It's worth remembering that the UK chart was not a top 100 at this time. In the late '50s, I think it was only a top 12, which gradually expanded (and occasionally reduced) over the years. Without checking, I'd be surprised if there was more than a top 50 chart until well into the 1970s.
Might be of interest to some. dave davies - living on a thin line - resident Signed copies of Dave Davies' new autobiography.
We may be able to find out when Dave's new book arrives later this year! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-Thin-Line-Dave-Davies/dp/1472289773 I thought 'Kink' was a great read and the perfect 'other side of the coin' to Ray's then recently-published 'X-Ray', which I also thoroughly enjoyed.
Regarding the UK chart positions of Kinks albums (in the '60s at least), all you've got to remember is that the worse the album, the higher it got! I mean, it's almost cliched Kinks misfortune, a perversity of received wisdom if you like, that they would of course get less reward for achieving artistic greatness! Who'd have thunk that the way to the British record buyers' hearts was through covers of dodgy Shel Talmy songs with the word 'bald' in their title? (Mind you, again they were ahead of their time...even Mike Love had hair then!)
I remember seeing the UK Top Albums chart for the years 1965-1969 & the Sound of Music movie soundtrack was firmly ensconced in the Top 5 every one of those years.
"When Work Is Over" - What a fun song! Like @palisantrancho said, the guys sure sound like they are enjoying themselves. If this album wasn't so maligned, I'm sure we'd have heard some covers of this in the years since. Very enjoyable tune, super catchy and stands on its own.
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Thanks everyone, you make it all worthwhile. The work week’s over so taking today’s song to heart though I won’t wait until tomorrow’s song to have another, but at home, not down the pub. Like our headmaster I spent a lot of time in the pub and bars back in the day, but behind a set of drums, not the social scene. Playing for the nine to fivers and much laters, with me being one of them at the same time. Such irony is certainly not lost on Ray. A face in the crowd indeed. Mick’s drumming has been fantastic through all of the RCA albums and the better production of the last couple really drive that point home for me. He’s at his peak during this time IMHO. Same with Dalton and Gosling, great playing on all these albums throughout this era. All underrated. Tomorrow’s song though not so great on the production side but a great song nonetheless. Good luck to all the Avids in the Northeast US tonight. Looks like a helluva snowstorm coming your way.
When Work Is Over Mick & Dave stand out for me here along with Ray's line "Drinking helps us to forget what we are!" Having re-read recently re-posted interviews with 70's band members it seems they may have often wanted to forget who they were by having "another drink!"
Funny thing as I have never liked socializing in pubs however when holidaying in the UK in '93 I absolutely loved London pubs and socialising in them as opposed to an Australian boozer. Qualifier: I don't drink so that did not play into my preferences
I lucked in and somehow discovered this on the 1st day of the thread which was a first for me as the all encompassing Who thread was 30 pages in (i bailed around 40) and the extraordinary Stones one ended before I was a member so this is a unique real time experience. I didn't contribute on all tracks pre 1966 as i wasn't so familiar but i guess that didn't stop me later with bonus tracks, belated releases, demos & new (to me) albums!
Have Another Drink. stereo mix, recorded Aug 1974, additional overdubs done Oct 1974 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London Has everybody got problems? (yeah) Are you stuck in a deadend job? (right) Frustrated and dissatisfied? Are you on the edge of suicide? Terrorist bombers on the left, Fascist plots on the right. Mass destruction and homicide, Are you horrified and terrified? Such a shame. We've all got problems we know, There's one thing that's for sure, There's only one cure for all your hangups and all your depressions. Have another drink it'll make you feel better, Have another drink and you'll feel alright. If you feel down and you're under the weather Have another drink and you'll feel alright. (Repeat above four lines). Facts and figures. Filling out forms. Reading circulars. Dictating letters. Is your occupation Getting to your brain? Is there no relief? It's like a ball and chain. There's no need to get depressed, Worrying won't make it better. There's only one consolation I can recommend. Don't take my word for it, try it for yourself. Have another drink and you'll feel alright. Have another drink it'll make you feel better. Have another drink and you'll feel alright. Have another drink it'll make you feel better. Have another drink and you'll feel alright. If you're feeling down and you're under the weather, Have another drink and you'll feel alright. Have another drink it'll make you feel better, Have another drink and you'll feel alright. If you're feeling down and under the weather, Have another drink and you'll feel alright. Written by: Ray Davies Published by: Davray Music