Monday, 23 November 2015

The Kinks: The Best Unreleased Songs 1963-1992 (Ish!)





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Something odd has happened in the land of the Kinks recently dear readers (a place filled with Village Greens, Phenomenal Cats and Kontroversy). Ray Davies, infamously scrooge-like in terms of offering fans titbits from his vast vaults, seems to have had a bit of a re-think. Not only have we had decent single disc sets featuring all of The Kinks Katalogue up to 'Word Of Mouth' in 1984 (no such luck with the 'London' label recordings as yet), we've had deluxe double disc sets of all the Kinks' 60s albums, plus a mammoth six disc box set (typically Kinks, it arrived twenty years after everyone else's with twice as much stuff) and even an epic box set dedicated solely to the BBC sessions. Has perfectionist Ray Davies seen the error of his ways and realised how much his fans love his unfinished masterpieces in progress? Has he come to terms with the fact that this chance to peek behind the production curtain reveals more, not less, of the magic we've come to expect from The Kinks? Well, no, sadly. Probably the recent flurry of re-releases has more to do with money, after a difficult twenty odd years for both Davies brothers which even a hit musical and a few choice Kinks Kompilations can't make up for. Had this list of the best unreleased Kinks recordings been drawn up even a decade ago it would have been double the size of our regular series, notwithstanding the close eye The Kinks have always kept on their work (there are surprisingly few bootlegs dedicated to the band compared to their contemporaries for this reason). However there's still much to talk about, from abandoned songs that still haven't seen the light of day yet, to unedited cuts of songs strangely absent from the CD re-issues to songs written for film and TV scores, a real Kinksize feast of delights in fact (for once on our list there aren't any BBC sessions as The Kinks are about the only AAA band to have released practically everything that's survived the years intact!)

As ever with this series the usual caveats apply: this is not a complete list of lost recordings out there but a choice sample; we've only included releases by the whole band, not one of the Davies brothers (although debate still surrounds how some of Ray's extra-curricular 60s work should be credited) although we've stretched this rule for something interesting from the 'golden period' and sadly we don't write about many of the many juicy titles discussed in various Kinks books out there, for the simple reason that we can't review what we haven't heard ('Face To Face' alone could have been a double LP!) However we know that all of these recordings exist because we've heard them, with our own two ears. And who knows, perhaps one day everyone might get the chance to hear them, with a 'second' 'Picture Book' perhaps or even a standalone rarities set ('Kinks Kast Offs' perhaps?!) 

1) Oobadiooba (Unreleased Ravens Demo, c.1963)

Nobody seems to know about this fascinating early recording, usually attributed to 'The Ravens', the early prototype of The Kinks of Ray, Dave and Pete that existed i 1963. Even Youtube doesn't have a copy of this song at the time of writing, though it has appeared on a few choice bootlegs. A very early 60s silly song, which sounds like something 'Manfredd Mann' would do, you can also hear an early appearance of the melody that will become the first album instrumental 'Revenge' with Ray's fierce harmonica set against Dave's heavy guitar riffing. Ray hasn't quite got the hang of writing lyrics yet though: this is the middle eight ('Feel I wanna laugh and shout, cry hip hop hooray, I know without a doubt you are here to stay!') Still a good song, though, for a group of untested unknowns.

2) Revenge (Alternate Ravens Version, c. 1963)

Talking of which, here's an early version of that very instrumental which features on the debut album played around the same time. The track isn't all that dissimilar to the finished version which might be why it doesn't join other alternate versions on the CD releases of that album, but fans who know the song well will spot a few differences: the harmonica lines are slightly different and the 'wi hi yip yi' backing vocals fade in slowly instead of appearing out of nowhere in the last verse.

3) Listen To Me (Unreleased song 1965)

Another variation of the 'You Really Got Me' riff, this song was recorded during sessions for third album 'Kinks Kontroversy' and presumably left behind because it sounded a little too much like the past and not the future. It's a nice song, though, with a return to Ray's obsessive narrators ('You gotta listen to me!' he cries in the same way he once demanded his girl to 'stop all your sobbing'). In common with much of 'Kontroversy' there's a real attempt to widen the Kinks' range of styles here, with a country lilt to this song not unlike much of 'Beatles For Sale' which actually suits the hard angry guitar riff rather well.

