I hadn't read your review until now. I didn't need to even type up my take as I could just have done what I'm doing now and just write "ditto this".
Ah yes had not seen this for years. These guys didn't know it but with this stunt they were channeling Monty Python which is no mere blabber!
“Pressure” has a rock n roll Ramones vibe so I can see that one. I really don’t hear it on the other song. There are a couple more that may have some punk influence, but I’ll bring it up when we discuss the songs.
Prince Of The Punks This was one of my favorite tracks on One For The Road, my entree into the Kinks -- I dug Ray's deep voice in "but the music didn't seem to satisfy his needs". The studio version sounds a bit sketchy in comparison, but it's nice to hear the horns again. I think his put-down of Tom Robinson is grossly unfair, especially his throwing shade at his gay activism, which was legitimate (and gutsy for that era), but I still can't help enjoying the wordplay and Ray at his curmudgeonly best. And to this American it's an interesting look at how the British view class issues (a theme further explored in a track on the next album).
We’ll give Dave the last word here on “Prince Of The Punks”. In his autobiography ‘Kink’ he describes a situation at this time when the band Cafe Society (Robinson was a member) were rehearsing and waiting on Ray. Apparently there was some sort of co-production going on between members of both bands. Dave says Ray kept them waiting a very long time and that when he eventually arrived, Tom broke into an impromptu sarcastic version of “Tired Of Waiting For You” which was the end according to Dave. He goes on to say that Ray derives great pleasure from keeping people hanging on and waiting around, postponing decisions until the last minute. And the final quote from Dave on the topic: “He never openly admitted it, but I always felt it was Ray’s way of having a dig at Tom. What a couple of bitches.”
Well I'd rather be two hours early than six hours late. It's awkward on the phone.... particularly after some rather strong cocktails... so hopefully this works.... The Poseur. stereo mix, recorded 12-16 Jul, 1976 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London The Poseur's in town The Poseur's around Hey, it don't bother me, But there's a guy eyein' you He's watched you all night and he's looked you all over He got his eye on you But don't act like you're surprised Because that smooth-looking guy's undressing you with his eyes Look at him look you over He thinks he can win you over He'll flirt for a while, make passes and smile at you But he'll never come over 'Cause he's just a poseur Who thinks he's a Cassonova That dude standing over there He thinks he really looks cool The ladies think he looks smooth But he's rehearsed every move He stands in front of the mirror all day Now he's on display and he's so well routined We've all come here to dance but he's just here to be seen Look at him bossa nova Look at him move and sway But he's been practicing days to make his hair fall a certain way But he'll never come over 'Cause he's just a poseur Who thinks he's a Casanova Look at him bossa nova, yeah The Poseur's in town Yeah Written by: Ray Davies Published by: Davray Music Ltd. I'm sure we all either know or have seen the type of guy Ray is writing about here. The narcissist that would prefer to stand in front of a mirror and glory at how marvelous they are, feeling that if they enter a room, they must be the most fabulous person there. In Aus we would generally just use the term poser, but I guess this title gives it a little more pizzazz. Ray sets the scene by alerting someone that they're being eyed off by someone. He goes into a reasonable amount of detail about it, and finishes off by saying don't cat surprised or interested, because that is part of the game, and he isn't coming over, he is just stroking his ego with responses to the game. We don't really get much in the way of a story, or backstory, and the song never really reaches any kind of climax or resolve in terms of the lyrics, it's just a short character piece and sticks to the meat and potatoes of the character Ray is writing about. The thing that will make or break this for most is the music and the vocal delivery. We open with a sort of spy-type guitar lick, and move into a sort of funky feel, with a semi-reggae rhythm guitar. Mick is laying down a solid beat with some nice fills. It all rolls along nicely. Dave gets nearly a full minute of some nice sounding mellow lead guitar, while underneath Ray quietly sings those first two lines. The song changes a little as we enter the first verse. It takes on an almost Latin American feel in the rhythm section. The chords are changing thick and fast. It isn't that they are particularly weird chords or anything, just that Ray has set them up as a sort of rolling melodic theme, and the guitar is really pushing the rhythm, with the drums shuffling and the bass walking all around nicely. Ray has a somewhat straight vocal that at the end of each phrase almost moves into a Zappa sarcastic vocal, particularly the last word in the first verse. From there we head into what is essentially the chorus, that is based around the opening section. Then we move into what I assume is the bridge, and Ray really goes to town here.... the chords and vocal melody just go kind of crazy here ... it isn't bad or anything, but it just sort of feels like too much jammed into too small a space ... It has appeal, I'm not suggesting it isn't cool, it is just dramatically different from the rest of the song. Ray also slips into a sort of character vocal here. Then we move into what I am assuming is the chorus section that is a return to the opening theme. We get a snippet of shouty Ray, and then we get some chords stabs, the riff, and The Poseur is all over. This is a really unusual song. It is structured very differently, and although it fits together as a whole it is quite oddball in the way it is put together .... again not saying that's bad, it just is. In some ways, it seems like this is oddball enough to have been on Preservation Act 2. It takes some snippets of the then current trend of having a reggae style guitar, but the drums and bass give me more of a Latin American feel, and Ray is giving his voices a workout. It is short, it is somewhat odd and it makes a nice mix up to the other tracks, and so ends up being a good bonus track.
