"I go to BlackPOLL for my holidays,"-- ILM Artist Poll #17 -- The Kinks RESULTS THREAD

No really,

1.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51rWPP0EAEL._SS400_.jpg

The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, 1968 -- 73 Points (20 Votes, 7 #1's)

xp "Working at the Factory" might've made my top...50.

BTW, this was up as a customer image on the amazon Think Visual page:

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/b6/a0/66bc810ae7a0d30be5a31210.L.jpg

heh yukyuk

xp "Working at the Factory" might've made my top...50.

Yes. That's a real good song, although it gets tiring listening to Ray whine about the music industry.

I remember liking "The Video Shop" too, but thinking it was twice as long as it needed to be.

I think other people must enjoy the Kinks differently from me, because "Village Green" is easily my least favorite of the 1966-1971 Kinks albums. It sounds like de-clawed Kinks to me.

random Kinks catalog question: how many songs has Ray Davies written about/referencing his sister emigrating to Australia. 10? 20?

Now the "Most Hated"

5 (Three-Way Tie)

http://www.spirit-of-rock.com/les%20goupes/T/The%20Kinks/A%20Gallon%20of%20Gas/A%20Gallon%20of%20Gas.jpg

"A Gallon of Gas"
Low Budget, 1979

http://www.demotivationalposters.org/image/demotivational-poster/small/1009/destroyer-paranoia-poster-day-cubby-kinks-tribute-demotivational-poster-1284127934.jpg

"Destroyer"
Give The People What They Want, 1981

http://www.techxplode.com/wp-content/uploads/white-people-stole-my-car.png

"Somebody Stole My Car"
Phobia, 1993

Each 3 Points (2 Votes)

i voted for "Destroyer" -- i will try not to troll this thread too much but in the course of putting together my ballot and listening to a bunch of songs (I'm mostly familiar with them from the Ultimate Kinks 2xCD comp) i realized that i kinda sorta hate this band, or at least RD's voice/sense of humor.

4.

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/252/6039781.jpg

"Harry Rag"
Something Else By The Kinks, 1967
6 Points (3 Votes, 1 #1)

3.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Lazy_Lester.jpg/220px-Lazy_Lester.jpg

"Naggin' Woman"
Kinda Kinks, 1965
6 Points (2 Votes, 2 #1's)

Harry Rag is so weird. never heard this euphemism for weed anywhere else.

BTW, That's Lazy Lester, who did the original. (xpost)

2.

http://img.wax.fm/releases/1572018/kinks-come-dancing-1310276.jpeg

"Come Dancing"
State of Confusion, 1983
7 Points (3 Votes, 2 #1's)

Weird. Had no idea that song was hated by Kinks fans at all. Always thought it was widely seen as a resounding return to form.

well, 3 votes. and one of 'em is me, who just came out as a non-fan.

1.

http://images.45cat.com/the-kinks-a-rock-n-roll-fantasy-1978-s.jpg

"Black Messiah"
Misfits, 1978
9 Points (3 Votes, 3 #1's)

I was 8 when Come Dancing came out, but I thought it was great if not a little confusing thanks to the video, which I watched over and over and over while we were on vacation because I had MTV for the first time in my short life. Had nfi what a Pally was, that's for sure.

I didn't know anyone hated it either.

some people need to listen to 'art lover'

And that's it for today.

Will be back to begin the "Top 50" Rollout tomorrow.

well, 3 votes. and one of 'em is me, who just came out as a non-fan.

haha, no, I wasn't saying "Grr, you're not a fan if you don't like this." I'm just surprised is all.

idg hating "Come Dancing", at least not enough to give it a hate vote.

"Come Dancing" is great. video with the old cleaning ladies dancing with mops = A+

I didn't vote for hated songs because I don't hate any enough to put my loathing on record.

i remember first hearing it while watching a block of random videos on MTV2 or VH1 Classic like 15 years ago and just being horrified by it

I DO get hating "Destroyer"...can totally understand that impulse. I don't though.

People, what is wrong with Come Dancing? It's a great song. How can it get more hate than Rock n' Roll Cities?

it's way more famous obviously, for one

I didn't vote for any hated tracks. There's a whole gob of shit on things like Soap Opera or Think Visual, but I don't guess I honestly hate any of it. Even the more famous tracks that can be overplayed are still underplayed by virtue of them being Kinks songs.