4) All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth (Ready Steady Go, 1965)

 While many of the band's appearance on Ready Steady Go appear to have sadly been wiped (unlike TOTP and most other 60s show we don't know for certain how much exists because Dave Clark of the DCFive owns the rights to all the surviving clips and doesn't often let them out to play), this third appearance from late 1965 was recently returned to the archives. It's in a shocking state and even below the surface noise features The Kinks at their roughest and sloppiest, but is a fascinating chance to hear the band doing something a bit different for a festive special. You can hear where a lot of The Kinks' music hall leanings came from in their hard-rocking revved up version of this traditional favourite played with gusto by the band and with a superb Dave Davies guitar solo. The riff sounds not unlike The Who's later 'A Quick One While He's Away', strangely. The band presumably chose the song in deference to the famous gap between Ray Davies' front teeth which he was due to have filled in as part of an early Kinks publicity drive before he went 'no' and decided to stay how he was.

5) See My Friends (Alternate Take, 1966)

A slightly different version of 'See My Friends' exists which is clearly different to the released version or the BBC recording released on the official set, although listing it as an 'alternate take' is only my guess - it could be another unheard BBC session or even a TV soundtrack for all I know (it does seem to have been recorded somewhere echoey - perhaps this is a rehearsal?). It's a loose and raw version, the band rather clod-hopping around the familiar chord changes and there's not quite the sense of majesty or Indian raga about the song just yet. There's already a touch of magic about the performance, though, with Ray's vocal and Dave's relentless riffing already bang on the money and additionally there's a nice use of backing vocals that was used rather more sparingly in the final version. Although the song is faded as per the finished product, you can hear Dave really mess up the ending, going for a big finale and then hastily diving back into the riffing when he realises everyone is carrying on. This gorgeous Kinks single clearly isn't anywhere near yet, but what a delight to hear an early sketch of something that will become so hauntingly beautiful.

6) Hold My Hand (Dave Davies Demo, 1968)

Loads of Dave Davies demos have been released as part of the guitarist's 'Demo' collection in recent years, but many of them tend to be unfinished modern songs rather than early stabs at future glories. This early version of 'Hold My Hand' suggests that Dave ought to think about putting them out because I prefer this version to the finished product - Dave's rough vocal is much more in keeping with the sentiment of the song without being over-sung and there's some great flamenco-style guitar to make up for the fact that the clunky piano riff isn't there yet.

7) Darling, I Respect You ('Where Did My Spring Go?' TV, 24/2/1969)

Many fans know about the 'Where Did Spring Go?' series now that so much of it has been released officially. This was a series of plays broadcast every week on BBC 2 and each around a philosophical theme - Ray was a 'natural' to be asked to write for the series and has since said how much he enjoyed the challenge of coming up with a song to a set criteria rapidly. A short, under-two-minute ballad with Ray singing like a drunken Tom Jones, 'Darling I Respect You' isn't the best example of the series out there but the track has a pretty late-psychedelia tune and the lyrics are intriguing - does the narrator really respect his lover? Or is he waiting for an opportunity to leave? Two other songs from the five-track series 'Where Did My Spring Go?' and 'When I Turn Off My Living Room Light' have since been released (on the various Kinks BBC collections), but sadly two other songs taped for the series are seemingly lost forever or buried deep inside the Ray Davies vaults (same thing, really, from our point of view) are unaccounted for: 'Two Of A Kind' and 'Let's Take Off All Our Clothes Off'. Alas even this recording only exists in very ropey sound so the words are hard to make out.

8) Australia (1969 Australian Edit)

The Kinks' Arthur may well be the finest album this finest of bands ever made. A tale of Ray's uncle Arthur and cousin Terry's emigration to Australia after the post-war dream fell through effectively ending his childhood it's a moving record with many layers as the ghost of what Britain should have been and what other countries now offer haunting the entire record. Central to it is a six minute epic about 'Australia', which starts off with sunshiney promise and then tears a hole through our hearts as the track takes a dance down a side street via a shakey 'You Really Got Me' riff and becomes a haunting spectre of what should have been. However the Australian branch of Pye ignored all that and so loved the idea of The Kinks singing about Australia that they simply ignored the 'freaky' bit and looped the song round. Instead of changing into anarchy at the two minute mark the song simply goes back round again to that 'sunny Christmas day, Australia!' chorus and fades, making this a rare example of a very different Kinks mix from a different country, still yet to be released anywhere else.

