The Kinks - "A Strange Effect" Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Unofficial Release, 2004 (Zönophone)

From around 1963 to 1973, Ray Davies never wrote a bad song or performance.  His genius at being consistently great in writing a song is a remarkable feat.   Which I know sounds overwhelming the man and his material, but for me, it is like I have a bullseye drawn on my heart, and Ray's music always hits that bullseye.  I pretty much have all the official Kinks releases of that decade or 10-years of music making, but recently at Disk Union in Tokyo, I purchased a bootleg E.P. just due that I love the song "A Strange Effect" which the only version I know of, is the Dave Barry recording.   These four songs on the E.P., are all studio recordings, and I suspect they were demos, that somehow never made it onto a Kinks album at that time for whatever mysterious reasons.  Finding these songs is like finding a new item in the ice cream department of your local grocery.  A unique flavor, but something favorite of yours as well. 

"A Strange Effect" is very typical Kinks, yet at the time it sounds a new direction for the artist and band.   It is not one of his observation songs, but a tune that is direct as "You Really Got Me," but done in a manner that is complex and many layers of feeling.  It has a hypnotic melody with an exquisite Ray vocal that sounds slippery, even drunk, yet his intelligence comes through in such a way that gives this song notice.   The other remarkable song on this E.P. is "I Go To Sleep," which is a beautiful ballad.  I have heard the version by The Pretenders, Cher, and Peggy Lee, all remarkable, but Ray's/Kinks version is of great delicate beauty.   I can imagine the classic era of Sandie Shaw covering this song due to her ability to sing intricate melodies, which seems simple but ain't. 

"Tell Me Now, So I'll Know" and "A Little Bit of Sunlight" are the other two songs (four altogether) and they too are missing Kinks gems that need to be in the spotlight.  A remarkable object of deep affection.  

The Kinks - "The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society" Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Mono, 2014/1968 (Sanctuary Records)

It took me a while, but I finally purchased a new or mint copy of the Mono edition of The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society." The sound of the record is brilliant, but what's more important is the music itself.  Clearly a masterpiece, and I think it is at that status due to its powerful images of a world that is a combination of William Makepeace Thackeray, Henry James, and a touch of Oscar Wilde. In other words, it's British, but not the lad England of Oasis but the world of English gentlemen, quiet pubs, and great inner depression.  Perhaps there is a touch of the Angry Young Men movement as well.  It's a shame that this album was never turned into a musical in London's West End.  There is no narrative, but one can quickly write the 'book' and make this an instant classic, just due to the excellence of the songs.  

I originally bought this album in the time of its original release in 1968.  I have been a somewhat consistent Kinks fan, but life in Los Angeles didn't always allow an easy route to purchase a Kinks album, even though they were on Reprise Records in America.   For one, they dropped out of the press or TV appearances, and for about six months, I totally forgot that they even existed.  I came upon this album when I lived in Topanga Canyon, and I felt like a prisoner in that area of the world.  "Village Green" unknown to me at the point of purchase, exposed me to another prison, but one in Merryland England.   My sense of alienation perfectly fitted the mood of this Kinks' album.  When I got home with the record and put it on my turntable, I think I felt tears from my eyes.  I never had a record that encouraged such an emotional response before.  It wasn't sadness exactly, but more of the fact that I too felt I lived in a village, and there is something rotten in that neighborhood.  

Also, this is very much music made by and for Dandies.  I like the cover, but I feel that it should have been a painting portrait of The Kinks, perhaps in oil, or even an image of Francis Bacon at the very least.  Still, over the years I have purchased this album in every format possible, and it was until very recently I bought the Mono mix of "Village Green."   For my ears, it sounds more punchy and forceful, and therefore I prefer the Mono to the stereo mix.  Not one wrong musical moment on this record, it's perfection as an art form, with the band performing this delicate music as an oil painting or perhaps building the village as a sculpture.  One of the remarkable albums from the 20th-century.