Ltd. For me this is another great song... We have moved from if you're feeling down and under the weather - have a cuppa tea, to hitting the booze ... The vocal arrangement here is great, with really well placed backing vocals, and responses to the main vocal. It somewhat gives the impression of a group of office workers sitting around bending their elbows. The first verse is some pretty decent dark humour... We open with the main premise of being in a dead end job, and then we stockpile the problems of the world on top of that.... and for many this is how they/we function. Get down about your own life, and then look out the window into the world and see the absolute turmoil and stupidity going on.... it is also a subtle reference to the Preservation albums. Ray seems to like somewhat linking things between albums. The chorus is a pretty straight forward and fun singalong... Interestingly .... I think a couple of folks have touched on the weather themed songs and such along the course of our journey.... I wonder how many drinking songs there are? The second verse dives into the actual job and is somewhat an inventory of the compounding dullness of office life, and work. Ray's vocal delivery on this track is pretty brilliant. We open with that upper range, somewhat intense delivery, then we move into a slightly inebriated delivery. I think we even get a little of that Shirley Temple voice from Look A Little On The Sunny Side, and I think that's intentional. This all seems to wash together to represent the somewhat schizophrenic nature of getting drunk as we slide through those different emotional and personality zones alcohol generally produces. We get spoken bits, and semi-spoken bits, and for me they all work really well. At the end of the second verse the lyrics say "Don't take my word for it, try it for yourself." but to me it sounds like "Don't take my word for it, ... right?" Whatever Ray is actually singing there, possibly my favourite part of the vocal here is the way Ray sings "Right?"... I love it, it's so full of character. I love this musically too. It is a sort of folk/country/rock hybrid. The song has this rolling feel, that suits the subject matter perfectly. There are so many great guitar parts in here.... I mean an awful lot. The rolling acoustic opening. The little harmony break in the verse. The melody riff in the second half of the chorus. The guitar responding to the vocal at the end of each line in the second verse. Around the Don't Take My Word For It, Right? section there is some nice little slide guitar bits hidden in there. The whole song is filled with highlights for Dave.... it's hard to imagine he didn't love doing this song. Again, I find it odd that one of the quotes I saw posted was someone saying that the songs weren't arranged really well, because I am hearing some fantastic arrangements on this album, and here again I hear an arrangement that is just fantastic. I wonder how frequently this song got played at concerts, because it seems like a perfect concert track, that could produce a lot of singing along from the audience. For me, this is a great side of music... and I want to say that these last three songs are just perfect, as songs, and as part of this narrative .... but then Ordinary People was great, I personally really like Rush Hour Blues ..... Oddly, even though I like the opening track, Everybody's A Star, and it was the single, it may be my least favourite track on side one. For me this is another winner. It works alone, and fits the narrative perfectly ... and this is the Kinks worst album from the seventies, or up to this point? interesting .... what a band!
This clearly doesn't have the brightness of sound of the previous tracks, probably because of the inebriated (to put it mildly) state of all involved. It sounds Ray and the boys (& girls) have deliberately gone "meta" once again, don't you think ? I see it as a key part of the track's infectious charm. This is the Kinks at their most "shambolic", so Dave's guitar has to be all over it, as Mark's just noted. You've got to love his doubled high & low lines, the open strings twang sound he gets, set against what somehow sounds like a mandolin, even though the instrument's not listed in the credits. The slide is also fantastic. As far as "drinking songs" are concerned, I think this tune's decidedly meant as a follow up to Have a Cuppa Tea, or as its direct complement : I always thought the Muswell track was a drinking paean in disguise, and this sequel of sorts puts it in evidence (down to quoting the "under the weather" expression). Meanwhile, the brilliant "We've all got problem" electric piano bridge (or pre-chorus) reminds us it's 1975 and of the Kinks/Bowie musical kinship. It also sustains the "suite like" structure started with Rush Hour Blues. But this track easily stands on its own and is on line with the band's tradition of climatic Side 1 closers. Well… ditto ! Dave's guitar tone(s) would be to blame, then… Two days ago, @ajsmith noted that Soap Opera has the last couple of "miniature baroque" tunes in the Kinks katalogue. To me, Have Another Drink's also a last hurrah. A farewell to arms to that "country pub" style that allowed them to create some of their most beautiful music ever. So yeah, I'll drink to that. A toast !
