The Kinks -380, 379, 378, 377, 376, 375, 374, 373, 372, 371,

ALBUMS: Live at Kelvin Hall (1968); Lola versus Powerman (1970); Kinks on Pye (1970); Everybody is in Showbiz (1972); Preservation Act 1 (1973); The Kinks Present a Soap Opera (1975); Sleepwalker (1977); Misfits (1978); One for the Road (1980); The Kinks, A Compleat Collection (1984).

MVC Ratings: Kelvin 3.5/$$$$; Lola 5.0/$$$$$; Kinks on Pye $$$’: Showbiz 4.0/$$$$; Preservation Act 1 4.0/$$$$; Soap 4.0/$$$; Sleepwalker 4.0/$$$: Misfits 4.5/$$$; One for the Road 4.0/$$$$; Compleat Collection 4.0/$$$

*The numbers besides the title or artists’ names on the record reviews indicate the ‘countdown.’ In other words, with the Kinks now reviewed I have moved 10 spaces closer to my goal of reviewing my 678 albums in, more or less, alphabetical order. I have 368 records to go.

The Kinks are something else. Most times they are like no one else.

I heard them in a record store in high school in Athens, Ga. Nope it wasn’t WUXTRY where down the street my buddy Chuck would fix me up with records; the WUTRY where Peter Buck was handing out opinions on music when he was working there, before REM.

No, I don’t remember the name of this record store, down by the barbershop where they’d lather up your neck and take a straight razor to it. There was a guy in this store who played the Kinks all day and all of the night. Seemingly.

So I accumulated 10 Kinks records, most used, and I fell for the brothers Ray’s and Dave’s harmonies, Ray’s storytelling songs, Dave’s crunching and lyrical guitar, and their whimsical sense of humor.

This all came out of a brother-to- brother relationship that was mercurial at best. They fought so much, they were thrown out of the United States during the British invasion initiated by the Beatles, missing a payload of money as the Brits rang the till in America. But that was the Kinks.

Before getting kicked out, the Kinks were pioneering quirky singles like Stop Your Sobbing, heavy metal before it existed, ‘You Really Got Me,’ and “All Day and All Night” where Dave famously slashed his speakers to get a ‘fuzz’ effect on guitar.

Of course, Van Halen famously covered the 1960’s song and by the time I saw them in the late 1970s, Dave Davies in concert would give a nod to the VH version with a guitar assault in their live version of ‘You Really Got Me.’

My first Kinks album was either a Pye collection Vol. 2 or Lola (can’t remember) and, no, I didn’t immediately pick up the idea that Lola was about a transvestite. I was like, no, wait, and ‘so is Lola.’

From the used Pye compilation of early Kinks. I began to really appreciate the melodies and lyrical songcraft songs like ‘Till the End of the Day; Stop Your Sobbing; Dedicated Follower of Fashion Sunny Afternoon, Nothing in this World and Set Me Free.

Probably my favorite compilation I don’t have on vinyl, only on CD: The Kinks Kronikles. If I were starting off on a Kinks collection I would buy it first, then probably the Pye collection — just get a used record of Pye — not the giant boxed set unless you’re loaded. Another great album I don’t have on vinyl is Arthur, which is fairly well represented on the Kronikles compilation.

After losing out on the British invasion, the Kinks went on to a period that many critics deemed slow if not bad. I disagree. The Preservation Act records and Soap Opera era. I think there’s really good music in there. Soap Opera, to this American kid, was like a documentary on English life. The songs are part of a story, so may sound funny to a listener who is not in to sitting down and listening all the way through. But some songs are good on their own. Such as Sweet Lady Genevieve from Preservation Act 1.

The Kinks mean a lot to me for another reason beyond music. My high school love interest (now my wife Catherine) actually enjoyed the Kinks. This was about 1977-78. During her senior year, she had some serious surgery involving her gut, to put it in layman’s terms. She had the surgery, recovered a few weeks and we were off to Atlanta to see the Kinks at the Fox Theater. Kinks fanatic and friend Brian was driving. She told me later she wasn’t feeling well but didn’t want to ruin the fun. But once we got there she basically collapsed with gut wrenching pain. She was throwing up.

