Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. DXLIX--The Kinks: Catch Me Now I'm Falling

 I've got to admit (my lateness is) getting better, getting a little better all the time (it can't get no worse)....

My introduction to this week's tune came courtesy of a young man (now pretty much my age if he's still among the living) named Jeff who worked at the store in Huntsville, Alabama where I trained to be a manager for Camelot Music.  Jeff was a drummer in a punk band and wasn't all that thrilled with most of the albums we had open for instore play, but he did love a Kinks live album called One for the Road (released on my twenty-first birthday no less) and played it whenever he got a chance to put on a record.  It was chock full of Kinks' hits, all played with the gusto you'd hope for while seeing them live.  Among those hits was our song of the week, which I fell in love with almost immediately in the late summer of 1980....

I wrote about the Kinks in Jukebox Vol. CCX, and as the band has still not reunited since their breakup in 1997 and no one from the band has headed for The Great Rock and Roll Concert in the Sky (thankfully) I'm just going to let that bio stand.  I will note, though, that over the past few years my appreciation for the Kinks has done nothing but grow (largely due to finding their brilliant album Muswell Hillbillies at a library sale for a dollar), and I still think that while I wouldn't say they were underappreciated, they certainly haven't received the recognition they should have.

"Catch Me Now I'm Falling" was the second single released from their 1979 album, the rather bargain basement entitled Low Budget.  The song did not chart, while the album reached #11 on the Billboard 200.

Fun Fact:  I was actually reintroduced to this week's tune when I found One for the Road for a dollar at our library's annual sale (I have some seriously good luck at library sales) a few years back.  I'm not usually a big fan of live albums, but I have to admit it was every bit as good as it was when I first heard it in 1980.  

Until my reintroduction to "Catch Me Now I'm Falling," I'd always thought the song was a call from a guy looking for a helping hand from those he'd helped before.  Little did I know the song was actually a diatribe against those allies of America who were helped by the U.S. in their time of need yet abandoned her in the late seventies when times were a little tough (most notably during the Iran Hostage Crisis of '79-'81).  That being said, it's still a hell of a rock and roll record, with lots of killer guitar from Dave Davies, inspired lyrics and vocals from Ray Davies, and a plethora of powerful instrumental breaks.  There's a ton of repetition in the lyrics, but it really works.  You can also see why it was included on a live album--this one is made for the concert show with the flashing lights and the exploding amps.   All in all, just a stellar effort from a band at the height of its musical prowess.

Lyric Sheet:  "Now I'm calling on citizens from all over the world/This is Captain America calling/I bailed you out when you were down on your knees/So will you catch me now I'm falling..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCX--The Kinks: Waterloo Sunset

My one New Year's resolution this year was to actually post Friday Night Jukebox on Fridays...and as you can see, that resolution has already been flushed down the shitter...

The fifth year of FNJ opens with a song that doesn't come to mind as often as it should when discussing the all-time great pop songs, by a band that doesn't come to mind as often as it should when discussing the all-time great rock and roll bands.  I don't know that the song or the band are what one would call underrated--and a large part of it might be that like the Jam or Oasis they are quintessentially an English band and not as readily remembered here in the States--but their influence far supersedes their name recognition.

The Kinks were formed in 1964 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies (the seventh and eighth children of their parents--after six girls) in Muswell Hill (their childhood home), London, and have had a career full of ups and downs.  Their first hit, "You Really Got Me," reached #1 in their native U.K. and the top ten here in the U.S.--and it would be hard to underestimate its influence on the heavy metal, punk, and alternative scenes that would follow it through the years.  The band was banned for a number of years from performing in the U.S. because of the brothers fighting on stage (as well as fighting between Dave Davies and original drummer Mick Avory).  From the mid-sixties through the early seventies the band saw a great deal of success before falling out of popularity until the late seventies when they had a resurgence through the mid-eighties.  The band would have little success until their breakup in 1996.  Since then, the two brothers have performed solo, though last year Ray Davies spoke of a reunion that may include a tour.  Through the years the Kinks sold over 50 million records, having five top ten singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and nine albums make the top 40 on the Billboard 200, as well as having 17 top twenty singles and five top ten albums in their native U.K.  Over the course of their career, the Kinks released 24 studio albums, 4 live albums, and two compilations.  They've been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the U.K. Music Hall of Fame.  They were ranked 65th on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Artist of All-Time, and count Pete Townshend of the Who, the Jam, the Pretenders, Oasis, Blur, the Clash, and the Ramones as bands who were both fans of, and influenced by, the music of the Kinks.

Fun Fact:  Rod Stewart went to the same school as the Davies boys and was the lead singer of their band the Ray Davies Quartet for a couple of gigs before forming his own band called Rod Stewart and the Moonrakers while they were in secondary school (similar to our high school).