Oct 1963 - Nov 1966 Apr 1967 - Feb 1970 1965 Never Say Yes 1966 Trouble In Madrid Dave reviewing singles of 67 Nov 1970 Lola Vs Powerman And The Moneygoround The Contenders Strangers - live 1970 - Dave live Denmark Street Get Back In Line Lola - TOTP - video - alt version Top Of The Pops - video Moneygoround - mono This Time Tomorrow - 2020 mix A Long Way From Home - live 70's - Ray live Rats Apeman - video - alt stereo - alt mono - ToTP - Calypso - live 94 Powerman - mono - 2020 mix - live 70's Got To Be Free Anytime The Good Life 1971 Golden Hour Of The Kinks Feb 1971 Percy (movie) - trailer Mar 1971 Percy (soundtrack) God's Children Lola The Way Love Used To Be - Ray live Completely Running Round Town Moments - Ray live Animals In The Zoo Just Friends Whip Lady Dreams Helga Willesden Green God's Children Outro The Follower 1971 You Really Got Me - Mini Monster EP Nov 1971 Muswell Hillbillies 20th Century Man - single - Alt Instr - Ray live Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues - live 73 - John Peel Holiday - live 73 Skin And Bone - live 70's - Ray live Alcohol - live 75 - cartoon Complicated Life Here Come The People In Grey - live 72 Have A Cuppa Tea - alt version - live 72 Holloway Jail Oklahoma USA - Ray Live Uncle Son - Alternate Muswell Hillbilly Lavender Lane Mountain Woman Kentucky Moon Nobody's Fool - Cold Turkey(Kinks?) Queenie Dec 1971 Muswell Hillbilly EP 1972 Muswell Hillbilly single (Jap) Mar 1972 Kink Kronikles Aug 1972 Everybody's In Showbiz Here Comes Yet Another Day - live 74 - live 75 Maximum Consumption Unreal Reality Hot Potatoes Sitting In My Hotel - 76 remix Motorway You Don't Know My Name Supersonic Rocket Ship - fan vid - BBC live - band video - live Look A Little On The Sunny Side Celluloid Heroes - live 82 Top Of The Pops Brainwashed - Alt Mr Wonderful Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues - Alt Holiday Muswell Hillbilly - Alt Alcohol - Alt Banana Boat Song Skin And Bone Baby Face Lola Til The End Of The Day You're Lookin' Fine Get Back In Line Have A Cuppa Tea Sunny Afternoon Complicated Life She's Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina Long Tall Shorty History Sophisticated Lady January 1973 The Great Lost Kinks Album Apr 1973 One Of The Survivors/Scrapheap City (Ray Vocal) One Of The Survivors (single version) Ray's near death experience/suicide? The Kinks Live AT The BBC 1973 Oct 1973 Golden Hour Of The Kinks Vol 2 1973 The Time Song I'm Going Home Nov 1973 Preservation Act 1 Morning Song/Daylight - live 74 Sweet Lady Genevieve - Ray live - live 70's There's A Change In The Weather Where Are They Now? One Of The Survivors - Compile version - edit 1 - edit 2 Cricket - Cricket Money And Corruption/ I Am Your Man - Alt/ext Here Comes Flash Sitting In The Midday Sun - video Demolition - Peel sessions extras Village Green (Overture) Picture Book/People Take Pictures Of Each Other (live) May 1974 Preservation Act 2 Announcement Introduction To Solution When A Solution Comes Money Talks - Peel Sessions - Live 74 Announcement Shepherds Of The Nation Scum Of The Earth Second Hand Car Spiv He's Evil - Hippodrome 74 Mirror Of Love - Band Version - Hippodrome 74 Announcement Nobody Gives Oh Where Oh Where Is Love Flash's Dream (The Final Elbow) Flash's Confession Nothing Lasts Forever Announcement Artificial Man Scrapheap City Announcement Salvation Road Preservation Slum Kids - 1975 The Preservation concerts Providence Nov 30th 1974 Preservation Live - More live footage - Home movie footage Live - Midnight Special World Radio History May 1975 The Kinks Present A Soap Opera Everybody's A Star - Alt version Ordinary People - pt 2 live - live Rush Hour Blues - live Nine To Five When Work Is Over Have Another Drink Starmaker Tv Play Tv Play 6 of 7 parts Soap Opera tour Soap Opera Concert Winterland 1977 Ray On Wonderworld 2005 Thanksgiving Day Ray live on Conan Obrien Oct 2018 Dave Davies - Decade - interview If You Are Leaving (71) Cradle To The Grace (73) Midnight Sun (73) Mystic Woman (73) The Journey (73) Shadows (73) Web Of Time (75) Mr Moon (75) - Why Mick Avory Pete Quaife - interview - Kast Off Kinks - I Could See It In Your Eyes - Dead End Street Rasa Didzpetris Davies John Dalton
"Have Another Drink" Another great track to finish off the side one "suite" of sorts. Ray's clearly having fun with his lyrics and delivery and the band seems to be enjoying themselves thrashing away - what's not to like here?? If it is a throwback to the Muswell Hillbillies sound, then I have to say I prefer this iteration of it to the original. The lyrics in the first verse are also a bit of a throw forward to "Live Life" which is coming three albums down the line.