Luckilly we were a block away from the very hospital where she had the surgery. Otherwise, we were told in no uncertain terms that a longer delay would have killed her. That perhaps justified my bad behavior of screaming at them when they asked us to stop and fill out pages of forms.

She lived, thank God. And we even went to another Kinks concert about a year later, same venue. But it was only recently when we were talking about it that I said, ‘Funny thing, but the second surgery involved fixing a ‘kink’ in your intestine.’

Wha??? We laughed at the ‘coincidence’ but Catherine stands firm that it was no coincidence — she doesn’t believe in coincidences . WOG, I call it, for Wink of God. She says going to see the Kinks that night saved her life by putting her immediately in the hands of the hospital and surgeon who knew the medical history. That it was a kink needing fixing was the WOG, so she would say.

OK I am going to give you my off the beaten path Top 5 Kinks songs that aren’t Lola — with links..

  1. Well Respected Man: This represents a Kinks’ go-to: applying whimsy to satire in a mostly loving way.
  2. Waterloo Sunset. Just a beautiful song with lovely guitar by Dave.
  3. Nothing in this World. Another early beautiful song, haunting melody, about broken relationships.
  4. (Tie) Misfits/Full Moon. The 80s stuff is better than people think it is.
  5. (Tie) Sunny Afternoon/Apeman

Of course I cheated with two ties. But I cheated for a good cause. And I didn’t even use Rock N Roll Fantasy.

Or Victoria.

Which was a favorite of my daughter Hannah when she was living on Victoria in British Columbia.

I could have picked five songs off of my Lola album as well. If you noticed you will see I gave it a 5 out of 5 rating. I believe the only other 5 rating I have (so far) is Carole King’s ‘Tapestry.’

And of course, the real deal of a best Kinks’ song is on the video blow. Don’t know how I forgot this tears-of-a-clown Klassic.

Check out Dave Davies on this blog for a couple of solo projects he did. Also, although I disagree with her on the Arista years, the music writer altrockchick has one of the best written takes on the Kinks I have seen.

King of Comedy (movie soundtrack)–387

MVC Rating: 4.0/$$

I remember buying this 1983 compilation soundtrack for one song. Van Morrison’s ‘Wonderful Remark.’ A great great song that at that time appeared on no other albums; it was written explicitly for this movie.

Yet I believed it was as good as anything Morrison has done — and that’s alot.

Now there are other good songs on here, some like the Pretenders’ ‘Back on the Chain Gang’ I already had (and loved). Since then the ‘Wonderful Remark’ cut has been on several compilation albums.

Listening to the soundtrack, I almost want to see the Martin Scorcese movie starring Jerry Lewis and Robert DeNiro. A black comedy it was blistered by critics at the time but now seems to have fallen into the good graces of some critics.

Play list with links from rateyourmusic.com

Here’s Van Morrison video. This song was worth the admission for me, esp. because it was unreleased at the time. but as you can see there’s other good songs here.

Kaleidoscope -388

Kaleidoscope was a pioneering psych rock folk world music band from San Francisco.

ALBUM: ‘Incredible’ (1969)

MVC Rating: 4.0/$$$$

If you like psychedelic banjo music you’ll love this.

Actually, I do. But it’s not for everybody. I became aware of this band because I’ve long been a fan of David Lindley who has put out some fun, eclectic music over the years on his own. And he also has been a fixture in Jackson Browne recordings and performances over the years.

Excellent on guitar, steel guitar, banjo – and assorted string instruments you may have never heard of. In his youth, Lindley won the Topanga Canyon Banjo Contest two years in a row back in tIhe 60’s, according to Wikipedia.

This band, Kaleidoscope, preceded Lindley’s work with Browne. It’s a product of the psychedelic 60’s but what separates it from some in this genre is the highly skilled playing of the instruments and its infusion of world music. And banjo.

It’s also an example of how now and again I decide to buy LPs.

I bought this just about a year ago for a few bucks. I saw it, saw the name David Lindley and pounced. I’ll be doing some Lindley reviews coming up after I finish the K’s .

