Chosen People I found this one on vinyl in a second hand shop in 1999. It's the US pressing - how that ended up a second hand record shop in Southend I don't know, but that's how it is. Over the years I haven't listened to this one as much as the previous two. Partly because it was on vinyl, which made it less likely to get played in those days (the opposite would be true now), but also because I didn't initially like it as much as the other two. Kind of more of the same, only not quite as good. It was noted that the production quality was significantly improved on Glamour, and the production becomes even more sophisticated on Chosen People - to the extent that the pudding gets seriously over-egged in places. There is a higher proportion of ballads on here, some of which get quite gloopy with layers of synths being joined by strings. The more uptempo tracks tend to follow a formula that is becoming familiar by now - an intro going into a melodic verse section that has no connection to the intro, followed by another abrupt change of section, and possibly another, before going into a chorus which may or may not be connected to the intro. The songs are generally shorter than before - most are under four minutes with a few even going under three minutes - but there are three more of them than usual. I hear fewer nods to new wave at the expense of more in the direction of soft rock. The usual lyrical concerns are addressed here in the usual vague manner, but there are some even stranger lyrical turns here. Discussing the title track will be interesting. There are some tracks here which are probably better than I give them credit for, and they may come across better approached individually than within the slightly sickly-sweet melange of the album. In truth this is probably a more accessible album than the other two, and may prove more popular on here, but I feel that Glamour is where Dave hit the sweet spot, and this album goes just a bit too far past it. This may help to explain some of the lyrics - Dave mentions the below in the album credits: Aetherius Society - Wikipedia
Chosen People I have listened to this album twice now. For the moment I like it better than State of Confusion. We'll see.
This is a rare case where I disagree with you. There are a few other future songs which come into the conversation. But I’d rate Living on a Thin Line in 1985 as good as any Kinks song since 1970.
Never heard Chosen People either. I'll do it on a day by day basis. Two or three songs at a time… Hard work, but it's gonna be fun. It always is. Massive Reductions: with the heavy synth and big drums, it starts like a E-Street band Born in the USA outtake/ bootleg (if they'd cover Summertime Blues during the sessions). There's a bit of Elton John thrown in as well (the "goodbye my big house/big car" melody reminds me of a hooky bit from a Single Man tune, Madness I think it was called) and there's a bit of Supertramp's Child of Vision in the pounding keyboards in the same section, proof that Ray was still listening to the music around (the Elton and Supertramp tracks were both released in 1979 I think). Whatever. Could be two coincidences as well… The fact that the lyrics were even more accurate in 1984 than 1981 tells a lot about the social situation in the eighties… As for this thread probably reaching the 1000 pages mark during the week-end… we should all be very proud of it. @Mark, I thought you'd organized everything to reach this landmark while we were discussing Better Things, just like we got to the 500th during the Oklahoma USA deep dive… A little miscalculation on your part, then ?? Getting sloppy ? Nah, just kidding, I'll say it's close enough… Looking forward to our collective celebration!
Oct 1963 - Nov 1966 - Kinks get a haircut Apr 1967 - Feb 1970 1965 Never Say Yes 1966 Trouble In Madrid Lincoln County promo video Nov 1970 - Jun 1976 Lola, Percy and the Apeman.... 1974 Ray interview Ray Interview with Studs Terkel 1969 The Kinks Move To Arista Records Feb 1977 Sleepwalker Life On The Road - OGWT 77 - ITV 78 Mr Big Man Sleepwalker - Mike Douglas - OGWT - Supersonic - SNL - Outtake Brother Juke Box Music - single - OGWT Sleepless Night Stormy Sky - OGWT 77 Full Moon - live 77 - Ray live Life Goes On - OGWT 77 Artificial Light Prince Of The Punks The Poseur On The Outside - remix Elevator Man Kinks Live Feb 1977 Ray acoustic Apr 77 Kinks Old Grey Whistle Test show 77 Kinks Live Dec 1977 Christmas Concert 1977 The Pressures Of The Road Nov 1977 Father Christmas - video - live 1977 - tv promo - Dave live May 1978 Misfits Misfits - tv 1978 Hay Fever - live? Black Messiah Rock And Roll Fantasy- the hotel room - live Paris 1978 In A Foreign Land Permanent Waves Live