The Good, The Bad & The Queen - "Merrie Land" Vinyl, LP, Album, 2018 (Studio 13)

Sad, but a very compelling work from Damon Albarn and the band 'The Good, The Bad & The Queen,' which also has the talents of Paul Simonon on strong bass, Simon Tong on guitar, and the extraordinary drummer Tony Allen.  "Merrie Land" is a very tight focus on the nature of England, and how it looks at its past but also dealing with a sense of loss with respect to Brexit.

 Albarn and company may be the first artist/band to comment on Brexit, and what it means to them as well as to British culture.  The song and title "Merrie Land" is ironic because it deals with the thought of nostalgia, but in fact, it's fantasy.   "Merrie Land" deals with England as a concept, as well as an illusion.  For some reason, whenever I hear or think of Brexit, I think of Jonathan Swift's book "Gulliver's Travels."  England is not only an island, but it thinks culturally like an island as well.  Part of the world, yet separated by water, and again in fantasy likes to think of itself as mental fort set aside by the thought of Britain first.  Nationalism is an ugly neighbor, and I suspect that Albarn and company are exploring the disillusion of a place and time.

Musically the album reminds me of Madness, who also sung of British characters, and maybe even a cousin to The Kinks' "Village Green Preservation Society."  "Merrie Land" and "Village Green" deal with the concept of England that's partly cinematic but also being thrust to the present, and the feeling of insecurity that goes with change.  Michael Redgrave on the cover of the album is a perfect visual for the sounds inside the jacket, which is theatrical in a British music hall manner.

The band itself is restrained and working together to make mood that's dread, with a touch of The Specials' "Ghost Town" thrown in the mix.  Tony Visconti co-produced the album, and there are traces of the vibe from David Bowie's "Blackstar."  "Merrie Land" has great beauty, like all things sad.  I feel that there should be a Criterion DVD added to the package, as if "Merrie Land" was already a film or book.   It feels like a classic work, and I think people will listen to this album thinking what was the beginning of the Brexit years were like?   Art is giving an impression of a feeling or writing something down on the sand before the tide takes it away.

The Kinks - "The Kink Kronikles" 2 x Vinyl, Compilation, 1972 (Reprise)

I have always loved The Kinks since I first heard their music in 1964, but it was in the late 60s and early 1970s where I became a fanatic fan.  Their album from 1968 "The Village Green Preservation Society" opened me up in an emotional manner that to this day was a unique experience for me.  I have heard people taking a walk and finding God in their lives, and correspondingly, this is what happened to me with respect to The Kinks.   Throughout the early 1970s, I went to see the band play at the Santa Monica Civic numerous times.  As a teenager, I was liberated at the thought of Ray Davies acting 'camp' in front of an audience, but also his sharp lyrical writing skills of telling a story, or observing a life that's quiet, yet full of emotional meaning.  "The Kink Kronikles" was heaven sent for the American fan because it added Kinks songs that were not available to the U.S. market at the time of its release (1972).

For the first time, I heard songs "Deadend Street," "Autumn Almanac," and "Did You See His Name?"   I don't know how I missed these songs in the first place, but by late 1966 and early '67, the Kinks sort of disappeared in the U.S. marketplace.  "The Kinks Kronikles" is an excellent compilation of those years, and it shows the genius of Ray Davies but also the sound and vision of the band, as they focus on the little things in life that are significant in one's life.  "Lola" a song about gender confusion on the dance floor has enough detail in its story to be a novella.

More important this is an album for the Kink fanatic, and usually, this double-record was passed among other fans, in a secret society of lovers of this type of music.  John Mendelsohn's liner notes describe precisely what made the Kinks a fantastic force in one's life.  For those who are not familiar with the magic that is The Kinks, this is a magnificent collection that will wet your hunger for more.

Peggy Lee - "Then Was Then and Now is Now" Vinyl, Lp, Album, U.S., 1965 (Capitol)

Peggy Lee is one of my favorite singers. What I find appealing is her tone, richness, emotional coolness and a sense of an older soul giving advice to the listener.  She has been around the block and wears the experience well.  It took me a year to find a decent copy of this album "Then Was Then and Now is Now."  For one, it's an amazing title for an album, and two, she covers Ray Davies, of the Kinks, "I Go To Sleep."  As far as I know, and without cheat sheets here, The Pretenders, Cher, and Peggy Lee, of course, have covered this song.  The Kinks did a version, but I believe it was a demo, and never officially released on a Kinks album.  Nevertheless, an incredible song and Peggy's version is exceptional. 

