I just checked my copies. The U.K. edition is 248 pages, while the US version is 277 pages, so the US version has more stories. Also, here's a review of the US edition: WATERLOO SUNSET | Kirkus Reviews
Celluloid Heroes Both the grand finale and centrepiece of the album, 'Heroes' also employs external and internal examinations around it's topic. I applaud all the great reviews, agree predominately with them and will attempt to say something new. I had read about this track well before actually hearing it and the gist (in Record Collector & other publications) was that it was all of the following; A) One of their very best songs B) Little known and heard for what it truly deserved to be C) May have been a hit if it got more airplay or perhaps wasn't cut In fact Ray told the NME in 1973 that he knew that Celluloid Heroes (and Shangri-la for that matter) would flop but he wanted to get them out so people could hear the Kinks. So naturally i was not a little intrigued to hear this highly respected Klassic that didn't chart and unwrap the mystique so i purchased 'Showbiz' on CD from the Queen Street Record Market 20+ years ago. I would describe the song as sweeping, panoramic and above also having a graceful majesty. The melodic marriage of vocal and instrumentation just sounds so absolutely right, like something you have heard before that has always stood tall. If someone shrugged their shoulders and said: "Where's the hook?" I would answer that it's the whole song! The music rises and falls around serving the vocal which betrays Ray's observations, compassion, introspection and personal longings all encased in a delicate and beautiful melody. Ray may well have been coming apart at the seams but i find it easy and enjoyable to read other angles into the lyrics which is of course another way people develop personal attachments to songs whether true or off base! Like with songs, (and fans with Rock 'N' Roll Fantasies) fans of actors and film can do likewise and even live in an insular and protective world where their beloved star didn't really die so I enjoy Ray's touching lines and reducing these screen stars to merely human which we can easily tend to forget they were and are. Furthermore many people struggle with contentment and happiness in their existence and imagine their life "is" a non stop movie show or dream it is important and will be better all the while as the projector in their head spools through film and they are distracted from their pain and enevitalble mortal demise so long as it does. So Ray's brilliance again delivers sonething for everyman without alerting to his own serious issues allowing for its actual creation! Edit: Magnificent track and would probably rank in my all time Kink favourites between 10-15 but hey I'm a Pye guy no matter who you are!
Sorry, my bad, I wasn’t really replying to you, I just happened to reply from your response to the “mourners”. I know you are a fan of that period. Rather, I had been attempting to respond to those mourning the death of the kinks so early.
Here is a 2 part NME 1973 Ray Davies interview i have from a 1974 NME hardcover compile. If it is too hard to read I will try to focus on events around White City & his breakdown.
The thing is though, he was able to produce something of value: he wrote those wonderful, seminal liner notes for Kinks Kronikles (I’m not even gonna comment either way on his non Kinks writing, of which I know little). I agree it seems like his take on the post 1971 period, when tasked with writing about it at length, seems unbecomingly sophomoric given what he was capable of at a younger age (the irony! : then again John would probably say that poor music inspired weaker criticism). ‘Scorned Lover’ sounds about right: The Kinks stopped being the thing he loved so much, and he couldn’t get past it, even took it personally, because he loved what they had been so much. I’ve always been kinda morbidly interested in reading his 1984 Kinks book I’ll admit: is it 7 years of measured regretful praise followed by 13 of p*ssy vitriol ?
According to several solipsistic philosophical schools of thought, you actually can’t be certain that their names are written in concrete on Hollywood Boulevard unless you’re physically there, so don’t be in such a rush to call these lyrics foolish John!
I would say the praise is sincere as is the later vitriol although he did claim to like the second half of ‘State of Confusion’...imagine if he had to review ‘Somebody Stole my Car’...
As for Showbiz (the studio disc), I've only owned it for about three months but I can confidently state that I like it - it made a good first impression on me which is half the battle (unlike the previous album). I think it's a good preview of what The Kinks will be sounding like later in the 70s - yes there aren't any horns or theatrical elements in the late 70s material, but the kind of rock they will be playing is in evidence here, and the switch of lyrical focus towards life in the USA (real instead of imagined) is also first displayed here. I wonder whether this album would be better thought of if it was just the studio disc? It's long enough to stand on its own as an album. The double album (along with the garish cover) may have put more people off than it attracted.
Celluloid Heroes This surely is a contender for the greatest song Ray has written. I think most fans of the Kinks would agree. However, I think it is the greatest song he has written. I've only heard it once on radio. I was sent to the shop for a pint of milk and it was playing on a little transistor in the corner. It was near the end so I waited by the door until it finished to listen to the dj comments. I thought it odd that it was playing as it was the time of day when only singles would have been aired. "And that’s the new single from the Kinks". I didn't properly hear the edited version until many years later but, yes, how could they remove two minutes from such a great song?
I agree regarding it being a single disc. I'd also be tempted to swap the sides around as I think side two has the better songs to grab the listener sooner and release the live album as a separate double album (with extra tracks - maybe even some well-known songs!). The existing live disc which was issued (without wishing to jump ahead with discussions) was pretty much a waste of a side of vinyl. Was the album priced as a double album on release? If so, I'd feel hard done by.
When I bought it it was priced slightly cheaper than a double studio version. I have since seen an Internet image of the album with a sticker alluding to this.
Why is Everybody’s in Show-biz held in lower esteem than any previous Kinks record from Kontroversy on? I think it’s its looseness, its “anything on the menu can become a song” attitude. It is not a serious record. Well, in a way it is (see below), but it’s full of non-serious songs. Before that, there was always a lot of humor in all Kinks LP’s, but they were presented as careful constructions, you could hear decision making, concepts, effort to make sense of things, efforts to make sense at all. You could hear the care put in their elaboration, production, editing, whereas this one is characterized by just the opposite: a carefree “we’ll see what sticks” spirit. And that’s a huge part of the charm this record holds to this day for me. I won’t try to argue it’s on par with the best Kinks records, just that its very concept is to have a kind of carnival/circus flavor to it. I love it. I love listening to it. I will put in on and enjoy its presence any day of the week. As @palisantrancho said, it’s a party record, it’s supposed to be entertaining. An entertaining record about entertainment. An entertainer’s record about the life of entertainers. Maybe Ray’s trying less hard than usual but I think he’s pretending not to try as hard, so that he can take us by surprise with the two closing ballads. They come as reverse shots, almost shockingly blunt and direct “behind the scenes” moments, at the same time personal, ambitious, consistent and very serious in tone and intent, much more so than most of what Ray’d ever written. So there lies the concept: snapshots of a musician’s life, nothing too serious about it, nothing to take oneself too seriously, and then two moments of pause, introspection and solitude, one in front of the hotel room mirror, the other in front of the silver screen mirror, both revelatory and devastating.
Three songs about food on a ten song album? If it's not a 'serious record' then why would anyone be surprised that it isn't taken seriously?
Ah, so the Beatlers were indeed better than the Kinks then, objectively and otherwise. Because at least twenty people haz sed so. Good to know. Will have to re-buy the Mono box set post haste
While even a prof rawk crit like J. Mend, Esq is entitled to his opinion... This is pure bullcrap and personal opinion disguised as weighty and proper critisism. IMO, of course Then again, he would know a thing or two about trying to hard, wouldn't he? Him and that Pazz n Jop-fella. Christlike or wozziz name is. Diqueheads, the both of them.
Critics get paid to be critical, it's in the job title. I don't understand why people get so annoyed about that.
I usually don’t get annoyed. But that last bit about the movie stars not actually being buried there…and not literally being stepped on, was over the top absurd.
