1
00:00:04,100 --> 00:00:06,500
(SOUND OF LEATHER ON WILLOW)
No!

2
00:00:06,620 --> 00:00:08,540
(GENTLE CHATTER)

3
00:00:15,700 --> 00:00:17,660
(SOUND OF LEATHER ON WILLOW)

4
00:00:17,780 --> 00:00:19,700
Out!

5
00:00:44,500 --> 00:00:48,660

Preservation Society.

6
00:00:48,820 --> 00:00:51,660
It's an album that you don't
want to tell many people about.

7
00:00:51,820 --> 00:00:54,100
I think it's so personal
to everyone that hears it.

8
00:00:54,260 --> 00:01:00,900

when the world was young.

9
00:01:01,020 --> 00:01:03,900
He was somehow able to fuse together

10
00:01:04,020 --> 00:01:05,980
all these different styles of music

11
00:01:06,100 --> 00:01:08,260
and points of view.

12
00:01:08,420 --> 00:01:10,820

of the summer.

13
00:01:10,980 --> 00:01:14,140
It's a romance of England
that is in the details.

14
00:01:14,300 --> 00:01:17,220
It's not in the big stuff,
it's in the little stuff.

15
00:01:17,380 --> 00:01:21,380
That is easily one of the top
three albums you have to have.

16
00:01:21,500 --> 00:01:25,860


17
00:01:25,980 --> 00:01:28,740


18
00:01:28,900 --> 00:01:31,580
It pretty much encapsulates
all that I like about England.

19
00:01:31,740 --> 00:01:34,860
Whether it's the real England
or an imagined one,

20
00:01:35,020 --> 00:01:38,140
it doesn't really matter
too much because it's art.

21
00:01:47,860 --> 00:01:50,100
We made an album
about childhood friends

22
00:01:50,260 --> 00:01:52,220
and characters we knew
when we were growing up.

23
00:01:52,380 --> 00:01:54,260
The band have played great
and the record

24
00:01:54,420 --> 00:01:57,020
is going down well
with everyone who hears it.

25
00:01:57,180 --> 00:02:00,820
The thing is, the record companies
want us to be a singles band.

26
00:02:00,980 --> 00:02:04,260
Not one to make a thematic album
about lost youth

27
00:02:04,380 --> 00:02:06,540
and innocence on the village green.

28
00:02:06,700 --> 00:02:10,620
So, things don't work out, this could
be the last record we ever make.

29
00:02:10,740 --> 00:02:13,380
Time will tell, I guess.

30
00:02:13,540 --> 00:02:18,140
So, we'll have to wait
and see what happens, won't we?

31
00:02:19,860 --> 00:02:23,420


32
00:02:42,820 --> 00:02:45,780


33
00:02:45,940 --> 00:02:49,020

know what I'm doing now

34
00:02:50,020 --> 00:02:52,860


35
00:02:53,020 --> 00:02:55,380

so I can't sleep at night.

36
00:02:57,060 --> 00:02:59,380
Totally unbelievable really.

37
00:02:59,540 --> 00:03:02,580
It seemed like everything
we did was in the newspapers.

38
00:03:02,740 --> 00:03:06,020
It was really... It was like
something that caught fire

39
00:03:06,180 --> 00:03:08,860
all of a sudden.
We were surrounded by girls.

40
00:03:08,980 --> 00:03:11,980
I was only, like, 16. 15, 16.

41
00:03:12,100 --> 00:03:14,060
Women and girls.

42
00:03:14,220 --> 00:03:17,660
And, um, it was
really extraordinary.

43
00:03:17,780 --> 00:03:19,900
We used to do a lot of theatres

44
00:03:20,060 --> 00:03:22,340
and they'd all be
sitting there screaming.

45
00:03:22,500 --> 00:03:27,940
Er, but I never thought
I'd experience it but I did.

46
00:03:28,100 --> 00:03:30,660
The Kinks!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

47
00:03:30,780 --> 00:03:33,860


48
00:03:37,220 --> 00:03:41,220
Going to America, I thought this
was going to be, like, marvellous,

49
00:03:41,340 --> 00:03:43,260
it's going to be like heaven.

