The Kinks - Album by Album (song by song)

Not entirely, but it's more of a struggle.

Nice, Im not familiar with either of these songs.

 

Does Ray perchance include a 13th floor?

 

Ha Ha - good question! Was Ray even familiar with the band? Not sure.

Getting ahead of ourselves here, but there may be some Art Lover in the lyrics of this demo.

 

New song to me. It’s ok given a couple listens, but again, not really enough to keep my interest and make me want to replay. Which is a bit surprising given I think this is a subject Ray really could have killed it. But as it is, just ok for me.

 

I’ve never bothered really thinking too much about those sessions. I just accepted the narrative, “back to basics, back to songs, Clive Davis asked for radio pop and Ray obliged” and never tried to over-analyze it. Ok, so Ray abandoned the theater stuff, he just writes a batch of songs in a very contemporary style and renews his band’s profile in America. I still figured the night-life theme was perhaps the result of an abandoned idea, with a few tunes “repurposed” as simple pop, as you're implying. But it’s starting to make sense in a slightly different way, with all the outtakes so far being connected to each other.
Lyrics-wise, the three of them – and probably Elevator Man too – could’ve been part of the same project, perhaps a proposed satiric musical revolving around a discotheque or some sort of club, Studio 54 style. Music-wise, they all come across as pastiche and possible stage numbers, with Ray doing his comedy act and funny stuff, which is all but absent on Sleepwalker. Interestingly, they’re are all set in an aggressive modern sound that prefigures what the band would eventually cook up for Low Budget (new-wavish disco, heavy riffs, Talking Head quirks, blues & synths), which would’ve been even more of a shock in the Kinks timeline, had they been released in 1977. It’s very surprising to realize Ray had already considered this evolution in sound and had at least half an album worth of it, three years before actually making that huge leap. It reminds me of the London places concept of 1967, eventually abandoned in favor of Village Green, resulting in orphan outtakes/b-sides like Lavender Hill or Berkeley Mews. Similarly, when The Poseur project was shut down, it seems to me the songs just got lost and were not repurposed to be included in the loose “insomnia” themed LP we know and yes, love, despite… well, despite all the things we've talked about in the last 50 pages (I’ve checked!) of our beloved thread. The two concepts may be connected (discotheque / insomnia) but it’s relatively easy to see how one idea could lead to the other, a bit like the never started (as far as we know) Lola part.2 gave way to the loose “life on the road” theme of Everybody’s in Show-biz. I'd like to know the date of the actual Arista signing. Anybody has it ? If we look at the official recording dates, it seems all the Poseur demos were done in May-July, and that none of the Sleepwalker ones were attempted before sessions reconvened in September that same year…

 

Speaking of Jack Bruce, the guitar intro in Poseur seems to be a variation of the Sunshine of Your Love riff.

I hear the melody for Superman chorus in the "look you over" lines and after the intro that opening riff morphs into the Secret Agent Man riff (or whatever 60s spy TV show theme they used for the Spy Hunter video game). I hear a bit of Superman in the chugging riff around the 2:00 mark too. There is a lot going on in this one.

Does anyone hear the melody of future track Good Day, including the harmonica breaks, in Artifical Light? Especially in the pre-chorus that starts around 1:00?

 

So far I'm coming up with this for my re-purposed Sleepwalker:

Side A:

Prince of the Punks
Life On The Road
Sleepwalker
Full Moon
Brother

Side B:

Father Christmas
The Poseur
Juke Box Music
Artifical Light
Mr. Big Man
Life Goes On

It's 11 songs but you could easily cut 30 sec off Brother, and probably 30 off Juke Box Music too plus editing outros here and there to fit 11 songs.

 

That's interesting that the recording sessions for Sleepwalker were divided like that. Also, I didn't know about a Poseur album concept.

 

[QUOTE="Fortuleo, post: 29070794, member: 59449] I'd like to know the date of the actual Arista signing. Anybody has it ? If we look at the official recording dates, it seems all the Poseur demos were done in May-July, and that none of the Sleepwalker ones were attempted before sessions reconvened in September that same year…[/QUOTE]

According to Doug Hinman's book, the Arista contract was formally signed on June 23, 1976 at the Dorchester Hotel in central London.

 

I don't think either "Prince of the Punks" or "Artificial Light" would fit on "Sleepwalker", they've got the same kind of jokey, throwaway feel as some of the songs on "Misfits", they just don't fit the mood of the album. "The Poseur" is miles better than "Sleepless Night" but sounds a bit half-assed and unfinished to me.

 

With a tenuous link to Preservation's Cricket, I was stunned to hear Shane Warne died on Friday..... a year younger than me.
One of the great leg spin bowlers, if not the greatest.... sad day for me

 

Superman is one of my favorites! I really didn’t pick up on the similarities, but I’m going to go back and listen now. And I don’t know Good Day yet but I’m looking forward to hearing it!

