(Kinks Krazy Steve Krawford chose -with much disagreement from fans and critics, the Kinks Top 40 Sng, we published them in two halves, and here they are in one place… use carefully)
40. “No More Looking Back,” 1975. This tune serves as almost a bridge between the concept albums The Kinks were producing in the mid-70s and the obvious attempts for commercial success later in the decade (“A Rock ‘N” Roll Fantasy,” “Juke Box Music”). Ray’s trying to shake the ghost of an old lover out of his head on “Looking Back.” Would love to hear this one with a little more rocket fuel in the production.
39. “Just Can’t Go to Sleep,” 1964. Our heroes never sounded more like a typical British Invasion band than on this Mersey Beat track from their debut album. Some of the chord changes remind this listener of “Stop Your Sobbing,” which was covered by Ray’s then lover Chrissie Hynde in 1980.
38. “I’m Not Like Everybody Else,” 1966. Straight out of the Nuggets garage. Dave Davies belts out the tune with pure teen angst menace.
37. “The Hard Way,” 1975. Based on a simple riff reminiscent of the band’s early hits, a cruel to be kind educator threatens, perhaps in a physical or sexual manner, an underperforming student. “The Hard Way” found a new audience when The Knack covered it in 1980, right before Doug Fieger’s group careened into total irrelevance.
36. “The Way Love Used to be,” 1971. A somewhat obscure baroque pop love ballad. Ray wants to escape the hectic pace of modern life and engage in old-fashioned romance.
35. “Party Line,” 1966. “Party Line” kicks off the Face to Face with a complaint about the shared service telephone system (kids, ask your grandparents), but the grousing is more than offset by the upbeat tempo and catchy hooks.
34. “Did Ya,” 1991. Ray could never stop reminiscing – on “Did Ya” he looks back at 1960’s London while referencing “Summer Afternoon.” The sardonic “Oh, Baby!” Ray uses to punctuate the chorus is laugh out loud funny.
33. “Summer’s Gone,” 1984. Typically overblown ‘80s production, but a touching look at the seasons of one’s life. “I really blew it all when I think it through/I really lost it all when I lost you.” Ouch.
32. “Autumn Almanac,” 1967. Continuing our seasonal theme, Ray admires a caterpillar, eats roast beef, and basks in a British street that he’s never going to leave. Like Brian Wilson, Ray was writing timeless material in the ‘60s with a perspective that’s never been replicated.
31. “Picture Book,” 1968. Listening to “Picture Book” with 2014 ears, it’s almost unfathomable that this wasn’t a hit. Ray seems to be simultaneously mocking and acknowledging the power of photographs in maintaining family memories. A-scooby-dooby-doo.
30. “This Time Tomorrow,” 1970. A plaintive folk rocker that decries the rootlessness of the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle.
29. “She’s Got Everything,” 1968. A simple rocker that could have been a hit in 1965, but by the late ‘60s “Everything” wasn’t consistent with Ray’s musical and lyrical sophistication. Listen to the instrumental bridge and then go write “My Woman from Tokyo.”
28. “Village Green,” 1968. Another beautifully constructed baroque pop number in which the narrator falls in love with a young country girl, but knows that his life will take him elsewhere. Home isn’t always where the heart is.
27. “Tired of Waiting for You,” 1965. A #1 U.K hit and a #6 U.S. single that takes a more pop approach to the early Kinks riff oriented sound.
26. “Mindless Child of Motherhood,” 1969. A painful and passionate vocal performance by Dave as he addresses an estranged lover, who may be raising his child.
25. “I Go to Sleep,” 1965. Never released as a formal Kinks recording, on this 1965 demo Ray cries and dreams about being with a loved one. The sharp, short piano notes convey of quiet desperation, as the English say.
24. “Rosie Won’t You Please Come Home,” 1966. This harpsichord-laced number was based on Ray’s sister Rosie who married a man named Arthur and moved to Australia in 1964. Which brings us to…
23. “Arthur,” 1969. The last track of the 1969 concept album Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) would be exceedingly ambitious for most songwriters; Ray chronicles the disappointments of Arthur’s life as his personal goals were unmet and his children are moving away. Still the song, and album, ends with a church inspired, hand-clapping declaration of love and support. The listener can decide whether the tone is ironic or supportive.
22. “Do It Again,” 1984. The band gave the “She’s Got Everything” riff some power chord crunch for one of the better singles during their early ‘80s hard rock revival.
21. “Big Sky,” 1968. The most obvious interpretation of “Big Sky” is that it is a commentary about unthinking devotion to an uncaring deity. Mr. Big Stuff, who do you think you are?
20. “Where Have All The Good Times Gone,” 1965. At the ripe old age of 21, poor rock star Ray is already wondering what’s happened to the worry free lifestyle of his youth. This sounds like a major hit, but was a B-side in 1965, then bombed as a single in 1973 (released after Bowie did his cover on Pin Ups). Is it just me or does the mother figure sound like a cougar?
19. “Better Things,” 1981. An empathetic “get over it, get on with it” expression of hope, most tunefully constructed. Optimism, you can never have too much of it.
18. “A Well Respected Man,” 1965. This was at turning point in Ray’s songwriting, when he expanded his subject matter beyond basic rock ‘n’ roll subjects for a more character driven, socially conscious worldview. The target of his withering criticism is a well to do son who knows, by his social status, that his perspiration has a more pleasant aroma than the sweat of his lesser countrymen. Interestingly, “Well Respected Man” was not a hit in the U.K., but went to #13 on the U.S. charts.
