Disco de The Kinks: “Come Dancing with the Kinks: The Best of the Kinks 1977-1986”

I love Ray Davies.

I know Dave Davies has always been the critic's darling--all that talk about Dave being the godfather of punk guitar isn't so far off the mark--but Ray Davies has the best heart in Rock & Roll.

But all that matters not a nit to much of the American public, who always left the Kinks sitting in second place behind the troika of Stones, Beatles and Who--maybe even behind Led Zeppelin and the over-ranked Animals--when it comes to discussions of British Rock. That's a shame, because the Kinks songwriting is as good or better than all of the above sans Beatles; Ray Davies lyrics are, at times, Dickensian.

COME DANCING WITH THE KINKS mines the Kinks most successful commercial period (In the USA, at least) from '77 to '86. The band seemed to be more intent on conquering the USA than they had been in the mid/late 1960s, and their problems with American unions, which had given the Kinks a lot of trouble a decade earlier, seemed to ease. They became known as a touring band in the States, a reputation which crumbled after a very well publicized onstage battle between the Davies brothers right here in Washington DC.

Though there is one minor bow to the then-omnipresent Disco--"Wish I Could Fly Like Superman," COME DANCING WITH THE KINKS is mostly full of nostalgia for the old ballrooms, desperate pleas for the band to stay together, and Rays infatuation with psychological oddities. Included are some of my favorite Kinks tunes, including "Do It Again," "Destroyer," "Come Dancing," "Don't Forget to Dance," and my All Time Favorite Kinks Record, "Sleepwalker." There's never been a better melding of Rays lyrics, Daves guitar, a great Ray vocal, and hot Kinks backing vocals. "Father Christmas" is perfect, the exact Christmas tune you'd expect from Ray Davies, and is played to perfection. The live renditions of "Lola" and "You Really Got Me" don't match up to the studio versions, I think, but they were hits, so somebody liked them.

"Misfits" and "Rock & Roll Fantasy" are classic Davies. The first looks at a fading eccentric--it's easy enough to imagine the tune as autobiographical--and gives a McCartneyesque pat on the head, with a real Ray Davies twist: "You've been a misfit all your life; why don't you join the crowd and come on inside?" he says, even while pointing out that the world is filled with misfits: "They've given up living cause they just don't care. So take a good look around, the misfits are everywhere."

I completely missed the point of "Rock n Roll Fantasy" when it was released; now I consider it one of the Kinks very best. Ray sings of his brother wanting to quit the band, sings about desperate music fans who spend every night locked in their flats spinning records. On first listen I thought this was glorification of the fans, mythologizing loners worshipping wax. Now I hear the pleading in Ray's voice at the end of the song and understand that he wanted to keep the band going so he wouldn't become one of those solitary people: "You and me keep thinking our life has passed us by? I Don't want to live my life in a Rock n Roll fantasy," he sings--Ray Davies wants the Real Deal.

"Don't want to waste my life hiding away anymore--don't want to waste my life living in a Rock n Roll fantasy."

I love Ray Davies: Hero of the awkward, the lonely, the depressed, the introverted.

There is another Kinks Greatest Hits/Best Of package you should hunt down, which will fill the gaps between the British Invasion "You Really Got Me" phase of the Kinks and this album: KINKS KRONIKLES, a two-CD set, covers my favorite phase of this great band's career--the Arthur & Victoria phase.

But if you really want to 'get' the Kinks, hunt down all of their LPs released prior to '77: they were a lot more English during that phase, and their stuff really deserves to be heard in the fleshed out form of an LP, rather than on a Greatest Hits/Best Of package.

I had forgotten just how much fun the Kinks were, then I purchased the CD for the song Come Dancing and had no idea that I would know all the other songs on the CD. My 14-18 year old art students pick this CD over rap and current artists to listen to whiile creating art works. It is just plain old fun!