"Waterloo Sunset" was released in 1967 on their somewhat oddly titled album Something Else by the Kinks.  It would reach #2 on the U.K. charts...but, although it was released as a single in the U.S., it never charted (whoa--decided lack of cool kids here in the states!).  The song was ranked #42 on "Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time."

The dean of American rock critics, Robert Christgau, has called "Waterloo Sunset" the "most beautiful song in the English language" (a case could be made).  Pete Townshend has called the song "divine" and a "masterpiece."  emaycee freely admits to being very late in discovering "Waterloo Sunset" (never heard it until the Rolling Stone 500 list was released, but in fairness, it was a) originally released when I was eight, and b) not a hit here in the states of any sort), but it didn't take long after first hearing it to fall right in love with it.  There's a bit much to the song to describe in a paragraph, but suffice it to say that it combines the best of what the brothers do--lyrics of introspection, a chronicle of England, and understated vocals with a beautiful melody (courtesy of Ray), and an otherworldly guitar with complementary backing vocals (courtesy of Dave Davies, with an assist from Ray's first wife on the background vocals).  I should also mention that the song is--in something of a rarity for a pop single--a song about a perfectly content introvert who's perfectly content to watch a beautiful sunset...and it's the kind of song that the more you listen, the more you appreciate its greatness.  In the end, this year will feature fifty-one more songs that I truly love...but none of them will be close to the artistic genius that the Kinks have imbued in "Waterloo Sunset."

Lyric Sheet:  "People so busy, makes me feel dizzy/Taxi light shines so bright/But I don't need no friends/As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset/I am in paradise..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. XCVIII--The Jam: The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had to Swallow)

When I write Friday Night Jukebox each week, the song I've chosen was picked months ago.  I keep a notebook by my computer that lists each week and what song will be written about for that week (I currently have songs lined up through February of 2018)--and there's really no order to how a song is chosen.  I hear it, or remember it, and I think, "Man, that'd be a great one to write about..." and I log it in my FNJ notebook.

Little did I know when it was originally chosen that "The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had to Swallow)" by
The Jam, would pop up in the same week as the single most disheartening election of my entire existence.  And let me tell you, the election of Donald Trump was one mother fucking bitter pill to swallow--though I have to admit I'm hoping this trend of FNJ songs reflecting current happenings continues and I win the Powerball jackpot the week I highlight "Money (That's What I Want)"  by Barrett Strong....

In 2002 Virgin Radio did a poll and eventually a countdown of the top 100 English music acts of all time and the top five in order were Queen, The Beatles, Oasis, David Bowie, and...The Jam.  I note this because the first four had substantial, though to somewhat varying degrees, success here in the States, and The Jam had none.  Their most successful album here was Sound Affects which peaked at a celestial #72 (and probably not with much of a bullet either).  Nonetheless, The Jam would probably make my top five favorite bands of all time (and their greatest hits package Snap! is the greatest greatest hits package ever, bar none), and I can honestly say I've met exactly one person in my life who liked them--and that was a hundred years ago when I was in my early twenties.

And here's where I go full on fan boy:  heavily influenced by my all-time favorite band The Who and the band I think is the most underrated group ever, The Kinks, The Jam musically were a mix of sixties pop, Rhythm and Blues, punk, and new wave, and lyrically were political, poetically English, and never lost sight of their working class roots.  Paul Weller's vocals varied from anger to matter-of-fact to sorrow and never sounded false or contrived.  And, as an added bonus, they dressed super snazzily.  Sadly, the band lasted all of five years (1977-1982) before a bitter break-up (Weller and bassist Bruce Foxton didn't speak for twenty years and though now reconciled, Weller said he and his children would have to destitute and living in the streets before he'd ever consider a reunion), releasing only six albums, but leaving dorks like me a host of songs to marvel at into our old age.  Weller would go on to form the Style Council (not for me) and have some solo success; his band mates did what lesser talented band mates usually do:  form lesser talented bands that have as many hits records as I do:  zero.

Released as a single in 1982, "The Bitterest Pill"  surprisingly enough is not about disappointing election results but rather about love lost and the ensuing heartache when said love finds their soul mate who in no way whatsoever resembles you.  I don't want this post to turn into a novel (well on its way!) so suffice it to say that the song combines the best of sixties soul with vocals that fluctuate between heartbreak and, unsurprisingly, bitterness, and all the while it's catchy as all hell, because, what the fuck, just because you're miserable doesn't mean you can't dance.

Lyric sheet:  "For the bitterest pill is hard to swallow/The love I gave hangs in sad coloured, mocking shadows..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee