The 500 = #289 - Something Else - The Kinks

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #289

Album Title: Something Else

Artist: The Kinks

Genre: Baroque Pop, Music Hall, R&B

Recorded: Pye Studios, London, UK

Released: September, 1967

My age at release: 2

How familiar was I with it before this week: One Song

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, dropping to #478 (since 2012)

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Waterloo Sunset

For me, my friends and, I suspect, many people of my age bracket, our first exposure to The Kinks was by way of Van Halen’s version of You Really Got Me.

I was also familiar with the cheeky 1970 hit, Lola, by The Kinks –a somewhat controversial song which chronicled a romantic encounter in Soho, London, between a man and a trans-woman. Over the years, I have heard a handful of Kinks songs, with A Dedicated Follower of Fashion being my favourite. However, I never purchased a Kinks record and, until recently, had never listened to a Kinks album in its entirety.

The English band was founded by brothers Ray and Dave Davies while still in high school. Ray was 18 and Dave was only 15 when they began performing at school dances under the names The Ray Davis Quintet, The Bo-Weevils, The Ramrods and The Ravens.

The Davies line-up temporarily featured a 17-year-old Rod Stewart on vocals before he went on to form his own group, Rod Stewart and The Moonrakers, who became a local rival for pub gigs in the North London region. By 1964, the group comprised the Davies brothers (guitars and vocals), Peter Quaife (bass) and Mick Avory (drums). They also settled on the name The Kinks which was intended to garner them attention because of its slightly naughty connotation.

The Kinks (1965) (l-r) Quaife, D. Davies, R. Davies, Avory

The group gained international fame with the release of You Really Got Me in 1964 when they began heavy touring. The schedule was grueling and tempers soon flared. The most notable incident was an on-stage fight between Dave Davies and Avory at the Capitol Theatre in Cardiff, Wales. Frustrated by his bandmate's playing, Davies insulted Avory and kicked over his drum set. Avory responded by hitting Davies in the head with a cymbal stand, knocking him unconscious. Thinking he had killed the guitarist, Avory fled. Davies was taken to the hospital for 16 stitches. When the police became involved, Avory managed to avoid charges by telling them that it was "part of the show" and had just gotten a little out of hand.

Something Else By The Kinks (often shortened to Something Else) was the group’s fifth studio record. It became  the first of their three records to make The 500 list. It was a departure from their earlier releases which were more rock oriented. Something Else is considered baroque pop, a genre best described as a fusion of ornate and majestic styles from classical music, with rock and roll rhythms. Often, the harpsichord is included to create the classical effect. Legendary studio musician Nicky Hopkins was recruited to play this complex instrument on two of the tracks, Two Sisters and Love Me Till The Sun Shines. 

Hopkins (1974)

Something Else also features many of Ray Davies' introspective lyrics, including the only track from the album with which I was familiar, Waterloo Sunset. In the song, a solitary narrator is watching two lovers, Terry and Julie, passing over a bridge at sundown. The song is often studied in university arts courses and purportedly the lovers were inspired by Terence Stamp and Julie Christie who starred in the contemporaneously released film, Far From The Madding Crowd. Davies has dismissed the assertion, saying  the couple was inspired by one of his sisters and her boyfriend.

Music journalist Robert Christgau has called Waterloo Sunset "the most beautiful song in the English language" and Pete Townshend of The Who declared it a "divine masterpiece". Consequently, it was an easy pick for my 500 Spotify playlist. We'll be back with The Kinks in about eight months with album #258, The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society.