The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society – I kind of feel that the Kinks are…well, not necessarily misrepresented, but underrepresented on the radio. I have nothing against “You Really Got Me” (although my wife doesn’t like it), but when I’d hear something a little more obscure like “Picture Book” or “Autumn Almanac,” it just sounded like the kind of music I could really get down with. So I finally purchased a used copy of Village Green, and I have to say I liked it immediately. As you probably already know, it’s a concept album about nostalgia, particularly of the English variety. As an American who’s never been overseas, I have to say that I romanticize England a bit, even though I’m sure it isn’t really that different than the United States in this day and age. Anyway, these songs are really catchy and enjoyable. I can definitely see the influence they had on more recent bands like XTC, too. (Yeah, calling XTC “recent” is weird, since they started in the mid-seventies, but they’re recent compared to the British Invasion.)
And while I’m at it, here’s the Young Fresh Fellows’ cover of “Picture Book”:
The Kinks were a lot like XTC in that they were SO OVERWHELMINGLY ENGLISH, which may or may not have hurt their chances for success in America. Their best period was also their most overwhelmingly British one though; Ray Davies really knew what he was doing there, and it wasn’t until he started writing about other things that the magic sort of went away (so says my mom, anyway).
Actually, I guess another way they vaguely resembled XTC is that they had difficulties with touring, although for a vastly different reason–rather than choose to go off the road of their own volition, they were actively barred from touring in the US for a couple years at their peak.
The Kinks were a lot like XTC in that they were SO OVERWHELMINGLY ENGLISH, which may or may not have hurt their chances for success in America.
I could actually see that making a band MORE popular in America, although I don’t know for sure that this is the case.
Reblogged this on scottandrewhutchins and commented:
I’ve loved this song ever since I heard it on _The Roots of Tommy_. I’ve got the album and sheet music.
Which song?
“The Village Green Preservation Society.”