Life - US version - UK tv Out Of The Wardrobe Trust Your Heart - live 1979 Get Up 1978 The Misfit Record EP Lola live in the hotel room UK tv 1978 The Misfits Tour Live in Paris 1978 Sept. 1978 20 Golden Greats Jul 1979 Low Budget Attitude Catch Me Now I'm Falling - remix - alt mix - The Late Man, Sea Cows In Love Mix Pressure - live 1983 National Health Superman (ext. mix) - single/album mix - ext fan mix - video - straight mix 12" Low Budget - Extended mix - Live 89 - Ray Live In A Space A Little Bit Of Emotion A Gallon Of Gas - Live in 1982 - Full US single version - Alt mix Misery Moving Pictures studio outtakes Hidden Quality Duke Nuclear Love Maybe I Love You Stolen Away Your Heart Mike Konopka Restores the Kinks for the Velvel Reissues The Low Budget interview Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Aug 1974 Live At Cobo Hall Ray On Wonderworld The Kunks Ray on the Stones Compilations part 1 The Kinks (France 78) Dave Davies - AFL1-3603 Where Do You Come From Doing The Best For You Visionary Dreamer Nothing More To Lose The World Is Changing Hands Move Over See The Beast Imaginations Real - Dave live In You I Believe Run Wild Man June 1980 One For The Road - The Concert Video - The 1979 Setlists - Cover analysis - album review Opening/Hardway - Hardway video Catch Me Now I'm Falling - video Where Have All the Good Times Gone - video Lola - video Pressure - video All Day And All Of The Night - video 20th Century Man Misfits Prince Of The Punks Stop Your Sobbing Low Budget - video Attitude - video Superman - video National Health Till The End Of The Day Celluloid Heroes - video You Really Got Me - video Victoria - video David Watts Slum Kids 79 live July 1980 The Live EP - Promo EP 1980 Waterloo Sunset EP Live at the Palladium 1980 1981 The Kinks - What's It All About? Jul 1981 Dave Davies Glamour Is This The Only Way? Glamour Reveal Yourself World Of Our Own Body Too Serious Telepathy 7th Channel Eastern Eyes 1981 Chorus Girls Aug 1981 Give The People What They Want Around The Dial - live 1982 - extended intro Give The People What They Want - video - extra verse Killer's Eyes - live 1982 Predictable - video Add It Up - live 1982 Destroyer - tv show - YRGM/Destroyer Don Lane Show -ext mix? - vimeo Yo-Yo - live 1982 - Tokyo 1982 Back To Front - live 1982 Art Lover - live 1982 - alt version - SNL 1981 A Little Bit Of Abuse Better Things - Kast-Off Kinks, with Ray - single - live - TOTP 94 b-side Massive Reductions Compilations part 2 1981/82 1981/82 Tour Ray And Chrissie Postcard From London Rockpalast concert 1982 US Festival Ray On Wonderworld 1983 Dave Davies - Chosen People Live In Frankfurt in 1984 Kinks live TOTP 1994 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 Islands (78) Give You All My Love (78) Within Each Day (78) Same Old Blues (78) This Precious Time (78) Rob Kopp has made his 1999 Kinks discography 'Down All The days Till 1992' US Chart Stats The Music Industry Machine Mick Avory Pete Quaife - interview - Kast Off Kinks - I Could See It In Your Eyes - Dead End Street Rasa Didzpetris Davies John Dalton John Gosling Jim Rodford Ian Gibbons Andy Pyle Gordon Edwards Clive Davis
lol Well how about for now, we just make Sunday the Honourary 1000 pages day, and even if we haven't quite reached it, if folks have anything particularly to say in reviewing where we are and where we have been, we will probably reach it tomorrow.... and whoever posts the 1000 page changeover post, gets a pack of Spangles ..... :/
While it is Saturday, I figure I might posts the first three tracks off Dave's album, to give folks more chance to absorb them?
Tapas. stereo mix (1:57), recorded Jun-Jul 1983 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London Interestingly Tapas are an appetiser or snack in Spanish ... and perhaps that is what this functions as. We open with synth pads and what sounds like distant machine gun fire, an explosion and it is an atmosphere setting intro. We also have a sort of chanting in the background as well. Then we get a nice rich distorted guitar come in for a repeated two chord stab, and we break into a drum and percussion stomp, and everything is pumping along nicely. Then a nice melody guitar comes in ... I guess it had an early eighties sound, using various things that were well known back in the day, but it doesn't sound like it is doing anything but its own thing really. We get some variations and some lead bits, and some rhythm bits, and it motors along nicely.... Nearing the end we get a somewhat discordant tone come in over the music and then we punch back out of the track on an unresolved chord. I reckon it's actually a really neat opening to the album.... I suppose, depending on where we are going.