AFAIK it was only played as part of the 1975 full Soap Opera show and dropped thereafter. I'm not really surprised: 'Alcohol' already had the 'live booze anthem' slot covered so this would seem a bit redundant as a standalone I'd say. I always thought (as other have already alluded) that it was like a combo of 'Alcohol' and 'Have A Cuppa Tea' (the subject matter of the former set to the mood of the latter) while being inferior to both. It always felt a little redundant to the storyline too: I guess 'Have Another Drink' is more about the excitement of the rush to the pub and the first few drinks whereas 'Have Another Drink' is set in Deep Pub of communal inebriation a few hours later so it works that way, but the fact that the former already included the title of the latter as a hook and the same phrase just gets repeated again in this song gives it the debilitating effect, as Johnny Rogan observed of a 'drunken pub bore repeating himself'. The amount of time we spend in the pub is more tolerable on the album because it's more expansive with the 3 extra songs, but in 'Starmaker' with the reduced song count, I can't help but think this song is an irritating waste of precious screentime when it doesn't advance the plot at all and just repeats the information contained in the preceding song: in 'Starmaker' it just goes from this song to 'You Make It All Worthwhile' and the impression is that just one day has passed so to use contemporary critical parlance the pay off doesn't feel 'earned' at all, whereas on the LP (and stage show) with the inclusion of 3 extra songs the storyline can breath a bit more and there's the scope for the Starmakers time as Norman to appear to take place over a few weeks rather than a single day. A related aside: It's interesting that in the 'Starmaker' show that 'Have Another Drink' is largely given over to the female singer with the blonde bobbed hair to sing (anyone any idea who she is?: don't think she's one of the Kinks regular backing singers but I could be wrong).
Yea, I can see all that... I just think it would be a good fun live track. I could actually put together a good set list of songs from all the albums up to this point that would work as a thematic show, where this comes into the show early as the innocent/ignorant getting drunk for fun track, and then later on the show you would have Alcohol somewhat delivering the consequences of falling from enjoying a bit of a party, to being an addict, falling to pieces due to persistent over indulgence.
Yes it's somehow redundant but it was clearly meant that way. You go to the pub (bar) to have a drink and loosen up. And then you get another one and yet another one, that's where the party really gets going but also where it starts taking its toll. So it's about drinking too much but even more so, it's about being pushed to it : by stress, by other people, by conformism or some kind of social incitement to lose yourself in it and forget about the realities of your alienating life, like it's a brainwashing device (still one of Ray's main obsessions). It's a fun song while it lasts, but then Side 1's over, and everything changes. When Work Is Over would not suffice to bring this idea across and set up the second side, the wandering in the streets, the sad realization of the falseness of things, delusions and… ducks. Remember it's supposed to be the story of Norman creating a fantasy to help himself out of his day to day daze. Contrary to Alcohol, it's not a song about addiction but one about social drinking, or even alcohol as a sociological tool for control of the masses. It just occurred to me that it's not the Starmaker nor Norman singing this one but a weird entity, part greek chorus, part omniscient narrator, part devilish mind control.
Rush Hour Blues It's not blues, as in 'The Blues', but that sinking feeling on a Sunday afternoon, that another working week is just around the corner. Counting down the days to the next weekend, and to the romance of the next holiday... It's an OK song, not great in my opinion. It does it's job in the style that's intended. Nine To Five When Work Is Over Have Another Drink Despite how the track-listing shows these three songs, they are in essence a medley, and as such work rather well as they tell us about 'Starmaker' at his first day as 'Norman'. To be honest, I can't see him sticking with the job. 'Nine To Five' is good, and I particularly like the final, well, missing word! He's so desperate to get out at the end of the day that even the song can't be finished as the clock ticks around to 'five'. It would be a rather slight song if it didn't go straight into 'When Work Is Over'. If you've never been stuck in a dead end job, then you're very lucky! I do wish on occasion that I could just drop everything and walk out when it gets to finishing time. I'm thinking Raymond hasn't had a job in the real world! Then it's two songs 'down the boozer'. They're both as good as each other, and I can't choose between them. Both are great to sing along 'lustily' to after a few beers (I guess). Interesting lyrically too. It certainly used to be quite the culture to go to the pub/bar after work, although I guess much less so nowadays (unless working for the Government). The repetition of 'Have Another Drink' nicely conveys going back to have another drink. I worry for his liver if he sticks with this job... Three good (although quite slight individually) songs, but the sum of the three together, makes them greater than the sum of their parts.