9) Ballad Of The Virgin Soldiers (Ray Davies Film Score, 1969)

A folky instrumental not unlike the playful 'Phenomenal Cat' (but using flutes not a moog), this piece of music was composed specially for an obscure film named 'Virgin Soldiers' (and not, apparently, a TV play as so many bootleggers suggest). An odd mix of bawdy comedy and earnest social commentary, this mix of 'Carry On Soldier' and 'The Bridge Over The River Kwai' follows the antics of a group of British soldiers stationed in Singapore. A young Hywel Bennet stars in it - which is good practice for his next project 'Percy' (which features a much more well known film score...) The piece itself is fascinatingly unlike anything else Ray ever wrote, epic and orchestral in template and growing in scale with every run of its reedy melody (which starts off sounding vulnerable and by the end is so big the band all but trip over themselves trying to play it!) You can tell it's a Ray melody though: it fits in well with his 'Village Green' era work, a cross between that fenomenal feline and 'All Of My Friends Were There'.

10) Marathon ('Loneliness Of The Long Distance Piano Player' TV, 1970)

Meanwhile, on TV, Ray has progressed from writing the scores for earnest BBC 2 plays to starring in them. 'Loneliness' was the perfect vehicle for Ray, the tale of a wannabe composer who promotes his work with an endless piano recital that's meant to break a world record before he collapses under the strain. 'Marathon' is  a new song written specially for the project and comes near the end, when Ray is collapsing under the strain and sighs that while 'nothing is impossible if you believe you can' but that 'life goes round and round and it will always be the same'. Ray compares his struggles at staying awake and keeping going to the strain of living ('and it will never ever change'). Even the melody feels the strain, a slow plod of chords that struggle to stay upright to the end of the track.

11) Gotta Be Free (Early Version, 'Loneliness Of The Long Distance Piano Player' TV, 1970)

Also written for the show was a charming, even more uplifting version of what will become the lead-off track from 'Lola Versus Powerman' later in the year. The lyrics are much the same (only the line 'swear if I like' is missing) but the 'feel' is very different: the song is played on heavy block piano chords and comes with a slightly slower waddle, more laidback than the intense folk-blue version The Kinks will go on to play. I think I prefer this version actually, with some pretty tinkling piano rolls and an excellent Ray Davies lead.

12) The Last Of The Steam Powered Trains (Live, 1970)

'I was walking through the Filmore the other day and I happened to look up at the sky and man do you know what I saw? I saw an albatross!' The Kinks are back in America after an unintended five year absence (the result of, depending who you believe, drunken antics on an aeroplane and a snub of music officials) and much to their chagrin they're back to the beginning of their stateside career again, at the bottom of the bill. Perhaps sensing that the times have changed they turn in the most extraordinary series of concerts of their career across that tour, picking up on the 'extended virtusoso' vibes of American bands of the time and foregoing their usual half hour hit laden set with a whole load of rarities they never played in concert again. This showboating ten minute version of one of the key tracks from 'Village Green Preservation Society' is a case in point, slowed down to an eerie saunter and given and turning into a fiery jam session in the middle. It's the closest the Kinks ever came to sounding like the Grateful Dead, complete with a spoken announcement from Dave that seems to refer to the fact that the band's career seems doomed (they aren't exactly setting the charts alight at home either in this time - they need the American tour to be a success of it might be all over). Typically, though, The Kinks stretch out on a song about how proud they are to be an anachronism with one of their most English songs still sounding defiantly quite unlike anything else on offer in 1970 America, still very much rooted in R and B. Never has this song about sticking to your guns and surviving the changing of the guard sounded more desperate or sad. However while times are hard for The Kinks, they live in a museum, free from the 'datedness' of so many of their peers, so ultimately they're ok.

13) Big Sky (Live, 1970)

Taken from the same show, this is a slowed down, desperate sounding rare live performance of another 'Village Green' standout. Ray delivers the studio original in what he referred to as his 'Burt Lancaster' voice - a distant, pompous theatrical sound that thanks to the ambiguous lyrics could be God ignoring his creation or the rich refusing to look at the poor and sounds very distant and cut off from events. This version though is an emotional powerhouse, with Ray all but screaming his lyric out ('He knows he would like to cry! But he feels sad inside!') as the music gets more and more claustrophobic. How sad that neither of these two songs - or indeed most of the thirteen track setlist played that night - stayed in the band's setlist much longer.