Throughout the album, the arrangements by Sid Feller, as well as Billy May, who did the classic Ray Charles recordings such as "Georgia on My Mind" and "I Can't Stop Loving You" is both very sensitive as well as working with the smoky tone of Peggy's vocals. David Cavanaugh, who was a staff producer at Capitol Records, and worked on the legendary Sinatra albums, is also in tune with the Peggy world on "Then Was Then..."   Even although the album was recorded in 1965, Peggy sounds contemporary and totally engage with the now, as the title of the album expresses.   The song choices are obscure but there is not a bad tune on the album.  The only one that I'm aware of beside "I Go To Sleep" is "The Shadow of Your Smile," which I think is the best version I have heard at this time. 

Peggy Lee is a singer that I need to dive more into her recorded catalog.   I did see her live once, sometime in the 1980s, and she impressed me with her taste as well as a grit and a strong soul. A remarkable talent. 

Dave Berry - "The Crying Game...The Best Of Dave Berry

The beauty of pop music for me is the strangeness and eccentricity that sneaks into the format.  I used to watch "Shindig!" every week because it was my window to the rock n' roll world of the 1964/1965 years.   Once in awhile, the British singer Dave Barry would make an appearance, and it was a total foreign object in front of my eyes.  As he sang, he would use his hand microphone as a visual tool and use the long cord as an extension to another world.   He would move slow-motion as he used the cord to slowly swing the microphone from one hand to the other.   I was amazed how he could fit his songs into that extra slow movement of his body.  I never have seen anyone like that on stage or screen that can move in that fashion.   His biggest hit in the United States was this beautifully haunting song "The Crying Game" which reeks of sadness and regret.  Perhaps the first "Emo" song in teenage pop that wasn't about a car or motorcycle crash, but about sadness itself.  It's either Jimmy Page or Jim Sullivan on electric guitar, but the echo is not one of rockabilly, but more likely from within the echo walls of one's brain or heart. 

Berry as far as I know never wrote his own songs.  The material is very much the songs that a lot of British Rn'B artists were doing at the time.  For example Chuck Berry's "Memphis, Tennessee," and so forth.  Again what is unique is that Berry used this song not sounding like a bluesman from the American South, but almost like an alien who discovered the joys of such songs.   His version of "Memphis, Tennessee" is very different from Johnny Rivers or Chuck Berry or even the Rolling Stones.   The other great song he recorded was a Ray Davies' (The Kinks) "This Strange Effect."  Which like "The Crying Game" has an oddness that is appealing but also profoundly moving in tone and gesture.   Written in the height of the Ray Davies great songbook, this like his other songs deal with feeling in such an intimate nature.

Decades later I went to a Shinto ceremony in Japan, and there was a parade which featured women from the court that goes down a walk away but moves in a very stylized manner.  It was at that moment when I saw this, that I was immediately reminded of Dave Berry's stylized movements on stage.   These women would move in a very slow manner, and when the music stopped or changed, they would freeze frame.   It was to me at the time a mixture of old Japanese culture (of course), voguing done in gay clubs of the 1970s and 1980s, and Dave Berry.  On top of that, Berry had the wonderful taste in doing a version of Barbara Lewis' "Baby, It's You" and "Little Things."  "The Best of Dave Berry" is very much music that is tattooed on my brain and DNA. 

Dave Davies - "Dave Davies Hits" Vinyl 7" EP, Limited Edition, 2016 / 1967 (BMG)

Someone was pumping genius air into North London around 1966 or 1967 because Dave Davies and his older brother Ray Davies took that air and made incredible recordings.   I don't know if this was a marketing plan from the record label at the time, or Dave actually wanted to do solo recordings, but as far as I know these are Kinks' records.   The four songs above are written by Dave and lead vocals by him as well.  For most, these songs were placed in the Kinks' Something Else" album, but it's interesting to hear this EP out of that context or landscape. 