I mainly voted for hated tracks because of "Black Messiah." Has Ray ever been called out on that song's racism?

I'd say 95% of Ray's whole repertoire is sung from a character pov, so "Black Messiah" is a slippery one.

I hate "Harry Rag", even tried to sell Something Else once because of it before a friend kindly intervened

Harry Rag is so weird. never heard this euphemism for weed anywhere else.

― Jilly Boel and the Eltones (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, April 17, 2012 1:25 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

doesn't Harry Rag = Fag = Cigarette?

yah I always thought it was about cigs, lyrics definitely imply hardcore addiction

"Village Green" is easily my least favorite of the 1966-1971 Kinks albums. It sounds like de-clawed Kinks to me.

― o. nate, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 20:16 (Yesterday)

I agree with this challop.

ha! i put come dancing on my best-tracks ballot! oh well.

i voted for arthur as the best kinks album.

also tbqh i'm pretty sure ray davies is a racist.

he's an asshole, anyway. he just got the holy spirit for a few years there.

"Harry Rag" almost made my top 20.

I'll save my defense of "Destroyer" for whenever it shows up in the top 50 (I'm assuming it will?). But I think it's a pretty great song for a lot of reasons.

Harry Rag did make my top 20. Always loved it. Had no idea anyone would dislike it. Sorta Threepenny Opera-ish.

Surprised someone else besides me voted for "Naggin' Woman". But Lazy Lester didn't sing the original, although it's probably him playing harp on Jimmy Anderson's Excello 45 from 1962, which is pretty great....here.

Also, it's hard to argue that the any of the albums outside of the span from Face to Face -> Muswell Hillbillies are better than those inside the span. It's more about the order one would rank them. The order we got for top four would be the order you'd get if the sample size was 50 or 1000, though.

Harry Rag is so weird. never heard this euphemism for weed anywhere else.

― Jilly Boel and the Eltones (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, April 17, 2012 8:25 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Well, firstly, it's not a euphemism for weed. It's also cockney rhyming slang, so it's pretty exclusive to one part of the UK.
'Harry Rag' = fag, and fag = British slang for 'cigarette', except in the North-East. It's just a song about smoking cigarettes, really.

Anyhow, no surprise to see which Kinks album topped the 'best album' poll. My #1 (Lola Vs Powerman And The Moneygoround) was 6th, and 'Come Dancing' also made my "worst tracks" ballot. Never liked it. That keyboard lick is pure cheese.

It's the last verse that saves it, and also that Its The Kinks! In the Charts! Yay!

(although the next single "Don't forget to dance" seemed a lazy)

You all know that the Davies' sister died at a local dance when Ray was 13, right?

:-(

i'd say kink kronikles might be better than lola (the LP).

It's the last verse that saves it, and also that Its The Kinks! In the Charts! Yay!

Clive Davis didn't want it released as a single in the US, but Ray convinced him. Turned out to be their biggest hit since "Tired of Waiting for You" (same peak, #6).

Ok I didn't think I had a least favorite Kinks song, but that's it -- "Tired of Waiting" is so boring!

timely message in arthur concerning the british tendency to genuflect before wealth and power even as it destroys you. quite dispiriting that he ended up accepting a knighthood

New mix of "Australia" from the reissue sounding pretty good this morning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FKOzZwODO8

Happy birthday Ray Davies! Long live THE KINKS
Their music always puts me in a good mood, feels like home :)

"Some Mother’s Son" missed the top 50!? I figured that that was widely beloved.

A good countdown, the only song in the top 50 that I dislike is "Dedicated Follower of Fashion".

Favourite deep cut not included: "Supersonic Rocketship" or "He's Evil".
Favourite Dave song: "Lincoln County".

Chatting with a buddy tonight about all things Kinks on Ray's bday, & he contends Ray is UK's best songwriter, & I do believe I may agree with him. Arthur sounding great tonight. They should have never trashed those Holiday Inns. America missed out. But maybe that's what made em great.

