I won't engage in the junk food/ cheese discussions (I don't even like cheese!) but they were quite entertaining. And that’s definitely the key word on this wonderful colorful album. This is the Kinks Thunder Review, and on many songs, Ray is not so much a singer, a rock star, a songwriter or even a frontman anymore, but an entertainer on a mission, providing fun and good times for all (sometimes to his detriment, since most lyrics are about dissociation/estrangement/disconnection). Even Hot Potatoes ? Most certainly so. This track is another contender for a histrionic Slim Chance cover, there’s such a cool jam-like Saturday night quality to it. As @ajsmith noticed, You Really Got a Hold on Me (same riff and chord progression) is the real touchtone and I always remember the Beatles doing it in the Let It Be film as one of the most lighthearted affectionate moment in the whole thing. Actually it's so close (and the Davies bros can't be oblivious to that fact, of course) that I wouldn't be surprised if Hot Potatoes was born out of mock-jamming on the Smokey Robinson tune, or maybe just Dave doing the riff on slide, just for fun. And how fun it is! The lennonesque staccato phrasing of the "any old way that you wanna decide" line is worth the price of admission alone. As Mark said, a huge part of the extraordinary feel good rush provided by this song comes from the brothers trading out vocals, especially when they sing together, in unison, just because it seems they are too enthusiastic to stay away from the microphone. Nothing will ever beat Autumn Almanac as the best Lalala Kinks song, of course. But you've got to admit the "La-la-lalalala/ …Potatoes" call and response refrain is damn irresistible. And then, starting on the second verse, the boys's chorus answers each line with that "…potatoes" response, and really, I wish I was in a band covering this song, just to be allowed to do that "…potatoes" bit. I'm sure what our team leader had in mind was giving it 36 hours instead of just 24… But I'm voting for Monday as well. I rejoice at the idea of starting the week with that five stars Hotel marvel. (…potatoes)
Hot Potatoes. Well, bang goes the concept! When this started I thought of something like "Hey Big Spender" or the "The Stripper" but then, has been noted earlier, it starts channelling "You Really Got A Hold On Me" before turning into "Itchycoo Park" at the end! It's catchy enough again but it's fluff.
Yea, that was my thought.... but I also don't want to suddenly start rushing. I wasn't sure if folks were happy having Sunday as a rest day/day of reflection, but it seems we are, so we'll stick where we are.
Ouch. Very interesting quote from Robert Wace there, providing some fairly compelling evidence that he had more to do with the creative steering of the group than is often suggested, and was perhaps a little more than a 'nitwit chancer' (as Luke Haines felt justified in describing him in 2018). Of course to quote another Davies from the 60s Wace 'would say that wouldn't he' but I reckon there could be something to it. I can't go as far as agreeing with Wace that the other band members 'couldn't give a toss' though. It should be noted timeline wise that both Wace and Collins had finally exited in 1971, one of the final steps in the complete dismantlement of the Kinks 1960s set up.
Merely speculation on my part, but what I see the Kinks, Ray doing, to some degree, is making albums with loose themes, but with songs designed for concerts. It is sort of just before my era, but the early seventies seems to be a time when concerts were becoming a big thing, and it seems like some of the adjustments Ray made in his writing seem to be directed at having songs that will translate live.... and give him a chance to act out on stage. I don't know the story of Wace, or any of the other behind the scenes guys, but there are always people sitting in the wings, waiting to claim credit for things they had little to do with..... and obviously perspective is different from every set of eyes. I was also thinking about this albums place in the catalog. We have the quite serious, earnest Muswell Hillbillies, that surprisingly to me, didn't seem to be a big success commercially, and we know Ray was already piecing together ideas for the Preservation albums, which are again a bit more serious in their subject matter, and in that context Everybody's In Showbiz seems almost like some light relief before diving into some more serious work..... perhaps? That isn't to make light of the album at all, I personally like it, and it does have some more earthy, or deep tracks, but it feels more like an album made for a bit of fun, rather than a big artistic statement I don't know, just thoughts.
