Globetrotting

Mel and I shelled out for a couple new ipods a while back. I think it’s mandatory to be allowed to walk around on campus, so we promptly joined up with the white headphone sect. I will say it was a great purchase. Everyone who works at the library listens to their ipod during shifts, so I’ve been able to really get into some albums lately and listen to them from beginning to end, uninterrupted, through headphones…the way music should be heard. 

I recommend giving a good listen to The Kinks album Part One: Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround. Of course you’ve heard the song Lola “L-O-L-A Lola!” (And probably have it stuck in your head now), but it’s a great single in the middle of an amazing epic of music. Mick turned me onto this album. I’d known about the Kinks of course for a long time, but never really associated them with much beyond You really got me now. There’s no mistaking that Part One Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround is one of the greatest albums of all time. It’s reminiscent of The Flaming Lips, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots to me, as they’re both album albums, focusing on a few thematic story concepts, uniting the tracks with a fusion of music that is unmistakably unique. Lola vs. Powerman was released in 1970, but seems to have gotten lost somewhere between the sixties and seventies and is begging for anyone to discover this classic.

The album opens with the track The Contenders, and a little acoustic bluegrass ditty sets the tone of the album. The first words Ray Davies tells us… 

Hush little mammy don’t you cry

I’ve got to see what it’s like on the world outside

Got to get out of this life somehow

Got to be free, got to be free now  

From the beginning we can see this is more than your basic British pop. Abruptly Dave Davies (Ray’s brother) rips a heavy blues rift with tone so boogieable it’s dangerous. With a full band jamming in psychedelic rock/country fusion sort of way, Ray goes on to say they “don’t want to sweep sidewalks…construct highways, and live under fascist dictators,” Progressive even by today’s philosophies. 

The second track Strangers has got to be one of my favorites. “Strangers on this road we are on, we are not two we are one”, the rest of the lyrics speak to me in so many ways. The future, the past, the ups and downs of life, the love you have, and the love you live for. Great songwriting.

In Denmark Street the Kinks get in to commentary on the business of music, and all the commercial bullshit that comes along with it.  In truth they’re just a band living in the shadows trying to write their way into history by spreading their message. All the while not getting much recognition and fighting the business of music every step of the way. This album is the Kinks telling us how hard it is to speak your mind to so many people. They make jokes of the whole situation, and question the concepts of “the rock and roll hit parade” and popularity in general.   

And of course Lola is a great song. It’s the peak of this musical opera, the Kinks going against songwriting, the music industry, and all the perils of the world. 

Ok Apeman! This is my favorite song. When the opening drums and guitar picking comes in you know this is going to be a fantastic track.  Davies voice has such a smooth teetering to it, as if it’s balancing high up on a tree branch. 

I think I’m sophisticated

‘Cos I’m living my life 

Like a good homosapien

But all around me everybody’s multiplying

We think were doing so good, living our lives to the best of our abilities however looking around our efforts seem futile so……lets not lie to ourselves and go live in the jungle like apes, like we really want to. I love it.

I think I’m so educated and I’m so civilized

‘Cos I’m a strict vegetarian

But with the over-population and inflation and starvation

And the crazy politicians

I don’t feel safe in this world no more

I don’t want to die in a nuclear war

I want to sail away to a distant shore

And make like an Apeman!

These guys are pouring their hearts out, through such a great song. They’re serious but not taking themselves serious. This album has a very honest feeling to it. 

Well, I won’t tell you how it ends, but the ideas and music The Kinks brought to their fans was revolutionary in its day. This album falls in that special category of music that went overlooked by the mainstream and is out there waiting to be found. Check it out, it’s a good day guaranteed.