I absolutely love "Destroyer" what the fuck was wrong with ILX in 2012?

i've got red hot kinks fever. i really love this live cut:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGkUwSiJ7VQ

this would be my ballot, or something like this:

till the end of the day
picture book
dead end street
days
i go to sleep
i need you
waterloo sunset
session man
strangers
tired of waiting for you
big sky
death of a clown
you shouldn't be sad
party line
starstruck
david watts
you really got me
the world keeps going round
do you remember walter?
victoria
all day and all of the night
animal farm
i'm not like everybody else
when i see that girl of mine
she's got everything
20th century man
shangri-la
mr. pleasant
ring the bells
get back in line

i have no idea on the albums. i do think that i favor arthur/lola less than a lot of others, and i think their earlier garage stuff is wonderful even when they're on autopilot. ray davies sounded cool as hell on some of those songs.

Nice to see your appreciation for some of the more obscure tracks on The Kinks Kontroversy.

yeah i love that album so much! it flows really well. songs like "what's in store for me" are kind of the "autopilot" mode i was talking about - it would fit in really well on the Beatles Help, I think from the same year, which is high praise imo. i'm not sure who's influencing who at that point, in '65. but i think it's impressive for the kinks to hang with the beatles on a kind of deep cut like that, from the same year, because at the point the beatles had played a billion raw garage shows in germany/liverpool etc and they were probably tight as hell. the kinks seem to just kind of arrive and immediately sound like an absolute unit. underrated drumming, in the pocket/ringo style

Plus they had like half an hour to record their albums in Pye's second rate studios.

Steven Hyden has a ranking of the Kinks' 50 best songs on Uproxx: https://uproxx.com/indie/the-kinks-best-songs-ranked/

There's a surprise #1! Nothing post 1984, and only two songs from 1975-1980, but I've got to give him points for including my beloved "He's Evil" from Preservation Act 2.

He makes some interesting points in his blurbs that might read better if not chopped up in the list format, but there's observations I haven't thought of and anecdotes I haven't heard:

Another Ray Davies contradiction: “Love me! Okay, now stop loving me!” The song reiterates the message. It’s about how bad things happen in life, but that is okay, because nothing really matters in the long run. Is this comforting? Or is it just profoundly sad? These are not the right questions as it pertains to the worldview of Ray Davies.

The central dynamic of The Kinks — the tumultuous relationship between brothers and Ray and Dave — is best summed up by an anecdote shared by Ray about the death of their mother. “I was in New York cutting a record,” Ray said, “and he was by her bedside, and he rang me and he said: ‘She’s dead.’ I said: ‘Will you check?’ And he said: ‘I’ve checked already.'”

Listening to (almost all) of the Kinks selections in his list, I realized for the first time while listening to "Arthur" that I'm the subject of the song rather than the voice of the singer. I also realized that too often I am the Big Sky, trying to look down on everyone.

kudos to that writer for putting young and innocent days so high, my favorite deep cut. how many different keyboard sounds are on that one?

david watts came up on a jog last week and i wondered how many other davies songs are double character studies? two sisters obviously. but david watts, maybe i was loopy from my jog but i pondered if davies was implying the dull and simple narrator lad was actually attracted to david watts without realizing or suppressing that he was gay? i checked out the history of the song and was pleased to see the real david watts was gay but the song was also based on a presumably straight kid from ray's school days that he was jealous of.

wonder what the point of the jam's cover of it was, i doubt they even clocked it was homoerotic-themed. i suppose it was chosen by foxton subliminally suppressing his envy of weller.

My kingdom for a Spotify playlist of the top 50 tunes. Did that ever get made?

I am good with that #1 tbh

XP This poll was conducted back before there was much Kinks on Spotify. Give me little bit and I build a playlist.

...and here we go: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6jEikofhLoBF6jh6e2B8FH?si=fItxqSEtQUiWDiaYQotxDw&pi=SvLbQ9ghQbW7-

Went with the Mono versions up through Village Green, as that was the way I (mostly) first heard them on the Castle/Sanctuary remasters in the '00s (and was listening to when running this poll). Missed seeing that they have a Mono Arthur up as well until I was too far in. IIRC, that mix is just a fold-down that was barely released at the time, so no big deal.

Give me little bit and I build a playlist.

<IN RAY DAVIES CALYPSO VOICE>

Xp thanks for this!!

luv y'all and luv The Kinks but fuck Spotify. Some cool picks in that list that I don't have, I tap out at Preservation.