You know, I could cry and complain about my personal favorite album tracks that didn't make this, but I won't, as this CD is The Kinks' greatest hits-stuff that was played on the radio. I can't complain since that is the case. I enjoy all of these songs a great deal. Each track is almost like a different genre. I'm not gonna run through every single song (oh, 1000 word limit? never mind!) "Come Dancing," "Good Day," and "Better Things" showed listeners that yes, they could be listener friendly. "Don't Forget To Dance", "Misfits," "Full Moon," and "A Rock and Roll Fantasy" gave us proof that Ray, while aging somewhat, can still summon a lump in the throat. Then of course there's the rocking numbers (live and studio) that removed all doubt that The Kinks, while not exactly chart-toppers, weren't going to suck as they got older (as opposed to The Stones, Zappa, even The Who...) and would still be rocking into their forties (and beyond...) with little or no effort. All in all I'd say pick up first- sample their later stuff. If you already have the albums don't get it...unless you're a basketcase like me who HAD to have it. Anyway- Kinks novices, fear not! This is the Rosetta Stone of what I call their Radio Years! Rock on!

I have just purchased this remastered copy of "Come Dancing". It was my intention to trade in my old Arista copy at the flea market. But after seeing the song selections I am hanging on to both. Firstly though, the sound on this edition, is superb. Compared to the Arista one there is no comparison. It just leaps out of the speakers at you. But, for some reason, the song selection varies considerably. The Arista album has 16 songs, this one, 18. Removed from the Arista one are, "Celluoid Heroes (live)", "Juke Box Music", Heart of Gold", and "Long Distance". "Lola (live)" on the Arista one, is a minute longer than on this one, although that missing minute is mostly conversation between Ray Davies and the audience and some applause. "(Wish I could fly like) Superman" is over 2 minutes longer on this album than the Arista one, and is a disco version. Also on this album and not on the Arista one, are the wonderful "Catch me now, I'm falling", "A Gallon of Gas", "Sleepwalker", "Full Moon", "Misfits" and "Good Day". So anyway, for any of you who have the old Arista cd, buy this one too, as it is well worth having, and the sound is terrific, and the liner notes are very informative.

Clive Davis personally signed the Kinks to his then relatively new Arista label, when he was trying to establish a rock and roll foothold. Till then, Arista was known primarily as a home to the likes of Barry Manilow and The Bay City Rollers. The Kinks, under Davis' tutelage, staged a comeback that brought them to a whole new audience who looked at Ray and Dave Davies as Punk Rock Godfathers, even as the band suddenly found themselves successful enough to tour American Sports Arenas.

"

" was the first album of that batch, and heralded that The Kinks were back. In retrospect, the songs sound very much of their time, heavy on the synths and radio friendly. When "

" arrived, it contained a bonafide Davies' masterpiece, the melancholy "A Rock and Roll Fantasy." It singled the introspective streak that became a running strength for the following albums.

In between was the successful "

." It had an almost hit with the disco-fied "Superman," even if the title track and "A Gallon Of Gas" sound dated. But is sure was weird hearing The Kinks in dance clubs along with The Bee Gees. "

" was the radio breakthrough, as Album Rockers began giving heavy spins to "Destroyer." Quoting the riff from "All The Day and All Of The Night" and referencing "Lola," it brought fans old and new to the band. But even better is "Better Things," which even Davies lamented had not become a more well known song.

Radio and MTV really came forth when "

" arrived. "Come Dancing" became the biggest hit The Kinks had on Arista, and it was followed by the nostalgic "Don't Forget To Dance." They were the lightest songs on an album filled with anger and disillusionment. Ray was ending a marriage and Dave was having problems. By "

," Mick Avory had left and the album sounded disjointed. The terrific "Do It Again" still sounds great (and it would have been nice to have "Summer's Gone"), but that was it for this era.

"Come Dancing With The Kinks" gets a few bonus licks in via a pair of live cuts. Both "Lola" and "You Really Got Me" from "

" fill in an earlier chapter. The anti-Christmas classic "Father Christmas" is here, too. All in all, a solid package.