14) Nobody's Fool (Unreleased Demo, 1971)

A sweet demo of an unfinished demo from the 'Muswell Hillbillies' period, 'Nobody's Fool' is a pretty little song sung that actually is far more emotional than the other songs of that period and has more in common with future anxious songs like 'A Face In The Crowd' and 'Sitting In My Hotel'. 'Nobody knows of me, nobody misses me, nobody knows if I really exist' is Ray's painful response to the immediately pre-Preservation period when his marriage to first wife Rasa is getting miserable and The Kinks are being attacked from all sides. A nice mix of heavy piano and pretty guitar softens the blow but this is still one of Ray's heaviest, saddest songs which is long overdue for a proper release. The song will end up being given away - to a band named Cold Turkey for the theme tune of a TV series named 'Budgie', who will fill the song up with various electric guitar and drum bursts that rather detract from the intimacy of the song, but is still a good one. Note the lyrics to taking a walk through 'old Soho', suggesting this song may have been a first draft for 1977's 'Life On The Road'. Easily the highlight of this list.Stop Press! A different version of this song has been released on the deluxe version of 'Muswell Hillbillies' in between writing the first draft of this article and posting it - don't you just hate it when that happens? (But don't you just love it when something decent comes out unexpectedly?!)

15) Sitting In My Hotel (Alternate Mix, 1972)

Talking of 'Hotel', next up is an early mix of the track from the album 'Everybody's A Star' which features more Ray and less Kinks. The emphasis on Ray's voice makes this powerful song about feeling disconnected with the world all the more resonant and vulnerable and while it sounds like much the same performance there are several subtle differences throughout, especially the amount of echo and reverb on Ray's voice.

16) Time (Unreleased Song, 1973)

A short two-minute songwriting fragment which apparently dates from the 'Preservation' period (although it doesn't appear to fit that concept album), this terribly muddy sound recording is of a passionate piano ballad, not unlike 'Marathon' above. Some nice 'oohing' backing harmonies enhance the song, but it doesn't sound like one of Ray's better ideas and was - perhaps rightly - dropped without any further work being done. The song was apparently taped during a soundcheck for a gig The Kinks played at Drury Lane.

17) Preservation Live (1974)

'For some people living on false optimism is not enough. Mr Flash and his bent politicians are leading the country into bankruptcy! Feelings for the past and nostalgia must be cast aside and harsh realities must be faced! Some people have heard too many promises - and heard too many lies!' The always-under-rated two part 'Preservation' albums were promoted with a cracking tour that condensed the two 'acts' to a 75 minute special that cut the album roughly in half, losing the 'cameos' by one-off characters along the way. A powerful piece about the political struggles between a conman with a heart of gold and a professional with a heart of stone the musical is abit of a rollercoaster rode but has plenty of shining moments (as we often say on our site surely 'Mr Flash v Mr Black' was really set in 2010 and featured Mr Cameron v Mr Brown'?) Though filmed for possible release, none of the footage has ever been seen. This audio comes from an enterprising fan who taped the whole set and very different to the album it is too, with a whole bunch of troupes who perform more or less throughout instead of when the songs call for them. Ray takes on both lead roles (you can't tell from the audio but he spoke to himself, on a pre-recorded screen, at times throughout the show which must have been mind-blowing for 1974!) and is at his best, adding touched of dialogue that make the characters come to life - especially 'The Tramp', the everyman character at the heart of the show. Ray even introduced the rest of the band not under their normal names but the characters they play on the back cover of act two (For instance this is John Gosling, 'When I discovered him he was just an old drunken priest but he worked his way to arch bishop, let's hear it for that noted priest and pervert - the vicar!')  While admittedly the audience for this album tends to be few and far between (it really does work better live, this record) it would be great to have a 'deluxe' version of the album sometimes, with acts one and two and a live set (maybe even the visuals?!) For the record the set consisted of: Preservation/Morning Song/Daylight/There's A Change In The Weather/Money and Corruption-I Am Your Man/Here Comes Flash/Demolition!/Money Talks/Shepherds Of The Nation/He's Evil!/Scum Of The Earth/Slum Kids/Mirror Of Love/The Final Elbow/Flash's Confession/Nothing Lasts Forever/Artificial Man/Scrapheap City/Salvation Road