 

Clive surely had a word. As he was wont of saying, ‘If you want to send a message, use Western Union.’

 

The idea of this being a half-aborted half-concept album like Showbiz works, at least theoretically, and the concept that's peeping out goes very well with the album sleeve -- concealed faces in the dark.

 

The Poseur

First time hearing this one, and glad to see it is on the Picture Book box so it's actually on my streaming service to add it to my playlist. There is something very late 60s about this. I don't hear any proto-disco or anything to my ears. The spy-type mysterious riff makes me think of Austin Powers. Some of the vocal inflections do seem very Preservation Act 2. I also hear some Creeping Jean type-vibes in this too, particularly when the bass comes in after the opening riff. Agree it doesn't sound 100% finished, which I guess makes sense if it was scrapped or not finished for an actual release. What an interesting track.

 

The Poseur
Really enjoy this one. New to my ears until very recently. I'm having a lot of fun listening to it. Ray's crazy voices are in evidence. And they work perfectly. Sometimes I'm hearing a Sting-like vocal there. And I also hear some ska guitar which is quite welcome...as well as hearing a cutting room floor James Bond theme groove or as someone pointed out, that Sinatra tune. Nice bass as well.

Good stuff. 3 for 3 on the extras from this time period.

 

For anyone interested, here is a write up of the Nick Cave show, followed by some photos, and at the end a video of their Cosmic Dancer (T Rex) cover
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread

 

I really like that cover of Cosmic Dancer - it certainly adds some gravitas to the lyric! Hopefully there will be a reason for them to do a studio version one day.

 

Well, I forgot to turn my alarm back on, the write up I did for this song seems to have disappeared, and I'm running late and missed the boat.... So it's all in your capable hands today folks.

On The Outside.

stereo mix, 1977 mix, recorded 15-17 Sep, 1976 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London

You stay at home,
All on your own with nothing but walls to talk to.
You never go anywhere,
You say you've nothing to wear,
So you keep all your troubles inside of you.
There's something hidden in you,
And you keep it out of view.
You shouldn't feel any guilt,
Or have any doubts,
You gotta let yourself out whilst there's something left of you

Hey baby blue,
Don't hide your troubles inside.
I'd sure like to knoe you,
And there's so much to show you on the outside.
Somehow I know that we are goona get by,
So stop acting like a ladfy come and cry like a baby on the outside
Outside
I know that the weather is fine,
Outside
I know we're gonna be alright.
Somehow I know that we are goonna survive.
So stop acting like a lady come and cry like a baby on the outside
On the outside


You think you're a freak,
And you're afraid to compete,
In a world that you thinks got it down on you,
You're a closet queen,
You think it's obscene,
To let the people see what's deep inside of you.
I know what you're going through,
But what you are is nothing new,
So don't feel ashamed
'Cos you're not to blame,
Role up the blinds and let the sun come shining through.

Hey baby blue
Don't hide your troubles inside,
You should be glad in the gay,
Nobody cares anyway on the outside.
Somehow I know that we are gonna get by,
So stop acting like a lady come and cry like a baby on the outside.
Outside
I know that the weather is fine
Outside
I know it's gonna be alright.
Somehow I know that we are gonna get by,
So stop acting like a lady come and cry like baby on the outside.
On the outside
On the outside

Written by: Ray Davies
Published by: Davray Music/Carlin Music

A really interesting track where Ray is addressing a crossdressers shame at being themselves.
I like the music here too.

 

On The Outside - remix

stereo mix, 1994 mix, recorded 15-17 Sep, 1976 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London

 

Without @Mark's introduction, I feel like a kid who's lost his parents in a supermarket ! Can we call security, so they can do an announcement on the intercom and we get our opening write-up anyway ?

 

At the outset of this track, it sounded like a Steely Dan record to me! Lyrically, Ray expresses sentiments far more tolerant of his subject than, say, "Prince Of The Punks", and such views were pretty progressive for 1976. But Ray has always looked kindly on outsiders probably because he has always felt like one himself. Musically it is well played and Ray sings it well but it is not really in my wheelhouse musically though I certainly appreciate the musicianship etc.

 

Lol
If I get a chance, I will be writing something.... the morning has been compounding disasters so far lol

 

"On The Outside" A nice sounding track. Ray's voice sounds mannered like on Soap Opera. The acoustic guitar solo is a nice touch, however the solo ends in capitulation rather than culmination. But it's clear that he wrote that without a clear idea driving the composition, instead it's a band searching for a song and finding it. This is typical for most of the Sleepwalker songs. Those bonus tracks outtakes make it all the more clear, that Ray wrote these songs with an open mind, open for the band to jam onto, and why not.

 

I came across a song called The Shirt this morning...... it seems there is no information as to when it was recorded.... it sounds like it is somewhere around this era though.....
Any ideas?
@ajsmith ?