HIGH GEAR

July, 1975

ENTERTAINMENT

Those Kinky Kinks

John Nosek

The world of musical entertainment reminds one of the cruel mistress who haughtily spurns her lover after a brief two week affair, only to begin anew a search for his replacement before he's even out the door. Fly by night, flash in the pan, one time hit man are all labels affixed to "stars" who peak boldly for a few months and then vanish into the faceless wasteland of mass America. Time takes his toll on countless such lost souls Fabian Forte, Petula Clark, Cliff Richards, once sought-after glamour stars of yesteryear, all probably now working as insurance people somewhere on the West Coast.

Yes, it is the rare individual who is able to make the transition successfully from one era to the next. Ray Davies of The Kinks is one of those perversely attractive peculiarities. Davies is by no means a superstar, nor for that matter even a bonafide star. Still, his continued persistence and remarkable resilience make him a hero in his own right. The Kinks have been together for nearly 12 years, and show 17 albums to their credit. Though the personnel have changed, (except for Ray and his brother, Dave) the thrust of the group remains pretty much the same. The unit continues to crank out polished, ever evolving musicianship. The Kinks have established milestone after milestone in contemporary pop music, but never were able to garnish the mass appeal of an Elton John or a Rolling Stones. Truly, the guitar riff of the 1964 single, "You Really Got Me" is a classic that has been modified and re-used by innumerable musicians in the past decade. Likewise, only Ray Davies was brave enough to come out of his closet years ago in 1967 when he wrote "Lavender Hill" and then followed it up in '69 with the immortal "Lola," a blatantly gay love song that had all of AM America singing along to its lyrics: Well I'm not the world's most masculine man /But I know what I am and I'm glad I'm a man /And so is Lola /La-la-la-la-Lola. performed this song in London, he did another first by having a transvestite strip along to the music. The audience responded frenetically.

When Davies

From Lola Davies went to the cause of the working class to the simple, folksy country life of England to the Demon Alcohol to the gay streets of Hollywood and onward to Preservation, Acts I and II, political commentarys that claimed no matter which side of a struggle one chose, he would not like it in the long run. Soap Opera is Davies' latest work and one of his best. Absurd as it may seem, (Davies is above all, an eccentric) the theme of the album is comprised of a starmaker who trades places with Norman, a middle class businessman to see how the "ordinary" people live. Replete with ballads, campy rock, and filler gags, Soap Opera is raw Davies.

If you've never seen the Kinks live, you owe yourself the trip. A theatrical extravaganza, the concert is more a broadway musical than a rock show. Continual changes of costume, reverse role-playing, and extraordinary light arrangements boggle the mind with their overall professionalism. Perhaps it's

Davies may never have a large following. due to his being a little too offbeat, (not so much like Alice Cooper as from a general philosophical base) or perhap's it's because he's considered "old" by younger people and the elders who are his peers have already settled down in the roles society expects them to play. Whatever the reasons, The Kinks keep plugging on and with a little good fortune, 12 years from now and 34 albums later, they may still be with us.

I've been put on, sat on, punched, and spat on.

Thottun

63

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