I'm so happy to see Better Things get the praise I think it richly deserves. Our host gave us a tremendous review and reflection on this song. For me it truly is a blessing and a song that can be a sacrament. Some music does that for me and this is one of those songs. Better Things is one of my very favorites by any artist. And I do hear and feel a connection to another Kinks song that hits me the same way in Days. Musically, it has kind of a lo-fi sound that I really like. Sort of "live in the studio" or "demo-ish" and its perfect! This song and a couple of others on the record sound like something The Pretenders might have done in this same era. I listened to the album loud again yesterday while running the road and got into Back To Front a little more. Overall, it doesn't have the consistency of "Low Budget" but it has several high points and for me Better Things transcends the whole album and lifts us out of the cynicism, anxiety and darkness that run through "Give The People What They Want".
Charity. stereo mix (3:59), recorded Jun-Jul 1983 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London Charity, all the world really needs is charity We're living in a dream I'll plead with you all till it tears me apart. Is this all that we want? Is this all that we really are? Turn away if you want, turn away if you like, For the rest of your life, every day every night, In your house and your car, yes I know who you are. Can you not hear the world in its pain trying to call to you? Oh, oh, charity, we're living in a dream. Charity, can't fool me with your vanity. I've seen what's in your heart. I'll plead with you all till it tears me apart. Is this all that we want? Is this all that we really are? Will our hearts ever change, does it sound so strange? When people touch[?] children cry, can you not wonder why? In your own little world, can you not say a word? Try to help someone else on this earth besides yourself. Oh, oh, charity, we're living in a dream. Charity, can't fool me with your vanity. I've seen what's in your heart. Charity, all the world really needs is charity. Is this all that we want? Is this all we really are? Written by: Dave Davies Published by: Dabe Music, Ltd. Charity means a few things - an organization set up to provide help and raise money for those in need. - the voluntary giving of help, typically in the form of money, to those in need. - kindness and tolerance in judging others. - Archaic - love of humankind, typically in a Christian context. Sadly Christians have often failed at that last one, instead standing on pedestals of self-righteousness, seemingly not understanding the heart/book they are supposed to be directed by. I think really Dave is looking at all of the last three here... There is a time to give love, a time to give food, and a time to set aside judgement and just be kind and tolerant ... sadly it is, seemingly less and less frequent in a society that encourages "looking out for number one", and then the various forms of self righteous virtue signalling nonsense we see ever more present. It can be difficult to draw a line of what and how much, but if we are living well to some degree, there should be at least the ability to show loving kindness. I have no wealth to speak of, and actually find myself in financial trouble at the moment, to be honest, but that doesn't mean I won't give someone some food, or drink, or clothes I'm not wearing... It comes on all levels... Even just not giving the kid with the weird hair and clothes a dirty look is a good start ... To some degree Dave is speaking against capitalism extremism here, and I can see that, but we also need to balance off what overindulgence is... Many folks in the "Western World" like to talk about the one percent, and they mean in their country, but the simple fact of the matter is, the actual one percent is pretty much everyone in the "Western World" .. we rationalise an awful lot to reach conclusions we're comfortable with, and won't cause us discomfort. I'm guessing this may come off as a little preachy for some folks, but it is a pretty coherent lyric to me, particularly being from Dave. It's probably a bit much to suggest that people with a house and a car should feel guilty or whatever, for their house and car, with it being an essential thing ... I actually looked up the three essential things for life, and that brought up a whole lot of goofy crap ... but, food, water and shelter were always the essentials, but I think it is actually four, companionship is another ... It's been a long time since I looked at that stuff.... So yea, a house is actually an essential, unless we deck out a local cave, that the government will kick us out of for trespassing lol ... But anyway... It's a solid lyric from Dave, and I like the angle he takes, even if I think he gets slightly carried away .... emotional investment will always do that. The music is pretty good too, on the dense side, but good. We open up with what sounds like a ton of layered guitars, and burst into the chorus.... The chorus is a close relation to the song Glamour. The verse chills out a little in the density department, but we have a synth in there I think. I quite like the structure and writing for this song, but it seems so dense... I think in this instance the density of layers is slightly detrimental to the song.... but I am just listening on computer speakers here, so on a proper stereo it may have more sonic space. On the whole I think this is a pretty good start to the album.