One of the videos below is “Banjo’ and another is ‘Seven Ate Sweet’ a progressive instrumental in 7/8 time. Enjoy, or, at least, admire.


George Jones, Tammy Wynette –394-393

ALBUMS: Wynette: First Songs of the First Lady (1971); Wynette/Jones: Encore (1981); George Jones: All Time Greatest Hits Vol. 2. (1977)

Another day. Another rotation of our earth.

Tammy Wynette is on the turntable. I am awestruck.

“Walk through this world with me,” Tammy sings. “Go where I go. Share all my dreams with me. I need you so.”

This was intended to be my George Jones only countdown review. But I had a record of songs where Jones and Wynette sing duets. And I had a Tammy Wynette compilation album. So this review is a Jones-Wynette review involving those three albums.

This is country music. Period.

No alt, no country rock, no Americana, no crossover, just pure pedal steel guitar and songs about pain and suffering, that are sometimes, somehow soothing.

Tammy’s voice on ‘Apartment No. 9’ snuggles up to the swelling steel guitar. Then there are the lyrics as delivered by Tammy. Aching , soothing, angry but strong. The combination of voice, music and lyric stir a soul.

“Loneliness surrounds me, without your arms around me. ”

George Jones is Tammy’s male alter ego. Together they make you smile and cry.

Why do we like sad songs?

‘Don’t wanna play house; It makes my mommy cry
‘Cause when she played house; My daddy said good-bye. ‘

Jones and Tammy, who were married to each other for about six years and performed together for many more, have touched millions of people.

And what are they singing about? Cheating, drinking, betrayal, hope and despair, love and lust, pain and happiness. Suffering.

Our lives.

I’ll make this gripe short

I was reading this nice article online called 10 things your doctor won”t tell you about Parkinson’s disease.

The article opens:

Every year in the United States, about 60,000 people learn they have Parkinson’s disease, according to the American Parkinson Disease Association. The degenerative disorder strikes the central nervous system, impairing movement and balance, among other issues.

If you or a loved one has been recently diagnosed, these 10 things that patients who’ve been living with Parkinson’s for several years wish they’d known at diagnosis — which their doctors didn’t tell them — may make managing the disease easier.h

I found nothing wrong with the advice given. It was what advice they didn’t give.

What about Lewy?

Lewy body dementia, practically a kissing cousin of Parkinson’s. It seems ironic on a post about what doctors aren’t saying that they don’t say what is unsaid about Lewy body dementia. Wheww. That’s a tough sentence to unpack but I’m ranting on a blog so it’s OK.

But seriously, if Lewy body dementia is just the expanded version of Parkinson’s why do we leave it out o f a discussion on Parkinson’s, just like it gets left out of a lot of things.

OK, I’m done. For now.

Here’s an article I wrote earlier about Dementia Research Silos

Still upcoming this week

Dunk/Health update– today or Wednesday

Did he sell his soul to the devil?- Countdown continues with RJ –Thursday

-My Vinyl Countdown column — Saturday morning

The Afterlife — Sunday tentative

Is there such a thing as random? — Some random day next week

PS. Happy Birthday Captain Beefheart January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010 –(12/17 is my daughter Hannah’s birthday)

Donnie Iris –408

ALBUMS: ‘Back on the Street”

MVC Rating: 3.5/$$

Donnie Iris was a serial one-hit wonder.

He was involved in several high profile songs but with different groups. 

He started playing in a local band in his hometown of New Castle, Pennsylvania.

He joined the Jaggerz in 1970 and wrote  their huge hit, ‘The Rapper.’

He then became a member of Wild Cherry just after they had a huge hit with the song “Play that Funky Music White Boy.’

After that stint ended, he went solo and scored with song that seems to just come out of nowhere in 1980: the anthemic  ‘Ah Leah.’Great song with the volume cranked.

Bits and Pieces: I hope Casey Kasem was a jerk on his own

The Dave Clark Band’s ‘Bits and Pieces’ is a bad song made worse by a bad video.  Check it out.

And I generally like DC5 songs, such as  ‘Glad all Over.’ But ‘Bits and Piece’s’ is a good title for a blog post that has, well, bits and pieces.

And that’s what this is.

