Rock satire, strangely, isn’t one of them. The Darkness are making a start, but they’ve a long way to go before they ever make the kind of impact The Kinks did.
If you’re not familiar with The Kinks, it’s probably time to face the truth: you’ve led a very, very sheltered life. Whilst you were slowly mummifying from boredom in a Tibetan monastery, Ray and Dave Davies were shifting and shaping rock ‘n’ roll to fit their devastatingly wry sense of humour.
Granted, the vast majority of us weren’t there at the noisy, hip-shaking birth of the distorted power chord riff, but we all know ‘You Really Got Me‘ was the name they settled on. The hits kept coming, as we were introduced to ‘A Well Respected Man‘ and ‘A Dedicated Follower of Fashion‘; music lovers listened on in awe as ‘The Village Green Preservation Society‘ invented and defined the satirical concept album before their very ears. They were the Monty Pythons of rock ‘n’ roll, and if they didn’t change the entire face of music, they at least coaxed a saucy wink out of it now and then.
So why harp on the achievements of the brothers Davies now? Let’s answer that perfectly intelligent and relevant question with a paragraph about mono sound. Yes. That is what is happening now.
Mono sound was, of course, the predecessor of stereo sound, and coincidentally, Bono’s first attempt at a nickname. He didn’t get much further with names, but sound mixing has come on in leaps and bounds since the Kinks’ back catalogue was first re-kerjiggered back in the ‘80s. Like a moddish zombie, the concept of an original mono mix has been quite successfully brought back from the dead. Dylan and The Beatles have already flogged their back catalogues in this fashion, to much applause and acclaim. So before Cliff Richard could get in on the act and ruin it for everybody, the folks at Sanctuary Records put together this multi-colour swap shop of a boxset, rather flamboyantly named ‘The Kinks in Mono‘.
Sounds good, yes? Hell, why not. They recorded this stuff in mono, why shouldn’t it sound just as terrific today? But before you dive into it like Scrooge McDuck into a swimming pool of gold doubloons, let’s take a closer listen at these ten discs. Each and every one of them, oh yes.
‘Kinks‘ starts off a fine tradition of straight-faced musical goonery. At a time when The Beatles were carpet bombing singles and EPs and LPs on the music-listening public, The Kinks had this to offer. It’s fast and fierce and raw, that’s for damn sure. Tracks like ‘You Really Got Me’ and ‘Revenge‘ see to that. But it isn’t quite there yet. Ray Davies is still affecting an American accent, because affecting is what you did when you sang rock ‘n’ roll and you happened to be from East Finchley.
‘Kinda Kinks‘ is more like the Kinks we’ve come to know. They’re not tripping over themselves trying to be Chuck Berry anymore; they’re finding their own sound, and liking it. Ray Davies now actually sings in his native English accent, completely remarkable for a vocalist in 1965. Even the Beatles and the Stones couldn’t keep from imitating Little Richard and Howlin’ Wolf. The result is bloody marvellous, giving us masterpieces like ‘Tired Of Waiting For You‘ and ‘Don’t Ever Change‘.
‘The Kinks Kontroversy‘ sees a little more experimentation enter into the arrangements. Even something as simple as ‘I’m On An Island‘ sounds like nothing else of its time. Dave Davies gets more than a few squeals and roars out of his Flying V, lending a keen edge to songs like ‘You Can’t Win‘ and ‘Til The End Of The Day‘. Lyrics are still about relationship frustration and long lost little girls, but when it all sounds as exciting as this, we can forgive it quite easily.
‘Face To Face‘ compensates admirably, branching out in any musical direction it can get away with. The girl troubles are put away for 40 minutes, as Ray Davies takes aim at the wealthy, the conceited and Harold Wilson. The lyrics are sharper, but somehow the music suffers. It all seems so much less focused. Still, the sublime ‘Sunny Afternoon‘ and ‘Little Miss Queen of Darkness‘ prove there’s something in this satirical lark.
‘Something Else‘ immediately makes itself very welcome, if only by the accomplishing that rare feat of living up to its own name. Dave Davies comes into his own as a songwriter; playful, inspired compositions like ‘Love Me Till The Sun Shines‘ and ‘Funny Face‘ make his presence known more than ever. No mean feat when you’re up against a song as effortlessly beautiful as ‘Waterloo Sunset‘.
‘The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society’ is the quintessential Kinks album, maniacally eloquent and fit to burst with rampant melodies. Celebrating and lamenting lost English tradition all at once, that title song is probably the greatest expression of the who, the what and the why of those marvellous Kinks. Just you try sitting still listening to ‘Picture Book‘. You have been dared.
‘…Arthur‘ ran with the critical (if not commercial) success of ‘Village Green’, poking holes in the nation’s massively inflated ego, still nurturing an unhealthy obsession with its fallen Empire and pompous aristocracy. Edgy, proto-prog arrangements showcase the band’s extraordinary talents; ‘Shangri-La‘ and Queen Victoria’s very own theme song are easily the jewels in the crown.
So those are the broad strokes of the Kinks’ early musical exploits. Three bonus discs (Singles, EPs and More and The Kinks Mono Kollectibles 1 & 2) fill in the nitty gritty details. These songs get a real boost of vitality in their mono format; ‘I’m Not Like Everybody Else‘ and the notorious ‘Lola‘ rise above the 30-odd tracks floating about here. Some tracks may seem unnecessary, but for every fudgy mess like ‘Lincoln County‘ there’s a ‘Dedicated Follower of Fashion’ and a ‘Days‘ to make up for it.
The Kinks as a band are gone, but this boxset can pretty much guarantee that you forget that fact for about two days whilst you sift and slobber over it all, like the Kinks glutton you know you are. No need to be ashamed. Far from it. This band made a considerable impact in a decade where rock giants like Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton roamed the Earth.
They set the benchmark for intelligent, hard-edged rock, and they’ve yet to be beaten at their own game. ‘The Kinks in Mono’ does the decent thing and lets us hear some of their greatest material the way it was meant to be heard.
All it asks is that you put up with various words spelt with a ‘K’ instead of a ‘C’. Go on. Disable your inner spell-check. You can do it.
Ray Davies is one of the underrated pioneers and best lyricists in rock. Brother Dave is an equally innovative guitarist. Rockaeology at http://bit.ly/eIMqZ7 has the story behind “You Really Got Me.” The inexpensive 6-watt Elpico amp, purchased by Dave at a radio shop for 6 pounds, was plugged into a series of other, more powerful amps. Dave sliced the speaker cone with a razor blade to achieve the distorted fuzz tone. Knitting needles were also stuck into the speakers. It was a sound unique in 1964 — before Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page added the sound to their repertoires.
“…the music suffers” on “Face To Face”? We can’t be from the same planet, Simon. And I don’t know if The Kinks 60:s was ment to be heared in mono. There is a reason why stereo equipments was invented.
Must say that this box feels totaly superfluous since all those records already been rereleased in 2011 as Deluxe-dubbles with both stereo and mono versions. And with super sound. Give us the “Lola”- and the “Muswell”-deluxealbums instead.