Mean Disposition. stereo mix (2:34), recorded Jun-Jul 1983 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London You got a mean disposition, You got no inner vision, And you're cruel in addition. I can tell by the way you look, I can read you like a book. Oh, you're out there on your own, Without friends to call your own. Remember the days, When we thought they would last for always. Life full of dreams, And we really believe that they come true some day. You got a mean disposition, But no goal or ambition. Oh, you're out there on your own, With no place to call a home. Remember the days, When we thought they would last for always. Life full of dreams, And we really believe that they come true one day. Whatever happened to the man With a future and a plan? You got a mean disposition Toodoodoo doodoodoo doodoo Toodoodoo doodoodoo doodoo You got a mean disposition, You got no inner vision, And you're cruel, oh yes you are! Written by: Dave Davies Published by: Dabe Music, Ltd. This is an interesting dis song.... Hmmm I wonder who he may be talking about? ... Someone he has had a close relationship with. Together they worked closely and it seemed like it would last forever. Now though he thinks they have no vision and they are cruel, with a mean disposition..... This song is pretty short, and it grooves along nicely with a few nice riffs and changes. Big big drum sound. This is a actually a pretty cool song, and I like how the sections fit together here. I'm not generally a big fan of eighties handclaps... Cool riffing and nice changes. There is a lot to like about this one. We open with a nice arpeggio and then slide into a sort of moderate rock type song. I really like the layered rhythm guitars here, and the set up a nice groove, and Dave has been a little lighter handed in putting it together. What I assume is the chorus, leans more towards a pop style arrangement, and again works well. After a couple of verses and choruses we go back to the opening arpeggio and Dave does a bit of spoken word vocal, and we bounce back into the chorus. This is a pretty cool song, and I could see this growing on me
As I say, I don't know any of this stuff, but it seems like these three are probably the rockiest songs on side one, as memory says that this side didn't seem particularly Dave-rock
GTPWTW recap This is an album I will always love, rightly or wrongly. Killer’s Eyes takes a few steps up while Destroyer takes a few back. Back To Front remains the bottom feeder, the one track to skip. The Kinks were the first band to make me want to investigate them further. This was the first album I purchased with my own money, waiting in line with my big-boy pants on. Other than hand-me-downs; a couple latter-day Elvis lp’s, Steve Martin, C.W. McCall!!(who I find out only now, as I type this after googling his name for spelling, that he has just passed on, this April 1st, birth name William Dale Fries; and one more irreplaceable strip of my childhood falls away). But the Kinks were mine all mine. I poured over the cover, Ray’s profile and shades, the scratchy font, the sleeve of liner notes and snapshots. It was all so new, so foreign; the smell of the vinyl, the circumference, the spindle hole (not now, @All Down The Line). That futuristic Arista logo. My parents must have thought it some scholarly pursuit, my dogged determination to catch every word, to grok every turn of phrase (spangles?, red under my bed?). How can one be objective of one’s first love? Time, that’s how, the great leveler, and, forty years on, I can conclude thusly: Age Rating 12 9 20-52 6 53 7
'Mean Disposition' had the rare accolade (for a Dave solo tune) of having a narrative video made to promote it. It's about the most basic 'story' imaginable: Big bully throws his weight around, then gets his comeuppance. Fin. All set in that kind of washed out early 80s London suburbia that Madness videos inhabited (although much less entertaining that their mini masterpieces).
Interestingly, the big bully guy in the 'Mean Disposition' video also appears as a pneumatic drill operator in the (again much better) clip for Captain Sensible's 'Wot' from the previous year,. (and this won't be the last time I'll be comparing Dave and The Captain in this thread!)
I thought the sleeve art for the first 2 Dave solo records were pretty neat, but the cover art of Chosen People looks like the jacket of a mail order David Icke tome, or something the Jehovah's Witnesses would put through your letterbox.
Some quick notes on today's three tracks: "Tapas" A fairly nondescript instrumental to start the album. The main thing I note about it is how it doesn't quite sound right - too boxy? Not enough bass? Not sure, but it sounds very 80s. "Charity" This does bear quite a resemblance to the title track of Glamour, in its strutting heavy rock style. There is a little bit of the "All Day And All Of The Night" riff poking its head above the parapet between the chorus and the verse. Of all the tracks on this album, this one is probably closest to the first two albums in its sound and structure, with lots of different sections and melodies which just about hang together. "Mean Disposition" Really nice acoustic intro, which then gives way to the main rock riff and the chorus(?) which is a bit ordinary. The "Remember the day..." verse(?) section is the highlight of this song, with a much more distinctive melody. We get a brief reprise of the intro, then return to the main theme and the song is over quite quickly. it's pretty well put together but doesn't leave much of an impression on me. Although it's tempting to think so, I don't think Ray is the subject here. I'm probably comparing both of these last two songs unfavourably to the previous two albums, and Glamour in particular. If I hadn't already known those albums so well, I would probably be more impressed by these tracks, but as it is they don't seem like enough of a progression from what has come before. Three of the remaining four tracks on Side One are definitely more on the soft/ballad side.
ok, new theory! Ray originally wrote it as a sarcastic song but it had some different lyrics and was called Bitter Things. Then he thought better of it and made it sincerely positive.
Ok, so having now gone through side two.... for me I reckon side one shows promise, and then before recording side two Dave dropped some acid
