seeing those Golden Hour compilations a lot in the bargain bins of Strawberries Records (a Boston record store chain), especially the one w/that long, long title. As for "Never Say Yes", it's a pretty solid song. You can tell that Ray was doing it on spec, compared w/"Time Will Tell", another unreleased song which was more "Kinks". I would have them do this than "Louie, Louie". Thanks goes to @czeskleba for putting the song up in answer to my initial query.
Never Say Yes: I think this quote above addresses exactly how I feel about this song. I like it, quite a bit, it’s a short fast little rocker, but, as our fearless leader has noted, it doesn’t fit in with what we’re listening to now. Had we covered this at the beginning, it would have fit in quite well on either of the first two albums and I think many of us would have been very excited to hear it. I will almost certainly go back and slide it in on my playlist of their very earliest material (which runs from the debut through Something Else). Unfortunately, because we have moved on to the more elaborately constructed songs and better produce songs, it does stand out as a bit of a sore thumb at the moment.
I’m going to have to check those out. I have Working Man’s Cafe and that’s it. (I didn’t notice these on Mark’s ‘Master Curriculum Into the Next Decade’ so this might call for some independent study.)
I always loved the Kinks' Golden Hour comps, and back in the day used them to try to turn people on to the band. Worked with my high school girlfriend, at least!