18) Scrapheap City (Ray Davies Vocal, 1974)

Also from that show, here's Ray singing an early version of a song he'll later give to Marianne Price (who plays 'Belle') on 'Act Two' from a set of abandoned sessions for Act One. Performed much slower, with a clever orchestral opening that sounds like some big Hollywood blockbuster before the song turns into a plodding 12 bar blues (but with a trombone part answering Ray's vocal throughout), this version of the song beats the re-recording hands down. Why isn't this gem out officially yet? (Especially given Ray allowed his godawful demo of 'Mirror Of Love' through on the official CD!)

19) Starmaker/A Soap Opera (TV Soundtrack 1975)

The never repeated late-night broadcast of the TV version of Kinks album 'A Soap Opera' appears a lot on our site. The album is another under-rated work anyway, an oh so Kinks like depiction of a rock star becoming a normal human to write about everyday life, only to find halfway through that he's had a break down and is in fact a nobody. But the TV show is something else with less songs and more dialogue teasing out all the nuances of the idea. Ray is on great form in this one-take as-live performance, racing round the set as a sea of stage hands forever move things in and out of the way, while the rest of The Kinks are scrunched up in a corner without much air time until the final singalong (Ray ends the concert as a member of his own audience watching his brother sing!) While he makes the odd mistake (He has to improve like mad in 'Rush Hour Blues' to fill in the blanks!) Ray is on top form in this production, delivering a far better performance of the work than anything that made the album and this work was #1 in our 'top AAA youtube exclusives not available anywhere else' list for some very good reasons. For the record this shortened TV version of the concept albums runs as follows: 'Everybody's A Star (Starmaker)' 'Ordinary People' 'Rush Hour Blues' 'Nine To Five' 'When Work Is Over' 'Have Another Drink' 'You Make It All Worthwhile' 'A face In The Crowd' 'You Can't Stop The Music'

20) Schoolboys On Stage (Live 1975)

'Remember when I played Mr Flash in Preservation? Wasn't I disgusting, wasn't I awful, wasn't I rude? Tonight we bring you a story of love, lust, sex, violence, torture, dirty old men, schoolgirls in suspenders - tonight you will see The Kinks as you've never seen them before!' By 'Schoolboys In Disgrace' the concept idea is wearing a bit thin. Ray introduces this piece about the bullied Mr Flash's schooldays as a 'pantomime' and that's about right - over the course of the 1975 tour various members of the band had to suffer dressing in shorts and endured corporal punishment live on stage. The album is more uneven than the two that came before it but is not without its moments, especially the haunting 'No More Looking Back'. Alas after so many years on the road the band seem to be having an off-night for the one and only surviving concert of the tour and Ray sounds as if he's on the verge of getting a cold. This live show is still well worth tracking down, though, if only for the dialogue which is all new compared to the album and the 'half-reprise' of 'Education' which is performed wistfully while Dave solos furiously a la 'The Hard Way'. This setlist isn't as cut down as the others and runs thus: Schooldays/Jack The Idiot Dunce/Education/The First Time We Fall In Love/I'm In Disgrace/Headmaster/The Hard Way/The Last Assembly/No More Looking Back

21) Brother (Early Version, 1977)

Ray Davies is famous for messing round a little too much with albums before letting them go out into the big wide world. 'Sleepwalker' is perhaps the worst casualty of this, a terrific set of songs being slightly undone by a little too many re-takes and a sterilised production sound. Luckily a few acetates from the album's early sessions survive and are very revealing, especially the addition of an extra verse in the album's orchestral weepie 'Brother'. The changes start coming at around the 2:20 mark we get a few extra 'ah-hah-hahs' leading to a repeat of the chorus and a much earlier fade than on the album. For me five minutes of one of the most repetitive tracks in Kinkdom was always a few too many - this 3:50 version is about right!

22) Sleepwalker (Early Version With Extra Verse, 1977)

Even more interesting is this early, punchier mix of the same album's title track which has a much more 'immediate' feel to it than the finished product. This version of the song sounds as if it's been sped up slightly, the acetate's extended running time accounted for by a whole new second verse cut from the final version (right before the 'everybody got problems'...one) : 'I'm not too young and I'm not too pretty but I am game, and most of us who suffer we must feel the same, won't feel no shame or pain, you won't even know my pain, oh yeah!'

