"You Do Something To Me" has a haunting melodic theme in it's title line; in some ways the song overall seems like rote beat-group stuff, but the drumming(again) the wildly rocking vocals and the seamless nature of the writing all help to elevate the track over, say, The Applejacks or Billy J Kramer or whoever; but there's also a certain energy to the overall feel that just rocks much harder than the sub-Beatle-isms of the song might imply. 3.7/5 This should have been their first single; as first singles of this era go, few if any are better. I agree that Ray's original songs of 1964 are much better than the Kinks' covers; and I have to say that I've just made a playlist of all of them (using needledrops of the first album and The Kinks Are WEll Respected Men) and I never listen to any of the covers, as I have very little use for them.
It’s still Bobby Graham on drums on this track and every single up to Tired Of Waiting. Micky Willett was the groups second, just pre-Avory drummer (replacing their original drummer John Start, with them from 1961 to mid 63) who played on the late ‘63 ‘I’m A Hog For You Baby/I Believed You’ demo. Speaking of which, we should definitely discuss ‘I Believed You’ if we discussed ‘Hog’!
Ray's comment on the reaction upon releasing the 7" of You Still Want Me: "Unfortunately nobody did!"
Still not great, but the second single, including the b-side, is a huge leap in the right direction after the Long Tall Sally mis-step.
This 45 is standard beat fare - it's nothing revolutionary, but it's great beat music, with both sides being worthy of A-Side choice for 1964 IMO. It's such a shame this single didn't sell that well, and it's even more of a shame that the myth it barely sold anything still perpetuates in putting up prices! It got re-issued far enough to get to the 2nd Pink Pye layout! In short, a huge step up form the previous mis-step, and both tracks definitely should have been included on 'Kinks'.
I hate to be more of a downer than other commentators on this single as it’s always better to appreciate something than not, but I think this second coupling of songs is as weak as the debut single, just in a different way. Both tracks sound like pastiches of the most anodyne sort of Mitch Murray Merseybeat pop. And I do like all that stuff, but to me it’s so untrue to the spirit of the band they’d become that it kind of pains me to listen to these two tracks to hear The Kinks contorting themselves into this idiom. ‘For my heart is so true, and I live just for you’, I mean come on, pass the sick bag! Tbh I’m glad this wasn’t a hit, and that ‘You Really Got Me’ the first honest record they made, was the hugely deserved breakthrough instead.
You Do Something To Me I enjoy this one in a fun way and prefer it to the A side. I've always thought it was more than a nod to the Cole Porter song of the same title (sung by many including Ella Fitzgerald). The 'chorus' line "You do something to me, that nobody else can do" seems to be borrowed straight from there (and I don't mean this in a derogatory way at all - I enjoy borrowing from any and all art forms in music when it's done !). I hadn't realised how early on in the Kinks career this came, so it makes even more sense for Davies to rework/reference a standard for his generation.l (if that's what he was intentionally doing! ). (Please do tell me if in wrong, I was born about 20 years after this song was released and know little about Ray Davies so am here to learn something! ) You Still Want Me is pleasant enough, but didn't do a lot for me.
"You Still Want Me"/"You Do Something To Me" Both tracks obviously going with the prevailing Merseybeat sound of the time - to me they sound more like Gerry & The Pacemakers (particularly the b-side) than the Beatles. Nothing particularly great about them, but the melodies, the song structures and the harmonies suggest that there is a talent here - it just hasn't been able to express itself in the correct way yet. That would come with the next record.
"You Still Want Me" is notorious for being a particularly bad commercial flop. I read somewhere (a long time ago) that it sold something like 110 copies. Essentially no one beyond the immediate families of the band members and management. While it's not a lost classic or anything, it certainly didn't deserve that fate. It's a perfectly listenable period piece -- maybe Ray should have palmed it off to Peter and Gordon. Still, as Ray Davies' songwriting debut, it's hardly a portent of what was to come later. "You Do Something To Me", though still pretty pro forma, is a better indicator of the sound they would establish. Can you imagine this conversation at Pye: Suit A: "I don't know about this Kinks outfit. Two singles, and they've both bombed. Should we just cut our losses?" Suit B: "Oh, just give them ONE MORE shot! You never know!" If Suit B hadn't spoken up, all of our lives would be much poorer for it...
You Still Want Me Agree with @Lance LaSalle that the lyrics aren't much to sink your teeth into, by the music is, especially the drumming again. I could listen to this a lot. You Do Something to Me The Kinks are really getting me to appreciate the early 60s rock and roll vibe!
