Episode 7
Scot and Jeff talk to Jay Cost about The Kinks.
Introducing the Band
Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) with guest Jay Cost, author of A Republic No More: Big Government and the Rise of American Corruption, contributing editor at The Weekly Standard, and yinzer. Follow Jay on Twitter at @JayCostTWS, read his work here, and buy his book on Amazon here.
Jay’s Musical Pick: The Kinks
How did Jay get into them? Jay talks about discovering the Kinks in college, once he finally got enough disposable income to hunt down their CDs. They’ve never left his life since, an endless well to dive back into and discover new things. Jeff talks about his experience in high school as a ‘classic rock kid’ who avoided the Kinks because nobody ever talked about their classic-era records. A chance purchase of The Kink Kronikles led to a follow-up used CD version of Village Green Preservation Society and after that all bets were off. Jeff recalls being thrown for a loop by Ray Davies’ social and lyrical concerns, which were as un-‘rock’ as anything he had ever heard up until that point.
KEY TRACK: “The Village Green Preservation Society” (The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, 1968)
The Early Garage-Rock Years: Massive Singles and Dodgy Albums
The gang surveys the early (1964-1965) era of The Kinks, when their albums were mostly-appalling collections of half-competent covers and lame ‘originals’, while their non-album singles were one titanic landmark of early British Invasion rock (and proto-punk) after another. Nobody has much other than laughter for Kinks and Kinda Kinks outside of the mega-hit singles found on each, though Jeff offers praise to “Something Better Beginning,” the conclusion of Kinda Kinks. But those amazing singles! “You Really Got Me,” “All Day And All Of The Night,” “Tired Of Waiting For You,” “Set Me Free,” “See My Friends,” “I Need You,” and the list goes on and on. Before the Kinks became the textbook example of an “album act,” they were one of the truly legendary singles acts in UK history.
The gang spares more of an ear for the Kinks’ third record, the transitional Kink Kontroversy. The originals still aren’t very sophisticated, outside of the single/B-side and a track or two, but they’re getting more refined and “Milk-Cow Blues” is maybe the only great cover the Kinks ever recorded. Also, The Kink Kontroversy sports one of the coolest, sleekest album covers of the entire pre-psychedelia pop era. Check it out here.
KEY TRACKS: “You Really Got Me” (Kinks, 1964); “All Day And All Of The Night” (A-side of single, 1964); “Nothin’ In The World Can Stop Me Worryin’ ‘Bout That Girl” (Kinda Kinks, 1965); “Tired Of Waiting For You” (Kinda Kinks, 1965); “Something Better Beginning” (Kinda Kinks, 1965); “
Published on 8 years, 2 months ago
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