I ruminate on this as I come out of my recent post on one-hit wonders. I like most of the songs on my personalized wonder list. But I considered and tossed out a couple because they weren’t good.

I was reminded of this when I visited another music blog today, and it was featuring a post about Henry Gross and the love-hate relationship with the song ‘Shannon.’ Oh the memories. See this well-done website called SliceTheLife  

I dislike — but secretly like  –Shannon, kind of like ‘Brandy’ by the Looking Glass.. But seeing this post reminded there was an album by Gross called ‘Plug Me into Something’ that I remember hearing every time  I visited a friend’s house. I have fond memories of that record but never bought it for whatever reason, probably because I heard it so much without paying for it. The friend also had the Brothers Johnson ‘Strawberry Letter 23,” which I did buy (the album,  Right on Time, and is reviewed here.

Anyway the thing that had me laughing today was the Casey Kasem, he of Top 40 fame, go off the rails on Gross’ song, Shannon, about a dead dog. SliceThe Life gives more detail on that. Here’s the video.

Casey Kasem died a few years ago of complications of Lewy body dementia.

That’s of course the disease I have and awareness of the disease is a big part of this blog and my life.

I hope those weren’t early signs of LBD.

I hope Casey was just having a bad day and being a  jerk on his own. But the fact is that this insidious disease can change personalities and behavior.

I am here to tell you readers, you have the right to shut me down if I act like that. I don’t advocate violence (especially against myself) but put a piece of duct tape over my mouth or something. Or just give me some ice cream, Chunky Monkey is fine.

In other bits and pieces. I see that, ironically I guess, the song by Europe called “The Final Countdown” was named one of the top all time one-hit wonders.

My Vinyl Countdown Salutes you. Here’s what VH1 said in this somewhat dated  release:

On VH1’s 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders, [Europe’s] Joey Tempest said: “It was quite a surprise that the song ‘The Final Countdown’ became such a big hit because it was written for the band, it was written for our concert, it was written to be the opening song in our concert. It was almost six-minutes long, it was never intended to be a short pop hit or anything, it was very much a surprise and its been used for all kinds of events, anything from Formula 1 to boxing. It’s been used for a lot, sort of like an anthem. I know there’s been some cover versions of it as well and I know when the Berlin Wall (fell), at the same time that all thing happened I know a lot of other people from that area saw the song as an anthem. I get a lot of letters about that. So its been interpreted in many ways.”

And again My Vinyl Countdown salutes you.

Buddy Holly and the Crickets — 413

ALBUMS: Buddy Holly Lives  — 20 Golden Greats (1978 compilation)

MVC Rating: 5.0/$$$$$

I used this formula in a previous review and it is simplistic. Great artists are more than the sum total of who they listened to. But my lttle equation is: Chuck Berry + Buddy Holly = Beatles. It’s not an equation of who is best, it’s an equation of influences.

I tried to mess around with the Rolling Stones which might be Chuck Berry + Howlin’ Wolf = Stones? Didn’t work for me really. The Beatles clearly were taking in everything Holly was doing. “True Love Ways,” sounds like the Fab Four.

Listen to  ‘Rave On‘ with your eyes closed and you can practically see the Beatles up on stage singing that song.  Same with ‘Words of Love.’

The Beatles named themselves in homage to the Crickets.

Of course most are familiar with the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens. It was the Day the Music Died as proclaimed by  one of rock’s great songs, ‘American Pie.’

You can get a modern version of Holly in Marshall Crenshaw — who seemed to channel Holly on some very good records in the 1980s. But had Holly lived, he would have probably been pioneering  in a way beyond Crenshaw — like the Beatles were. Though intriguing, we’ll obviously never know what kind of music Holly would have brought us.

And with all due respect to Don McLean, musicians die, but the music, when it’s really really good, lives on.

Rave on, Buddy Holly.

