The Smiley Smile Message Board

I just made a 3-disc Kinks box set for my friend.  I hope he gets turned on.

Disc 1
1. You Really Got Me
2. All Day and All of the Night
3. Tired of Waiting For You
4. Everybody's Gonna Be Happy
5. See My Friends
6. When I See That Girl of Mine
7. Till The End of the Day
8. I'm on an Island
9. Where Have All the Good Times Gone
10. Dedicated Follower of Fashion
11. Dandy
12. Rosie Won't You Please Come Home
13. Sunny Afternoon
14. Holiday In Waikiki
15. Dead End Street
16. This Is Where I Belong
17. Love Me Till The Sun Shines
18. Act Nice and Gentle
19. Autumn Almanac
20. Lazy Old Sun

Disc 2
1. David Watts
2. Death of a Clown
3. Harry Rag
4. Afternoon Tea
5. Waterloo Sunset
6. Susannah's Still Alive
7. Village Green
8. Rosemary Rose
9. Mr. Songbird
10. Polly
11. Berkeley Mews
12. Misty Water
13. The Village Green Preservation Society
14. Do You Remember Walter
15. Picture Book
16. Last of the Stream Powered Trains
17. Sitting By the Riverside
18. Monica
19. People Take Pictures of Each Other
20. Days

Disc 3
1. Victoria
2. Yes Sir, No Sir
3. Shangri-La
4. Drivin'
5. Young and Innocent Days
6. Brainwashed
7. Pictures In The Sand
8. Till Death Us Do Part
9. The Contenders
10. Lola
11. Get Back In Line
12. Top of the Pops
13. Strangers
14. Apeman
15. Holiday
16. 20th Century Man
17. Alcohol
18. Complicated Life
19. Have a Cuppa Tea
20. Celluloid Heroes

If your friend doesn't dig them after that, then his taste would have to be considered very dubious.

After a quick look I have to add a missing fave:  Animal Farm.

Other than that one personal choice, all the other songs I looked for were on your list.  Pretty damn good.

Where's "Phenominal Cat"?

A few more not on your list from the period covered, and several from the Preservation and Disgrace eras too. I'd switch some of yours to mine (say Last of the Steam Driven Trains for Johnny Thunder, but that's too complicated and besides your picks are nearly all ones I agree with)


You Shouldn’t Be Sad
Nothing in This World Can Stop Me From Worryin' 'Bout That Girl
Something Better Beginning
Such a Shame
Sittin’ on My Sofa
This Strange Effect
Who'll Be the Next in Line?
The World Keeps Goin' Round
Too Much on My Mind (watch Wim Wenders' AMERICAN FRIEND for the best argument for this one's greatness)
Fancy
I'm Not Like Everybody Else
Situation Vacant (Does there exist a better mix? The Something Else one sucks)
End of the Season
Big Sky
Johnny Thunder
Mister Pleasant
Did You See His Name?
Way Love Used To Be
Wonderboy (the most overlooked masterpiece of them all, one of Ray's very, very best)
This Time Tomorrow
Gotta Be Free
Muswell Hillbilly
Hot Potatoes
Sitting in My Hotel Room
Sweet Lady Genevieve
Sitting in the  Midday Sun
One of the Survivors
Mirror of Love
Oh Where, Oh Where Is Love?
Nothing Lasts Forever
I'm in Disgrace
Headmaster
The Hard Way (and I'm really impressed by Ray's imitation of Richard Manuel (or is it Rick Danko?) on The Last Assembly, but I guess that's not quite enough for inclusion on a hottest tracks anthology)

Word.

If you allow me to disagree with the original list...I think albums like VGPS and Arthur should be treated as whole muscial works. Extracting a few of the songs for a compilation doesn't really work, in my opinion.

This is the list of Kinks UK singles from the Pye era.

 1. You Really Got Me
 2. All Day And All Of The Night
 3. Tired of Waiting For You
 4. Everybody's Gonna be Happy
 5. Set Me Free
 6. See My Friends
 7. Till The End Of The Day
 8. Dedicated Follower Of Fashion
 9. Sunny Afternoon
 10. Dead End Street
 11. Waterloo Sunset
 12. Autumn Almanac
 13. Wonderboy
 14. Days
 15. Plastic Man
 16. Victoria
 17. Lola
 18. Apeman

Add a few strong B-sides or US A-sides (A Well Respected Man, Mr. Pleasant, Dandy, Who'll Be The Next In Line, I'm Not Like Everybody Else,  ...), and you have a killer compilation that nicely accompanies VGPS and Arthur.

There are three mixes of this song:
1. Mono mix, best of the lot, but not available on a decent sounding CD.
2. Original stereo mix, sounds fine in my opinion. On the old Something Else Reprise CD.
3. A 1970s stereo remix, worst of the lot, thin and shortened fade. On the PRT CDs, the old Castle CDs and the Mini-LP CD of Something Else.

Well, I'm shitty that I can't find "Something Else" or "Arthur" anywhere here in Australia (atleast, the ones with the bonus tracks)

I would add to any Kinks Komp, "Lavender Hill"... to my ears, one of Rays most haunting and beautiful melodies.  Perfect tune, would've improved "Village Green..." immensely.

Believe me, you don't want the versions with the bonus tracks. Check amazon.com or amazon.co.uk for the versions without bonus tracks, and you'll be fine. (I don't really know about Australian online stores.)

I'm really not buggared about the audio quality Andreas,  is it any worse than the first 4 albums?  they were quite noisy, but it was alright....

Something Else: The CD with the bonus tracks has the mono mix, and it sounds terrible (which is not the fault of the mix). I can't really understand why anyone would prefer that version...the bonus tracks can be found elsewhere. The problem is not that it is noisy, the problem is that it is LOUD, midrange-heavy, thin and noise-reduced.

