Lee Marshall Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I thought they were terrific...from the get-go up until and including Lola, Apeman and of course the 'Powerman/Money Go Round' lp. After that...not so much. Ray's Workin Man's Cafe solo lp was pretty decent though.They started with a bang and then lost their DRIVE as far as I was concerned. Tried to get too artsy and forgot about ROCK 'n' roll.But what do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Marshall Posted March 8, 2009 Author Share Posted March 8, 2009 Thanks for all of the input...not to mention the lively discussion.A dead end street I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnO Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Some of us are used to this by now, Lee! BTW, you hit the nail on the head about The Kinks. I've refused to buy the latest box set spanning their entire career, since I have no real desire to re-live their RCA and Arista days...which is approx. 1/2 of the box set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollies65 Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Yes the Kink ran out of gas by the mid 70s...but really, they gave us so much GREAT music in about ten years, all is forgiven. Come to think of it, 'I'm Not Like Everybody Else' makes up for their bloated arena rock period all by itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darlene Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 I loved the Kinks. I was teaching high school at the time one of my young violinists turned me on to them. Ray Davies was so talented. I still relive their halcyon days when I hear LOLA! I agree that they lost their focus but like Steve said, look at the music they produced! Great stuff! --Darlene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnO Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 BTW, regarding that 6-disk box set, "Picture Book" - it appears that Ray D. had little or no input in its creation. I believe the tracks from "Face To Face" and "Something Else" are the mono versions, while really great stereo mixes obviously exist (???), and most of the previously unreleased material sounds like it was dubbed from poor quality bootlegs. A piss-poor take on the legacy of this great band, and at a list price of $199.99 to boot! ($141 on amazon.com) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnO Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 BTW, my main problem with their bloated arena rock period was two-fold. In addition to the music going downhill, they were among the absolute worst bands of all-time, as far as not showing up, showing up but coming on 2-3 hours late, Ray and/or Dave being too inebriated to play properly, etc. The last straw for me was seeing them at the Bayou in DC in the early 90s. Doors opened at 8 PM, no opening act, and they went on at Midnight, with Ray immediately strolling to the mike, shouting one "Day-0!", and promptly falling down, apparently drunk.....with Dave trying to assist his recovery by kicking him repeatedly! They played less than an hour and left.(By contrast, Ray's comeback shows the past 3-4 years have been great!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CURLEW Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Although I found a great deal of pleasure in much of the RCA and Arista material, nothing could compare with the Pye/WB period. In March 1971 they played at my college, Queens College of NY. A guy I knew from the school radio station swore he was a distant relative of the Davies brothers and, that, in fact, Ray was going to invite him on stage that evening to play keyboards on two tunes I never imagined I'd ever hear them play live:Autumn Almanac' and 'Mr. Pleasant.' Imagine my surprise as I sat in the first row center and Ray invited 'Ben' onstage to play these two tunes. I couldn't believe it, but then things became even more bizzarre. One verse into Autumn Almanac Ray forgot the lyrics. Instantaneously, I jumped up from my first row seat, placed my chin on the stage, and became Ray's human teleprompter. When the song was done, Ray walked up to the front of the stage and announced into the microphone, "I haven't sang that tune since the day I recorded it in the studio, and I'd like to thank the kind young man in the front row for his assistance.' A rock 'n' roll moment for me to treasure for a lifetime. Three days later, I went to see them with our fellow post buddy Ira at New York's Lincoln Center, Ray was drunk, fell into a wall of amps, and had to be lifted up. hard to believe these two performances took place within three days of each other. Perhaps that's why Ray concentrated his 'niche' market push to college campuses throughout the 1970's. Still, it's impossible to imagine the last 40 years without the musical gifts the Kinks have given us... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny S. Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I never cared for them...Im not saying anything bad about them, maybe I didn't 'understand" them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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