"Death of a Clown" is Dave's commentary on his role as a touring musician, who is consistently on the move from one world to the next.  It's a great song and a great record.  "Susannah's Still Alive" I believe is a very personal song about a child produced by Dave and his girlfriend at the time, and he was kept away by the girl's family.  Or is that an urban rock story?  Another great piece of work.  In fact, Dave Davies is probably just as brilliant as Ray, and his world fits in the Ray landscape, but just an additional voice in the narrative.  "Funny Face" has always been a fave of mine as well.  Ray is telling a story, but Dave's work is always on a personal level.  Musically he is not that far off from Ray's work.  So, it fits organically in the Kinks' world. 

I bought this EP in Tokyo at a great music shop called "Pet Sounds."   It's a neighborhood store in the Meguro area of the Metropolis.  Not a large store by any means, but hard not to purchase something from there.  

The Kinks - "Preservation Act 1 & 2" Two albums Vinyl (RCA) 1973/1974

The last great Kinks project.  Ever since "Village Green Preservation Society" Ray Davies has thought out conceptually for that and future albums.  He started out as being an excellent observational songwriter, who knew how to do musical profiles on individual figures of the London or UK world. "Dandy," "Lola," and others, and prop them up as figures in a specific class or social order.  Davies used each album as a particular subject matter - and not as in a mood piece, but more in a narrative story or novel.  

"Preservation Act 1" and "Preservation Act 2" are separate albums, but in actuality, one project. I'm sure there was a business issue of putting out a three-disc set at the time and a very ambitious project on top of that.    For me, and I think others, I see this as one big work.  So I'm going to treat this as one album here.  "Preservation" is very much a major Ray Davies work.

It' reminds me of Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht's "Three-Penny Opera, which takes place in London, and actuality is based on John Gays "Beggar's Opera" which was written in 1728.   What Ray did was bring the political satire back to British roots.  The music at times have a Weill touch, but with Ray, there is an additional British Music Hall presence as well.   The musical (and "Preservation" is a musical) takes place perhaps in the future, but the foundation is clearly post-war London or another industrial town.   Flash is the main villian here.  Corporate gangster.  Street thug.  He's all that and more.   Flash even has his own theme song that runs through both albums.  Not far from Weill/Brecht's Mack the Knife character.  The narrative structure hangs on the balance of the rise and fall of Flash.

The beauty of a classic Kinks song is that it's like a small movie in your presence.  There is nothing abstract in Davies' songs.  Most if not all are clearly films or theater pieces that is set in music.  "Preservation" is his first leap into the musical world, or at the very least imagining his songs set in a much bigger landscape.  

I remember seeing the Kinks doing a live version of this album at the Santa Monica Civic.   Ray at his theaterifal mode of entertainment.  It's interesting to read interviews with him now, where he comes off as being stand-offish, distant, and not comfortable in his own skin.   On stage he's the ultimate performer.  Music Hall tradition fits Ray Davies to a perfect 't.'   From 1963 to 1974, Ray Davies couldn't do anything wrong.   A brilliant songwriter and an incredible performer.  He fits in both the British band invasion and the glam era without any trouble.   "Preservation" has beautiful ballads and humorous songs.  Someone should present this as a new musical.  It's a shame that Davies is not more known as a writer for musicals. 

The Honeycombs - "Something Better Beginning"/"I'll See You Tomorrow" 45 rpm vinyl single (Pye Records)

"Something Better Beginning" is one of my favorite Ray Davies tunes.   It has an incredible amount of drama, and the comparison between The Kinks recording and The Honeycombs version is the drama is presented in a much higher state.  I'm presuming that Ivor Raymonde is responsible for the sound/recording of this song - or it could be Joe Meek.  But it doesn't have the Meek eccentricity.  Still, a beautiful record and The Honeycombs nail the pathos of a romance that may or may not happens. 

B-side "I'll See You Tomorrow" is pure Meek via the songwriting talent of Howard Blaikley (actually two songwriters credited as one).   The melody I believe is based on a Shubert composition.  Dennis D'Ell is one of my favorite singers from the British Invasion era - and Meek really knew how to use his voice.  I often think that D'Ell is the character that Meek imagines himself as - at least vocal wise. A great 45 rpm single.  The Honeycombs are the most underrated band from the British 1960s. 