23) Moving Pictures (Early Version, 1979)

Moving on a couple of years and albums, the closing track from 'Low Budget' sounds almost like the real thing, but it's nice to hear some of the rough edges that will be knocked off for the album. Ray's a little sloppy in his double-tracking and Dave's harmony comes in and out, but the musicianship is already spot on and there are a few extra Dave Davies guitar 'twirls' throughout the track.

24) Give The People What They Want (Unedited, 1981)

The original version of The Kinks' next studio album's title track ran nearly a full minute longer. This time the unheard verse comes at the two minute mark, just after Dave's grungy guitar solo and follows on from the verse about assasinating JFK to one about the French Revolution: 'That was a crazy scene, all those aristocrats getting guillotined, the promoters cleaned out the expenses were rolled, everyone cleaned up - it was a wonderful show!' No, it doesn't really add much does it, but it's a lot more interesting than some of the 'extended' mixes released on the Kinks CDs (what exactly is the 'extra' bit on 'A Gallon Of Gas' anyway?!)  Ray's vocal is even more outrageously all over the place than the finished product, with more harmonies in the background.

25) Yo-Yo (Unedited, 1981)

Somehow the great and unfairly forgotten 'Yo Yo' deserves to sound loose and sloppy, as if The Kinks aren't playing the same song at all. This is, after all, a song about 'leading double lives' and sinking into absenteeism and depression when at home and away from the office. Both Ray's vocal and Dave's near one-note guitar solo sound a lot more desperate in this early version, whilst the chanting finale runs for an extra thirty seconds.

26) A Woman In Love Will Do Anything ('A Chorus Girls' Musical 1981)
Ray Davies' 1987 musical '80 Days' wasn't exactly well known but at least parts of it survived in bootleg-land in some form or another. However Ray's first attempt at a musical has all but disappeared. 'Chorus Girls' was an odd collaboration with Barry Keefe (who wrote the screenplay to the film 'Long Black Friday'). The plot revolved around Prince Charles, of all people, kidnapped at a theatre performance by people who want to save the place from demolition - very Kinks! The only song I've ever heard is this rather Fairport Convention style pop song, apparently sung by one of the activists co-erced into taking part which is another world could have been an interesting part of the Kinks' 1980s run of singles. Is it just me or does this plot sound similar to parts of that year's Kinks album 'Give The People What They Want' too, with its talk of assassination and terrorists not always being the deranged evil killers you think. Sadly the production, which featured Jim Rodford in the 'house band' but no other Kinks involvement, closed after a short run at the Theatre Royal , Stratford East and has never as yet been revived.

27) Oh! Oh! Tokyo! (Unreleased Live Song, 1982)

'I went to a Sushi bar, I saw pretty Tokyo bar, I had saki saki make me feel drunk with it, in oh oh Tokyo!' A song busked on stage one night for a Japanese audience and repeated here in slightly more together form a second and final time, 'Tokyo' is an example of just how prolific Ray was back then. The song is a simple one which would have suited 'The Road' album live well, a travelogue naming places and with an 'Oh! Oh! Tokyo' designed to overcome the language barriers between band and audience.

28) Bernadette (Alternate Version, 1983)

The finished version of 'Bernadette' on the 'State Of Confusion' LP is one of the few Kinks songs I actively dislike. The pun on the title (she's a bad girlfriend always getting the narrator in debt) seems obvious by Ray's high standards and Dave's creamed vocal isn't one of his best moments either. However an earlier version from the beginning of the album sessions is so much better I can't believe it hasn't come out yet: instead of screaming Dave is busy preening and he also gets more chance to rock out on the cod-Chuck Berry riff. Alive and powerful in a way that the finished version never is, I'm actually getting to like Bernadette a lot.