The Poseur is another excellent bonus track on the Sleepwalker reissue. Am I right in thinking that the sessions started off with this being the title track of the proposed album? Anyway, it's great and funny Ray makes another appearance - I really like the line about the guy practicing to get his hair to fall the right way.
The Poseur is so loose that it sounds like it could fall apart at any second but doesn't. Ray sounds a bit like Jagger one moment early in the song then Bryan Ferry (who was obviously influenced by 60s Ray) the next. There is a bit of a Roxy Music vibe to the track, not a bad thing at all. Oh, and Mick Avory adds some nice beats. It's slightly disco too. But it doesn't matter. This is a fun little song I like a lot. These outtakes sound more adventurous and spirited than many of the album tracks.
I wonder if it's due to the fact they clearly were part of a bigger concept and those concepts did indeed allow Ray to stretch out creatively ? I've never read anything substantial about the proposed "The Poseur" record and I really hope some of you will have information to share about that one. When I try to re-organize it all with some tracks that ended up on Misfits and the bulk of the Sleepwalker LP, I struggle to make any story line emerge. But like about half the tunes on Sleepwalker, these outtakes do work as a series of vignettes and portraits of the urban nightlife. See how I used those two excellent french words, vignettes and portraits ? I thought it would be on point for a song titled after another one of ours : "poseur". Now, I must say that we French could take offense here. This is quite a derogatory word and it’s disturbing to see it used in another language, as if said language could never come up with anything as vivid and on point as this French word describing a typical French attitude. True, we took "dandy" from you in return, but compared to "poseur", it's almost a compliment!! I'll add that in french, a "poseur" wouldn't stay in front of the mirror, he would definitely stand in the middle of the party and interact with everyone as if he was in front of a mirror, which is even worse. Well, I guess we deserve it after all… Speaking of the mirror, I love the bridge and the "He stands in front of the mirror all DAY" unexpected melody ascent. Fantastic stuff. Surprised Ray didn't do an accent, but the way he says “the poseur’s in town” to bookend the tune is absolutely delightful. He’s one of those performers whose own pleasure is a joy for the listener. He relishes singing this line, he acts it out, you can hear him having fun with it, and that does the trick beautifully. The music follows the usual genre-hopping logic (or absence of) displayed in those 76-77 sessions. They didn’t properly tackle disco on the nine titular Sleepwalker tunes so it’s almost reassuring to see they actually did it, probably quite early in the process. Well, not 100% disco perhaps, but it reminds me of a number of seventies TV cop shows soundtracks or of a few Rolling Stones funky jams, and I remember calling those "disco" when I was a kid. This tune's may be funny or slight, but it's no B-side material, not even a Sleepwalker outtake, it does sound like an important defining song of a different project.
These bonus tracks are better than most of the tracks on the album. Ray is playing to his strong points, one of which is character assassination! Mental images of the poseur doing the bossa nova are very satisfying. And the middle class punk affecting a cockney accent is amusing. Incidentally baloney (also spelt boloney) and bologna are both American. Generally speaking you eat bologna sausage but you speak baloney. You can even try to do both at the same time.
I was lucky to see them open for The Buzzcocks in 1978. "Another Girl, Another Planet" is an amazing song (later covered by The Replacements). They were definitely not a punk band.
"The Poseur" First time hearing this one as well, and I think it's more impressive than the last two day's tracks. For one thing it's memorable - I played it before going out shopping and it's still very much in my head over an hour later. There's a stylish vibe to it and the off-beat guitar gives it a reggae-ish feel (but not "cod reggae", which is what we have coming up on the next album). Ray's giving it plenty with his delivery again, and this one feels as much a part of a 70s mileau as "Dedicated Follower of Fashion" did of the 60s.
Funny that @mark winstanley mentions Zappa with regards to the vocal because I thought of "Broken Hearts Are For A**holes" from Sheik Yerbouti when I listened to this and lyrically, this song bears a certain resemblance to the Zappa song "Dancin' Fool" in its depiction of the title character. I doubt Ray Davies spent much time listening to Frank Zappa but it is sometimes uncanny the level of similarity (thematic or otherwise) between two pretty different musical entities making music at this time (the Zappa tracks I mention came out in 1978). "The Poseur" is certainly an interesting song and a kind of bookend to "Prince Of The Punks" - but Ray does come off as a bit cranky!
This song is good in places but doesn't sound finished to me, lyrically it's a bit banal. Where is that main riff from?
I agree with you here. Ray doesn't seem to know, exactly, what the term connotes. A poseur would not hang back from the action. This is sloppy, first-draft lyric writing--which I don't always mind from him. But this song isn't very winning.
The Poseur The Kinks teeter at the precipice of disco music, though they don't quite go all in. (We'd have to wait a couple more albums for that.) But it's perfectly appropriate, given that it's a sketch of a leering leisure-suited lounge lizard, the type that crawled all over discotheques in the late seventies. It's a bit of a trifle, but an enjoyable one; it's mildly funky and Ray's vocal is at Peak Mockery. Sort of a companion piece to Frank Zappa's "Dancin' Fool".
Of these three "bonus tracks" I really like The Poseur the best. The opening guitar made me think of REM's "Feeling Gravity's Pull" and then a bit of "Love is the Drug" Roxy Music groove. The drums really stand out for me.