Sounds plausible, I think it would have been better all round if he hadn't wasted so much time and energy on "Preservation" and tried a bit harder on this album in that case.
Maximum Consumption A slight song, with little to recommend it in my mind. Probably written on the back of a napkin an a restaurant somewhere. Unreal Reality Always skipped this one because I really don't like the woozy-boozy introductory 45 seconds. After that, I don't mind it at all. Not going to be added to any Kinks playlists I concoct! It does move along nicely once it gets going. Edit off that introduction, and it's quite pleasant. I do prefer the use of brass on this album over its use on Muswell Hillbillies.
I'm certainly not suggesting Wace was the secret ingredient to The Kinks artistic success or anything but it was interesting to get his insight. Too often he (and Collins) are dismissed as just shallow fops which I'm sure there is truth to but is also probably not the whole story. Ray has mentioned how when he showed Wace 'Some Mothers Son' the manager remarked that Ray's writing had reached a new level of quality: it could be the case that Wace only belatedly realised the extent of Rays talents and his interest in that side and attempted creative guidance was a case of too little too late.
Hot Potatoes A pointless waste of space. Probably written in the queue at the chippy takeaway. Would be better thrown away with the chip paper too.
It's almost as good as Maximum Consumption. And I don't like that one either. Thinking now, I can't think of any of Ray's food related songs I like. (are there any more once this album's done?) EDIT 'would you like steamed pudding and custard for afters?' 'shepherds pie - I hate shepherds pie'
Hot Potatoes: I was listening to this for the first time while driving so I was unaware of the song title. My ears perked up at the drum beat opening and then the strum of the acoustic overlaid by the slide. My kind of music! “My baby woke me up this mornin' She said get down that labour exchange, And if you don't come home with a job son, You'll get no dinner to-day.” All right, there ya go, a universal theme that is no longer rock-star focused. And then… “You'll get no more fancy cookin', You'll get no more apple pie, You'll just get those plain hot potatoes To satisfy your appetite.” And I’m shaking my head, smiling…what’s going to come next? “La la la la la la Potatoes, Boiled, French fried, any old way that you wanna decide. Hot potatoes, yeh, I want your lovin' every single day.” And by now I’m riveted and starting to laugh. Especially at the “potatoes” when the chorus of voices join in. “I said I don't need your fancy cooking, I like the simple things in life,” (and the boys sing backup, “potatoes.”) I’m howling now and turn off into a shop parking lot so I can stop and see what this song is. I suppose it’s obvious that I love this song from the get-go. The first clear playlist song from the album. It knocks my previous potato song, Neil Young’s ‘T-Bone’ off its tuber pedestal (“got mashed potatoes…ain’t got no t-bone…”). The band must have had a hard time keeping a straight face when they come in on the potatoes chorus…and I would have killed to have been there when Ray first brought the song in and instructed them as to what he wanted them to sing. But, whether in the car or at home, I now join the “hot potatoes” chorus and sing it with gusto! Wilco, too, has a funny-tale, sing-along song (albeit using a serious subject as the base), Passenger Side. Kinda goofy, easy to recall the words…and sometimes that’s all that I want. A terrific song, first play-lister, first song to NOT use horns. Album horn-use count: 3/4
I’ve already finished my mini-essay, so anytime for me. (Seems folks prefer Monday). Live album portion: we could do the whole thing in a day! (I’m not a fan)
Re: “potatoes” chorus. Is that just the two brothers? It sounds like two or even three voices (and I was thinking Ray isn’t in the mix).
I was wondering that: I was wondering if it even might be all the non-Ray members doing gang vocals. I'd think at the very least Dalton who regularly supplied backing vocals live would be in there.
My potato story: My family vacationed in England roughly twenty years ago. London, the Cotswolds, Bath…had a great time (using Rick Steves travel guide). Stayed at Stow-on the Wold and went into a place to eat. The King’s Arms or some such and ordered our meal. And out came, literally, a bucket of potatoes. Hot potatoes. (There was no way our group could eat that much.)