29) Hey, Donny! (Live Improvisation c.1993)

The Kinks' deal with Columbia went sour almost from the minute the band signed it. Boss Don Lenner had just been assigned as the head of the label shortly after The Kinks and had instantly got the band's back up by claiming to 'want to get rid of all the old dinosaur bands on the label'. The band had a poor relationship from then on which spilled over into this bit of mock-vitriol allegedly 'written by Jim Rodford (Kinks bassist 1978-1993) backstage' and based on the folk song 'Hey Joe' as made famous by Jimi Hendrix. Ray is on top sarcastic form here: 'Hey Donny, what you doing with all the other high-powered executives? Hey Donny, what you doing with the corporate credit card? I remember you from Arista record when you were a punk record company man! I have a five letter word for you and it's...let's hear it for Dave!' as the elder brother censors himself. The Kinks, who've been through the record company fires so many times before, are clearly letting off steam much to the confusion of most of their fans in the audience that night while Ray can't quite remember who wrote the original of this song, settling for Dave's suggestion of 'Paul McCartney!' (He probably is close with his guest of folk historian Tim Rose, although nobody's quite sure - Dino Valentino of Quicksilver Messenger Service has staked a claim to the song too!)

30)  Sitting In The Stands (Ray Davies, c.1993)

A final jokey send-off for our list, a jingle Ray made for a UK football programme broadcast on radio. It's a re-make of 'Autumn Almanac' delivered in sighing 'Do You Remember, Walter?' style nostalgia as an older Ray informs us: 'I still like my football on a Saturday, I go through the turnstiles with all the other fans, even though they're building four-0seater stadiums., it's ironic that they say that they're sitting in the 'stands', because the terraces are gone...' Ray Davies 4 - Football Association 0!

And that's that for another article. We'll still be getting Kinky next week though, so be sure to join us for a mammoth overview of all the surviving Kinks TV appearances, which looks set to be our longest AAA clips article yet!






A NOW COMPLETE LIST OF KINKS ARTICLES TO READ AT ALAN’S ALBUM ARCHIVES:



‘The Kinks’ (1964) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/the-kinks-1964.html

‘Kinda Kinks’ (1964) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/the-kinks-kinda-kinks-1965.html

'The Kink Kontroversy' (1965) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/the-kinks-kink-kontroversy-1965.html

'Face To Face' (1966)  http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/review-8-kinks-face-to-face-1966.html

‘Something Else’ (1967) http://www.alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/the-kinks-something-else-1967-album.html

'The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society' (1968) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/the-kinks-are-village-green.html

'Arthur' (1969) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/review-30-kinks-arthur-1969.html

'Lola vs Powerman and the Money-Go-Round' (1970) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/news-views-and-music-issue-74-kinks.html

'Muswell Hillbillies' (1971) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-kinks-muswell-hillbillies-1971.html

‘Everybody’s In Showbiz’ (1972)  http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-kinks-everybodys-in-showbiz-1972.htm

'Schoolboys In Disgrace' (1975) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-kinks-schoolboys-in-disgrace-1975.html

'Sleepwalker' (1977) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/news-views-and-music-issue-132-kinks.html

‘Misfits’ (1978) https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/the-kinks-misfits-1978.html

'Low Budget' (1979) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/the-kinks-low-budget-1979.html

'Give The People What They Want' (1981) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/review-81-kinks-give-people-what-they.html

'State Of Confusion' (1983) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-kinks-state-of-confusion-1983.html

'Word Of Mouth' (1985) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/news-views-and-music-issue-96-kinks.html

'Think Visual' (1986)  http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/news-views-and-music-issue-37-kinks.html

'UK Jive' (1989) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/review-93-kinks-uk-jive-1989.html

'Phobia' (1993) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/the-kinks-phobia-1993.html

Pete Quaife: Obituary and Tribute http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2010_06_27_archive.html

The Best Unreleased Kinks Songs 1963-1992 (Ish!) http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/the-kinks-best-unreleased-songs-1963.html

Non-Album Recordings 1963-1991 http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/the-kinks-non-album-recordings-1963-1991.html

The Kinks Part One: Solo/Live/Compilation/US Albums 1964-1996 http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/the-kinks-part-one-solo-dave.html

The Kinks Part Two: Solo/Live/Compilation Albums 1998-2014 http://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/the-kinks-part-two-ray-and-dave-davies.html


Abandoned Albums and Outside Productions https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/aaa-extra-kinks-abandoned-projects-and.html

Essay: The Kinks - Why This Band Aren’t Like Everybody Else https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/the-kinks-essay-why-this-band-arent.html

Landmark concerts and key cover versions
https://alansalbumarchives.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-kinks-five-landmark-concerts-and.html
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