Jacques Dutronc - "Jacques Dutronc" Vinyl, LP, 1968 (Disques Vogue)

Soundwise, a mixture of Bob Dylan "Highway 61 Revisited" with overtures to Ray Davies circa The Kinks 1965/1966.   Everything else wise, Jacques Dutronc is an original artist.   Dutronc started off as a session guitarist in Paris, and eventually met up with lyricist Jacques Lanzmann, and wrote many hits in the 60s.   The interesting aspect of their partnership is that Lanzmann is a much older gentleman than Dutronc, and I suspect that his lyrics reflect and make humor of issues that took place in the 1960s.    So there is the edge of two minds working as one. 

"Jacques Dutronc" is 12 songs.  I suspect that this recording is a 12" version of 3  7" EPs.   Every song here is a gem.  Borderline psych-rock but very much in a pop mode,  Dutronc expresses a great deal of fun though his music.   The Kinks reference for me is that I sense intelligence, that is beyond the hit-making process.  Dutronc's visuals on his album cover almost convey a joke, but I also think there is something serious under the joking.   For anyone who even has the slightest interest in French pop, need to have this album.  Dutronc's career is a long one, and his much later recordings are of keen interest as well.  More on that later!

The Kinks - "Till Death Do Us Part"/"People Take Pictures Of Each Other"/"This Is Where I Belong"/"Do You Remember Walter?" Vinyl 7" EP, 2016 (Sanctuary Records)

Throughout the 1960s The Kinks had a series of perfect moments.  This EP release is perhaps my favorite moment in the Kinks' world.  Two of the songs are from the great "Village Green Preservation Society" album, one from "Something Else" and the other, or title tune is for a soundtrack TV show.  Limited edition of 2500 was made, and I'm one of that number that has this in their collection.

I never heard "Till Death Do Us Part" and it's a fantastic piece of music.  It's classic Ray Davies stating he's only him, and not better or even good.  In the years 1964 thru 69, they could do no wrong.  I don't know if there was something in his diet, or what sounds to me on the verge of an emotional breakdown, but Davies proved to be the best of the greats.  In my young life as a pop lover, Ray was the first pop star who had a questionable sexuality that I couldn't put my finger on.  But what I hear from him and the band was something personal, and I never had that experience with pop before the Kinks. 

The other three cuts on this EP are classics, but probably only known to those who drank the liquid that is The Kinks.  "Do You Remember Walter?"  is my favorite cut from "Village Green," and again, it has an intimate aspect to it.  The singer to the other character, or is that character the audience?  It is probably one of the most moving songs I have ever heard. 

801 "801 Live" CD Album

801- 801 Live

CD, Album, US, Original release 1976

EG - EGCD 26

A side project by Roxy Music's great guitarist Phil Manzanera, with an all-star cast of musicians that were making a big noise in the year of punk 1976. Here we have a combination of three albums or artists promoting their work in one swoop. Manzanera's side band Quiet Sun, his first proper solo album, and Eno's early solo albums. The great thing about Manzanera is that he's half prog and half Ventures/Shadows. His range of styles go from world music to Joe Meek. 801, named after an Eno lyric, uses the skills of prog/jazz into the pure rush of something like “Baby's on Fire.” The beauty of “Diamond Head” is almost Shadows like in that the guitar plays a hypnotic melody and it just builds and builds. Two interesting covers on this live set; The Kinks “You Really Got Me” and The Beatles “Tomorrow Never Knows” which perfectly conveys the interest in dream-like pop with the grittiness of British invasion rock via The Kinks.

The arrangements on 801 are beautifully put together. “Rongwrong” truly an exquisite piece of dreamy music starts off like an Eno out-take from Another Green World and then goes into this wishful melody. One of the great things about 801 is that you can clearly hear every instrument, so everyone stands out, yet the whole sound or picture is extremely sophisticated – and the cuts blend into each other effortlessly.

To give band full credit: Phil Manzanera guitar, Bill MacCormick on bass, Francis Monkman electric piano, Simon Phillips drums, Lloyd Watson guitar, and Brian Eno on everything else. All splendid here.

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