Might as well post it here: I think the other 1963 demo 'I Believed You' (a Dave Davies original!) is a lot better than any of the tracks we've discussed so far. It's Merseybeat ish again, but more in a 'superior Searchers b side' way than the 'That Thing You Do!' isms of the You Still Want Me single. It has a neat more thought out lyric about being dumped by a girlfriend, then her wanting you back and being unsure whether to dump your rebound, conveyed with a compellingly pensive, unresolved mood and some nimble melodic shifts that I've always appreciated.
It sounded fairly similar to me to a lot of singles that were released in this period. Nice enough but nothing earth shattering. The b-side gives a better representation of things to come. I bought a vinyl release of VGPS in the late 90s and this 7" single was bizarrely part of it. I had no idea that it was included with anything else.
This doesn't come up too often with the Kinks, but I for one think it's interesting to talk a little about the songs AS they debut, especially when their album release is delayed by months (this case) or years (as in the initially-a-1967-EP-track "Village Green"). In case I miss the album discussion, I wanna say: This song is a VERY quirky and interesting take on things which in some ways predicts the character and experience of the narrator of "Lola", if without the same payoff: She had some pile-drivin' kisses They really knocked me out They knocked me oh-oh-over She had a hug like a vice She squeezes once or twice and I moan On an otherwise flop single, it's a sign of things to come: Well, I'm not the world's most physical guy But when she squeezed me tight she nearly broke my spine Now, as you were.
Had a thread going a few weeks ago about favourite Kinks songs. None of the songs discussed here so far were mentioned I can assure you! " The best is yet to come \ won't that be fine? "
If guys aren't happy with the way I'm going about this, I can just stop.... it's no big deal..... If we're going to post songs because we prefer them to the ones coming up on any given day, it is going to become a mess. Perhaps I am way out of line, but I want to talk about the albums, as albums. So from my perspective, if an album track comes out on an ep, a-side or b-side, it will come into play when we discuss the album. It isn't going to mean the track is being avoided. The early to mid sixties was certainly the singles era, but we very rapidly move into the albums era, and from my perspective that is part of the focus here, to try and keep things balanced and somewhat formatted. As I said earlier, tracks that came out on expanded album editions, will be looked at when we look at the album. I'm not trying to be a pain here, but if we just go scattershot here, it's just going to become a mess. So let me know if you want me to pull the pin so someone else can take over. Cheers Mark
Suit reference continued........ When Ray wouldn't accept the finished recording of You Really Got Me at Pye for release the Suits would not let him record it there a second time & told him to re-record it elsewhere. The stipulation was that the band had to pay for it and Pye knew they were broke so perhaps thought it wouldn't even happen thereby allowing to issue their recording and if it stiffed probably dumping them. Early lesson: Never underestimate the single mindedness and will of Ray Davies!
I think you're doing a good job Mark. Apologies if my posting 'I Believed You' was out of line: the reason I did so was cos it's a 1963 demo from the same session as 'I'm A Hog For You Baby' and as we've already hit the second single, I didn't want it to get omitted before we moved too far on in the time frame ( in part because I do think it's one of their better pre fame tracks). I kind of intended it more as a footnote than as a major pointer to drive the discussion. Hope you understand. However if you'd rather I didn't post any tracks that you haven't already covered, I will completely understand. A long and involved thread like this does need rules in order to flow well and it can get too much of a mess if it's a free for all.
"You Still Want Me" - I agree with the person who mentioned comparisons to the Pacemakers or The Dave Clark Five. The best part is the chorus with Dave's backing vocals. "I know because the smile that's on your lips is for me / They were meant for me to kiss." That just doesn't sound like our Ray. He didn't hang out in that mindset as long as the Beatles did, which is good. I wouldn't skip the song as the chorus with Dave, as simple as it is, really helps it. "You Do Something To Me" - I prefer the A-side and even "Sally" to this. It seems like a ballad sped up too fast. The drums really pop and the "everything you say, everything you do" part is probably the highlight. Reminds me of "From Me To You" for some reason. Maybe the super-simple message. "For my heart is so true and I live just for you." Meh. It's ok. He's got this out of his system now.
It's cool mate, I actually do understand why you posted it. It can just sometimes lead to triggering landslides lol I did seriously consider following the recording sessions, because I managed to find the sixties sessions, but the sessions are somewhat alien to how the music was experienced in the real world. Essentially the sixties multiple formats with different songs popping up all over the place, and multiple times, is what can make looking through sixties discographies awkward, and I think we just need to settle on a methodology and stick with it, until the release patterns settle down somewhat. Sorry if I came across a little Rita Hayworth, melodramatic, or whatever, I just need it to be as orderly as we can make it ... no harm, no foul