Little things lead to something bigger (blog version)

Mike Oliver writes frequently about life and health issues and his diagnosis of a fatal brain disease, Lewy body dementia, on AL.com and his blog, www.myvinylcountdown.com
It’s the little things for which I’m thankful.
It’s the little things that bring joy to life on this spinning sphere of mud, rock, and water.
I’m thankful for the red Maple leaf that spins to the ground like a ballerina.
A quiet lake with the sun powering through the clouds. I am thankful.
I am thankful for small observations that invite a deeper reality. Living in the world is both illusory and concrete, full of heartache and pain. From the head, the heart and the soul.
A roaring ocean with storm clouds gathering at dawn like hungry white wolves.
I’m thankful for the moments that defy life’s suffering. Roller coasters, trampolines and front porch swings.
Butterflies and zebras and moonbeams and fairy tales.
Handpicked blackberries in a cobbler, hot with a scoop of fast melting vanilla ice cream.
An after dinner Thanksgiving walk. Holding hands.
The rust-colored poodle who thinks he’s golden, running the house like a greyhound after being let in from the cold.
Lightning and thunder and the inherited primal fear of it, a tiny injection of prehistoric adrenaline.
Understanding that disappointment is a manipulative device with a pinch of well meaning, but misplaced, love.
Yellow and red leaves of autumn like stained glass in November’s leaning light.
Pancakes and maple syrup, carb loading on a cold day.
A sincere compliment that makes you smile and stumble.
Hot yoga, frozen yogurt and boiled peanuts.
Sonny and Cher singing I got you, babe.
My 20-something daughter saying ‘I know this song.’
I am thankful for the little things.
They add up.
To a bigger thing.

John Hiatt — 422 421, 420, 419, 418, 417,

ALBUMS: Bring the Family (1987); Warming Up to the Ice Age (1985); Riding with the King (1983); All of a Sudden (1982); Two-bit Monster (1980); Slug Line (1979).

MVC Ratings: Family 4.5/$$$$; Warming 4.0/$$$ Riding 4.5/$$$; Sudden 4.0/$$$$; Monster 3.5/$$$; Slug 4.0/$$$

John Hiatt with his voice evoking the best and, sometimes,  worst elements of Dylan and Elvis (Costello?) is a major example of when songcraft rules. And in Hiatt’s case it does.

And then some.

John Hiatt

I hopped on for the ride with  a cut-out, ‘Riding with the King,’ a talking boast of a song and album.  On the  cover Hiatt  is sitting  on a big bike (motorcycle).

“You May Already Be a Winner’ and ‘She Loves the Jerk’  are classic tracks here but the whole album is shot through with humor, mostly sardonic. Here’s “Winner’ about a poor sap who thinks he’s won a big contest.

I know you’re tired of the same old dress
I know the car’s been repossessed
I know this house is just a shack
But there’s this love we cant hold back

Would you like a beer with your TV dinner?
Oh, my darling, you may already be a winner

As you can see, I have six of Hiatt’s albums. That’s a lot for me to have of one artist.

As I’ve explained before, I am not a completist in my record collecting ventures, was always looking for new music.  I do have on CD, ‘Slow Turning,’ which may be Hiatt’s best work. It came out in 1988 about the time CD’s were available to the masses. I have a lot of records up to about 1987 or 88,  when CDs became the main vehicle. It was the Day the Music Died. Not really, I embraced digital formats and have only recently become enamored (my wife would say absorbed) with vinyl, probably because I had boxes filled with 678 records that I  had put up for decades before my rekindled interest.

.In Hiatt’s discography, the 1987   ‘Bring the  Family’ is still vinyl but one year later we have ‘Slow Turning.’

I think Hiatt is one of the top artists to come out of the 1980s — a decade that gets picked on a lot for rock music. But here’s lyrics from a rocker on the aforementioned ‘Bring the Family.’

Sure I like country music
I like mandolins
But right now I need a telecaster
Through a vibro-lux turned up to ten

[Chorus:]
Lets go to Memphis in the meantime baby
Memphis in the meantime girl

A little postscript: I never got to see him live. Catherine did though. She was offered tickets to a show north of Orlando in early 1990s. I had to stay home on this last minute deal because of kids, girls night out it was. Catherine said he was great live.

There was a small piece of drama that night. Seems Hiatt  had a stalker, a woman if my memory serves me was arrested for stalking Hiatt. Sounds like a John Hiatt song..