Arthur: Any CD is okay, except the Mini-LP CD which has the mono mix. This album is better served in stereo. If the remaster is the easiest version for you to track down, buy it, it won't disappoint you. But the older CDs without the bonus tracks sound even better.

And nobody's going to mention the fact that there's a new Ray Davies album TOMORROW?

Right you are!

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:rnh9keptgq7x

No review, yet.

There's an interview with Ray Davies and a review of his new album (3 1/2 stars) in the current issue of Rolling Stone...

ray's new album arrives tomorrow the 21st...i have tickets to see him late in march

Here's my review: IT IS GREAT.

Just great.

Forthright, honest songs and exceptionally warm, organic production. A tight, tasteful band with a notably interesting bass player, and a set of songs that contain no cringe-worthy moments, with a set of lyrics that's funny, cynical, dark and typically Kinks-ian.

Absolutely redeems him.

Hey, you live in Ohio, right?  Where is he appearing?

He's in Toronto March 30 I think? Not sure yet if I can go...I saw the Kinks in 1983 which was a great show!!!

I live in Boston .....i think it's at the Orpheum......does anyone know who is in his band ?

I'm shocked that Andreas
said the remastered Pye albums aren't any good
the bonus tracks are great however
where can I get them without buying the Pye reissue?
Because the older cd's are quite cheap on Ebay,
but I really want Mr.Pleasant and not only Face to Face

36 euro's (40 dollar) to see Ray in Holland
Should I do this?

$40 to see Ray Davies is a steal.  It's a no-brainer.  You got the cash and the time?  Do it.  I envy you -- he's not coming anywhere near me.

Mr. Pleasant and many other non-LP tracks can be found on a two CD set called "The Kinks Are Well Respected Men". It is long out of print, but should be easy to find on ebay.

It's only a 4 hour drive to Toronto buddy...

Same for me, actually... when's he playing? How much are the tickets? I suppose I could just look it up...

thanks
you are sure the older cd's sound better?

14. Do You Remember Walter

Just give him this one song. That song alone amazed me so much that I needed no others to turn me onto the band.

Not from Columbus it's not -- Detroit, for instance, is just over 4 hours from here.  Plus there is schedule and lack of funds.  No way it happens now unless he comes within 3 hours from here...

I've been listening to Ray's new album.  In a word, incredible.  It's definitely got a slick, shiny production sound, but not 'too' slick.  The songs and performances are so strong, esp. Ray's voice.  You definitely don't hear stuff like this from McCartney, Jagger, etc. even lyrically, not to put down on them!  But, one example of what I mean is the song "Stand Up Comic" - he sings this with an verve that doesn't lag for a single second:

Jack the Lad has become Fancy Dan
And creating aggroculture with a rub-on tan
And all the tearaways have got savior faire
And the working class hero's got tinted hair
And a well-spoken hero from a yesteryear
Walks out onto a stage and they all shout "queer!"

Incredible performance.

Album CDs? Yes, all of them.
Compilation CDs? It depends. "The Kinks Are Well Respected Men" is great, the old Rhino "Greatest Hits" is mediocre, the PRT CDs are mostly great, especially the PRT "Greatest Hits" with the ugly pink cover. Stay away from "Hit Singles" unless it has the catalogue number PYC 4001.

How long to drive to Buffalo NY? add 2 hours and your in Toronto. Detroit is the long way...Buffalo way must be shorter...but I understand...my probelm is timing...Ray Davies, David Gilmour and Amy Grant are all playing in the Toronto area within 1 week and I probably can only choose 1 (if any) myself...since I've seen the Kinks and Pink Floyd already maybe I'lll go see Amy Grant  ::)

thanks
I'm pretty familiar with the Pye reissues since my dad and I collected them
and they sounded great to me, but I never really compared it with the original LP's or with old cd's
My dad's LP's are overplayed as well so they don't sound that good
still undecided on Davies. I don't have all the Beach Boys albums yet, I'm more in to collecting them
than going to a concert. Man, do sound Insane, those cd's will be there after the concert! Still, my heart
is more in to that stuff.

Actually, Andreas, 'The Kinks Are Well Respected Men' 2CD doesn't come up on eBay very often. Over the past five or six months, it's only came up two or three times. One of them was really expensive. I jumped on a cheaper one. But now that I have the all the remasters and 'Kink Kronikles', I don't really think I need it, do I?

Fair enough. It was not my intention to sound superior in my praise of something that is untangible for others. :) The problem is, I don't have any good substitute recommendation on CD. The Ultimate Collection 2 CD set is decent, but is missing many B sides.

That depends on you. Kinks Kronikles is mostly stereo and comes from copy tapes. Not bad, but not the definitive versions.  The remasters suffer from noise reduction and aggressive cold mastering which does not do the recordings any justice. With the remasters and the VGPS deluxe edition, you get almost all songs (I think the B-side of Days, She#s Got Everything was missed), but the question is if you can stand the unnatural sound.

Ebay suffers from an overkill of Russian cd's (beatles, kinks, dylan)
anybody know if those are any good? Or are this the older Kinks cd's and no Russian copies?

Man I really need those records, without paying too much
(short on money)

I'll be seeing him at the Tower in Philly.  Can't Wait!  ;D

http://cgi.ebay.com/THE-KINKS-Are-Well-Repected-Men-Rare-2-CD-Set-MINT_W0QQitemZ4842863689QQcategoryZ43631QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

saw Ray last night here in Boston ...GREAT show ...played a lot from his new record, played 4 songs from village green on acoustic guitar including Picture book, Johnny Thunder, Animal Farm. His new songs sounded great and the band was excellent . if you can get a ticket go see him !!!