My diary on the Who seems to have struck a nerve that doesn't get struck when we discuss the two BIG British rock groups. As it happens, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones touched off the opening of the American market to a planeload of other British groups and artists who by mid-1964 came to dominate the American pop charts. The phenomenon was referred to at the time as "The British Invasion" and the Who happened to be the most successful rock band to come out of that.
But hardly the most witty or stylish. For those, we have to turn to these tremendously "mod" (as opposed to "rocker") guys.
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Yep, at least for witty. Them's the Kinks, with Ray Davies, a TREMENDOUSLY gifted songwriter, on the right. Like the Rolling Stones, from London, but this group was from North London. Not that this meant anything to me THEN, but that meant they were Arsenal fans, and anyone who has ever read Ray Hornby's book on fanship, Fever Pitch will understand that in a second (especially if one has been a lifelong Red Sox fan, and no, the movie is wretched because it does NOT translate). But I digress.
Like any of these groups when some of the members are still alive, the Kinks have a website. The site describes this origins thus:
Hailing from Muswell Hill in north London, The Kinks were formed by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. Calling themselves The Ravens, an early line-up saw them playing a combination of R&B and rock and roll with friend Peter Quaife on bass. A self-produced demo tape reached record producer Shel Talmy who helped the band land a contract with Pye Records in 1964. Before signing, the group replaced their drummer with Mick Avory and renamed themselves The Kinks. With the classic line-up in place, music history was about to be written when the group’s third, You Really Got Me, stormed to the top of the UK charts
That initiated the SOUND of the Kinks. For quite a while anything that sounded like this was obviously the work of this group. If the Rolling Stones and the Who wanted to sound like garage bands, the Kinks DID. Prefiguring punk, the critics say. And, from the Kinks' website:
Written by Ray in their parents’ front room, the song has since been cited as the inspiration for garage rock, punk, heavy metal and on contempories The Who. An album, The Kinks, was hastily assembled in the aftermath of the monster hit and was, in turn, swiftly followed by a second Top 10 single, All Day and All Of the Night.
So, forthwith,
Pretty much no Kinks, no LOTS of hard rock stuff. And then, something bizarre happened. From Julien Temple in the Guardian:
In 1965, the Kinks were refused permits to tour the US by the American Federation of Musicians. The British invasion, at the time, was regarded by the US music business as a coup d'état. The Beatles were too big to be stopped, while the Stones were more than happy to play the game and cut their hair to go on the Ed Sullivan Show – so the Kinks were made the sacrificial lambs. "There was something in the air that a British band was going to be banned," Davies told Q magazine in 2005, "and, with the way we looked and sounded, we were the ones."
It took a while. From the fall of 1965:
Yes, it's a reworking of "All Day and All of the Night" but it works, and it even has a nod to psychedelia. And THEN, (from the Kinks)
As Ray’s songwriting developed, he emerged as a witty, compassionate social commentator, chronicling the absurdities and aspirations of English life. He took stabs at fashion victims with Dedicated Follower Of Fashion and his fellow nouveau rich pop star peers on Sunny Afternoon.
This told us exactly WHO Ray Davies was - a devastatingly witty social critic. English music hall-style rock, lyrics that skewer the Carnabytian army, the London fashionistas of the 1960s. Okay, maybe a teeny bit homophobic, but still, something very very new. No Kinks, possibly no Adam and the Ants.
From 1967. Not my favorite of the six, but since critic after critic says this is their absolute best song and it's another commentary on London, fine. But here's Julien Temple commenting on the group and using the song to make a point:
The Kinks are the ultimate underdog band. Songs like Waterloo Sunset exist in the atmosphere, surrounding us, defining who we are. And Davies, the principal songwriter, remains ludicrously undervalued.
Temple also writes that the song was Davies' response to a devaluation of the British pound.
From 1981, and REALLY my favorite of the six. Here the Kinks are trying to update All Day and All of the Night for the New Wave era. It's just quirky enough. Incidentally, this charted in the US at #3, by FAR the best chart position of any Kinks song on this side of the Atlantic.
Yes, I know. Some of your favorite songs are NOT there because I have either heard them too many times or because they really aren't MY favorites. That would be what the comments are for.
Now. I was going to say something like "When a call-out diary that is directed at me gets on the rec list for over 100 recs, it's time for me to do something else for a while." It's over 200 recs now, which means that anything I write for a while that DOESN'T provoke a call out diary will be a thumb in the eye for around 100 people. I've made peace with the call-out diarist, too. As for NN 14, too damn bad, everyone. I'm still going.
And now for the stuff that makes this Top Comments:
TOP COMMENTS, March 30, 2014: Thanks to tonight's Top Comments contributors! Let us hear from YOU when you find that proficient comment.
From Youffraita:
OMG. In Ellid's Books So Bad They're Good diary about 50 Shades of Grey, WB Reeves does a parody so superb it probably outshines the original.
From your diarist,
Dave in Northridge:
I frankly never expected to find a top comment in a diary with I/P content, but markthshark's comment about Christie in the Israeli china shop in Hound Dog's diary about the Governor's latest apology was just too wonderful.
TOP MOJO, March 29, 2014 (excluding Tip Jars and first comments):
1) Love it! by Onomastic — 145
2) Jeb would not win their primaries by anastasia p — 102
3) Hillary could beat Jeb in Texas. by zenbassoon — 91
4) He's Not The First Republican....And He Won't Be by snapples — 86
5) It's a shame a Ph.D. was so unenlightened by chicago minx — 84
6) Fight the power--buy a Ford! by Rich in PA — 80
7) LOLZ, I'm not going to bash Christie this time by FishOutofWater — 79
8) It seems that becoming a member by JoanMar — 75
9) Very sorry. I have lost many over the decades. by old mark — 74
10) Breitbart's Tower of Babble by angry marmot — 66
11) TIPS FOR JEN, PLEASE!!!! by Pragmatus — 63
12) Christie BFF resigns! by crystal eyes — 63
13) I need to borrow your sig line by cfk — 63
14) Me too!! by Diogenes2008 — 57
15) hey she spoke French!!! by Greenfinches — 56
16) Pretty nifty to see the work "in progress"...... by The Marti — 56
17) I disagree by New Minas — 55
18) That pic of Jeb and the idiot is a campaign poster by Tuffie — 55
19) I love the nuclear explosion in Scalia's head... by Pragmatus — 55
20) Knock knock. Who's there? Caturday! by jwinIL14 — 55
21) This ad was developed by David Murphy and his Team by VolvoDrivingLiberal — 55
22) oh hai by Portia Elm — 54
23) Yes by moviemeister76 — 52
24) It will be a while before I'm ready again by BoiseBlue — 52
25) The 2000 Ford I drive has 384,572 miles on it. by Polly Syllabic — 51
26) Wow! Just WOW! by Hastur — 51
27) happee catnapurdai by Debbie in ME — 50
28) Well addressed. by The grouch — 49
29) Good morning!! by kishik — 46
30) Love it by CTliberalpragmatist — 44
31) Me too. by Miniaussiefan — 44
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