17. “Death of a Clown,” 1967. This was a major solo hit for Dave Davies, going to #3 on the U.K. charts, then was included on the 1968 Kinks album Something Else. Showing his brotherly love, Ray once introduced this Dave hit in concert by saying, ”Let’s let the little twerp express himself as best as he can.”
16. “Dead End Street,” 1966. Truly odd how Ray uses the lighthearted British Music Hall tradition (could that be a session man on trombone?) as a vehicle to express complete existential despair. Opposite of “Well Respected Man,” this was a major hit in the U.K. and didn’t touch the U.S. charts. In the mid-70s, Britain’s New Musical Express included “Dead End Street” in their Top 100 singles of all time.
15. “Days,” 1968. On “Days,” Ray copes with the loss of a lover or loved one not by focusing on his own pain, but by acknowledging how much positive impact the person had on Ray’s life. So beautiful – “And though you’re gone, you’re with me every single day, believe me.”
14. “Australia,” 1969. Within the context of the Arthur album, a family sales pitch to leave the U.K. for the land Down Under. A musical delight with a Beach Boys reference, Ray’s snide cajoling that “everyone walks around with a perpetual smile on their face,” and an atypical dreamy extended jam to seduce the undecided.
13. “Yes Sir, No Sir,” 1969. One of the most damning commentaries of the military system ever recorded as Ray covers the subjugation of intellect for control, the use of the working class to fight on behalf of the wealthy, and trading human life for military “honors.”
12. “I Need You,” 1965. Released as the B-side of “See My Friends” we’ll let John Mendelssohn do the heavy lifting here. Per John, “’I Need You’ might be the best track The Kinks recorded in their original style – better, that is, than either ‘All Day and All of the Night’ or ‘You Really Got Me,’ of which it sounds like a streamlined, harder hitting update. The guitars are positively murderous, Ray’s vocal just hysterically snide.” Thank you, Mr. Mendelssohn!
11. David Watts, “1968.” At one level, “David Watts” is a simple appreciation for a well to do big man on campus. Below the surface, a story about sexual identity and longing. In the words of Jon Savage, this is one of Davies’ “sharpest homoerotic songs.” A U.K. pop hit for The Jam in 1978. Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa.
10. “Come Dancing,” 1982. Released in ’82 in the U.K. and in ’83 in the U.S., this was the band’s first top ten hit in America since “Lola” in 1970. On “Come Dancing,” Ray looks back at the U.K. big band dance hall culture of the 1950s and reflects on his sister Rene, who loved the dances. (Unlike the lyrics, Rene passed away at a young age, reportedly on the same day that she gave Ray a Spanish guitar in 1957). I love the way Dave’s power chords slam into the bridge, taking the listener from the nostalgic theme into present.
9. “Sunny Afternoon,” 1966. According to Rock NYC Grand Poobah Iman Lababedi, this U.K. #1 hit should be in the Top Five on this list, so maybe I’m underrating this income tax lamentation/rich man’s burden plaint. Of course, many listeners also enjoy this song as a tale of simply relaxing on a carefree summer day. That Ray’s a tricky guy.
8. “Shangri-La,” 1969. An amazing piece of work about confusing material contentment with happiness and accepting the limitations/mediocrity of middle class life because no other options exist. The music is suitably claustrophobic. “You need not worry, you need not care/You can’t go anywhere.”
7. “The Village Green Preservation Society,” 1968. Perhaps no other song describes Ray’s outlook on life as succinctly as this one, where he bemoans “progress” such as office blocks and skyscrapers and reflects on the need to maintain “little shops, china cups, and virginity.” On your next visit to Dundee, Scotland, go to the city square and take a picture of the Desperate Dan statue.
6. “Till the End of the Day,” 1965. It’s a crazy world. Released as the follow-up single to “A Well Respected Man,” “Till the End of the Day” bombed in the States (it must have sounded so 1964), but went Top Ten in the U.K. Hard to imagine why this wasn’t a major hit, as the band is displaying the raw power of their early sound with a brimming sense of confidence and tunefulness.
5. “Victoria,” 1969. After the comparatively subdued tone of Village Green Preservation Society, Dave Davies was whooping with glee on the hard charging “Victoria.” Meanwhile, Ray comments on the U.K.’s fascination with their 19th century monarchy and notes that the noblest possible death is one that occurs in service to the Queen.
4. “All Day and All of the Night,” 1964. The Kinks replicate the proto-punk power chords of “You Really Got Me,” while Ray croons about a romantic obsession that borders on stalking. The Doors took the main riff of this song for their 1968 #1 hit “Hello, I Love You.”
3. “Lola,” 1970. While The Kinks were busy recording some of the most innovative albums in the history of rock music in the late 1960s, the U.S. paid little to no attention. However, a humorous tale about a tryst with a transvestite was not to be ignored. Proving that is indeed a mixed up, muddled up, shook all world, “Lola” went top ten in England, the U.S., Canada, Australia, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden.
2. “You Really Got Me,” 1964. The Kinks breakthrough hit was a reworking of “Louie, Louie” with a rhythmic stop and start power chord structure that would later have a major influence on punk and heavy metal music. (Fourteen years later it would be the first Top 40 hit for Van Halen). The song’s simple guitar riff is one of the most memorable in the history of rock music.
1. “Waterloo Sunset,” 1967. The most beautiful song I will ever hear.
