Both of the sides of this single -- which wasn't all that successful in the US -- wound up on the One For The Road setlist, fifteen years later. Which suggests that Ray regards these songs very fondly. And with good reason -- they're both superb. Till The End Of The Day -- Power-chord nirvana. An extension of their early hard, gritty sound, but it doesn't feel like a retread at all -- the song sounds as fresh and dynamic as anything they've ever recorded. It's Dave's show every bit as much as Ray's, as his guitar swarms all over the melody. When I retired from my job last June, this was the song I blasted as I drove off the corporate parking lot for the last time. Where Have All The Good Times Gone -- Another scorcher -- the opening riff is similar to the A-side, but more downbeat, which tells us what's coming -- instead of let it all down and party and enjoy life, we now get a lecture about where this hedonism might lead us. The instrumental crescendos right before the choruses and Dave's harmonies lift this record to the next level. I concur with the consensus -- this is the Kinks' best single to date, combining the relative strength of both sides.
What a fantastic 45 we have here! Incredibly glad both these tracks ended up on Kontroversy, as they fit here perfectly (unlike the "hits" on the albums either side which sound far more polished than the rest of the tracks). Everyone has summarised what makes Till The End of The Day so perfect - it's using those YRGM chords, but here everything is repuposed absolutely perfectly. The chorus with those BVs soars, and that intro is an instant attention grabber. It doesn't constantly push forward as well as the first two riffers, but that also helps set it apart. Definitely a key track in the development of that Power Pop sound. Rock Perfection. As for Where Have All The Good Times Gone, we get a solidly similar kick off, but there a very different track that pairs perfectly. The similarities to LARS I'd never noticed, but now can't unhear, as that's what makes it so good. Dave's vocal on the chorus rips up with Ray's, and gives it that quintessential Kinks sound. There's nothing else I can add on the other comments, other than this 45 is easily the best value for money you could pick up for a 60s 45. And that Pink Pye label? Always a favourite.
Live 'Where Have All The Good Times Gone' from the 'One For The Road' video. I know we'll get to this live album in due time, but AFAIR the live versions on the video are different from the takes chosen for the album . Also this clip is notable for the insertion of a lot of archive Shindig! footage to get across the reflective nature of the song, so it's almost a belated quasi promo video. Anyway, I think it's worth adding to show how the song came across when it was revived as a live regular during the stadium years.
Ray is sometimes credited with pioneering the concept album -- he was certainly an early adopter of the idea. But was this 45 the first concept single?
No. We mentioned it a week or so ago, but "Tired of Waiting for You" b/w "Come In Now" can make a better argument for that. Both songs have the exact same topic, but one from Ray's side and one from Dave's.
Definitely the best complete one-two punch the group has put out so far.... two fantastic, enduring classics! Till the End of the Day Okay, so one chord progression is a rehash of All Day and All of the Night (and in a similarly titled song no less), but who cares. This is klassic Kinks through and through. Where Have All the Good Times Gone Maybe even better than the last. Well, not even maybe. I loved this song from the start, ant it never loses its effect even after almost five decades. This is the ultimate Kinks kombination: we get the monster power chords and in-your-face proto-punk attitude and delivery combined with a more mature and thoughtful set of classic Ray Davies lyrics. A truly unbeatable kut!
Till The End Of The Day - This has been on my Kinks playlist ever since I first really got into them a bit in college. I'm not sure how I stumbled upon it, as it wasn't as big of a hit as YRGM and All Day and All of the Night. But stumble I did, and I love it. Musically, it's perfect power-pop and I don't see much "re-writing" of those previous power chord hits. It stands very well on it's own. My only gripe is that the title/theme is so similar to All Day and All the Night. Like, yeah, get it, there's 24 hours a day, divided into two parts (day/morning,end of day/night). Other than that, I think this shows Ray's improving songwriting. This right here! I love the interplay of the singing of the guitar. And this section: Yeah, you and me We live this life From when we get up Till we go sleep at night Is that considered a bridge, or a pre-chorus? Whatever it is, the transition to this section is just perfect, while the riff changes rather dramatically. But it just works and flows so well. Where Have All The Good Times Gone - This one was never on my Kinks playlist for whatever reason. I never really explored these early records. I just got into it the past couple weeks to prepare for this thread, and this seems like the obvious other standout from this LP. The first thing I noticed is that the verses are very Bob Dylanesque, but the chorus and chords are pure Kinks. As for the lyrics, this was recorded in October 1965, right? Are these digs at the Beatles "Yesterday" and "Help" (released August 1965) and Stones "Time is On My Side" (released January 1965): Yesterday: Yesterday, Love was such an easy game to play Help: Help me get my feet back on the ground Time is On My Side WHATGTG has these lines: Time was on my side and I had everything to gain Let it be like yesterday.... Well, yesterday was such an easy game for you to play But let's face it things are so much easier today... Guess you need some bringing down And get your feet back on the ground Coincidence? Anyway, great fun song. That chorus is just infectious.
Ah yes, I was drafting my post while you posted about the Beatles/Stones lyrical connections. You nailed it.
When played out like that, it seems like no coincidence and a pretty solid dig. Gotta love it even more now.
I don't know why this is so visually pleasing to me, but it is. Also, shouldn't the title be " 'til The End of The Day "? I wonder if that was Ray or the Pye Art department and their regular poor grammar?
Just an outstanding single on both the A and B sides. The intro is so cool they used to play it at the start of the show and Ray would say "Thank you very much for coming, goodnight (it's on the Showbiz reissue) as if to say we haven't got anything better than that to give you. The whole song is so simple, so powerful, such a feel good blast of Kinky goodness. Also love the calypso-reggae arrangement on One for the Road. Where Have All The Good Times Gone came out at the height of flower power Swinging London. Who else but Ray would ask where are the good times in the middle of all that?
Yea, I am no English Lit. Student, but my understanding is 'til and till are essentially both acceptable variations. If course till is also an old cash register, and soil cultivation.... gotta love the English language
It’s incorrect if, like me, you think it’s used in that sentence as a shortened form of ‘until.’ If it is meant to ‘till the earth until dusk,’ then that’s a different story!
I think part of the reason that Bowie was drawn to cover this song is that with these subtly woven in references to Ray's contemporaries, 'WHATGTG' is one of the earliest meta pop songs, commenting on the form itself, and not in a celebratory Roll Over Beethoven/Sweet Soul Music way, but in a more removed, post modern (hate to resort to using that term, but I do think it fits here) manner: an approach that Bowie had already been expanding on and making his own for a few years when he recorded this song for Pin Ups. I think in both cases, these artists were forced into seeing the 60s pop scene in this kind of way by circumstance: Bowie cos he never made it in the 60s even though he was around for all of it: Ray because of his innate skepticism about the 60s while being in it's midst, and a sense of feeling rejected by things like the US ban and the nascent pop/rock aristocracy.