50
00:03:43,420 --> 00:03:47,220
And, um, and I was actually
quite disappointed

51
00:03:47,380 --> 00:03:50,980
because the Americans
seemed a little bit

52
00:03:51,140 --> 00:03:53,900
out of touch and stuck
in the '50s a bit.

53
00:03:54,060 --> 00:03:58,500
I was waiting to hear all the great
blues players and where were they?

54
00:03:58,660 --> 00:04:02,540

with you all of the time

55
00:04:02,660 --> 00:04:04,900


56
00:04:05,060 --> 00:04:07,740
In those days, it was,
like, four singles a year

57
00:04:07,900 --> 00:04:13,540
and an album and two EPs, four-track
EPs. So the pressure was always on.

58
00:04:13,700 --> 00:04:16,260
Well, actually,
we were a very prolific band

59
00:04:16,420 --> 00:04:21,860
and Ray really started
to become a prolific writer.

60
00:04:21,980 --> 00:04:25,060
And, um, it used to be relentless.

61
00:04:25,220 --> 00:04:31,140
Going to the studio and recording
a single in a day. Right, next.

62
00:04:31,300 --> 00:04:34,180
You know, I'm uncomfortable
being a so-called pop celebrity.

63
00:04:34,300 --> 00:04:36,220
I don't want to play that game.

64
00:04:36,380 --> 00:04:38,540
I just want to write songs
about things I care about.

65
00:04:38,700 --> 00:04:41,100
We're a working-class band
celebrating being British

66
00:04:41,260 --> 00:04:43,220
and I don't know if America
always understands

67
00:04:43,340 --> 00:04:45,260
that aspect of the Kinks.

68
00:04:45,420 --> 00:04:49,100
Also, our managers are in
a legal dispute with each other

69
00:04:49,260 --> 00:04:51,260
and it's creating tension
within the group.

70
00:04:52,660 --> 00:04:55,300
I've got a distinct feeling
something bad is going to happen.

71
00:05:05,220 --> 00:05:09,980

stopped to worry about a thing

72
00:05:10,140 --> 00:05:14,380

and never tried to sing...

73
00:05:14,540 --> 00:05:17,900
We went over there.
Got thrown in the deep end a bit.

74
00:05:18,060 --> 00:05:20,180
Then things went wrong.
Union trouble.

75
00:05:20,340 --> 00:05:23,860
And we did things
we weren't supposed to do.

76
00:05:23,980 --> 00:05:27,180


77
00:05:27,300 --> 00:05:31,260


78
00:05:31,420 --> 00:05:35,300

the good times gone?

79
00:05:35,420 --> 00:05:37,340
It all got into a bit...

80
00:05:37,500 --> 00:05:41,460
We had some... A bit of
a hot-headed sort of argument.

81
00:05:41,580 --> 00:05:44,980
It got a bit physical at one time.

82
00:05:45,140 --> 00:05:51,420
America cut us off really
in our prime in many respects.

83
00:05:51,540 --> 00:05:53,460
Why were you banned?

84
00:05:53,580 --> 00:05:55,300
(SIGHS)

85
00:05:55,420 --> 00:05:58,420
A series of things. Fistfights,

86
00:05:58,540 --> 00:06:00,900
union dispute, badly managed.

87
00:06:01,060 --> 00:06:03,860
There's a side of America
that is extremely conservative

88
00:06:04,020 --> 00:06:09,140
and resents anybody else coming over
and beating them at their own game,

89
00:06:09,300 --> 00:06:11,180
which is what the
British groups were doing.

90
00:06:11,340 --> 00:06:14,700
There were visa problems for a lot
of British groups in that period.

91
00:06:14,860 --> 00:06:17,780
The American Musicians' Union
was very, very obstructive.

92
00:06:17,940 --> 00:06:20,540
So I'm sure that was
probably a major part of it.

93
00:06:20,700 --> 00:06:23,260
America was the source
of all my musical inspiration,

94
00:06:23,380 --> 00:06:25,540
so we felt cheated.

95
00:06:25,700 --> 00:06:27,900
It never really bothered me
because it was kind of...

96
00:06:28,020 --> 00:06:30,220
I'd rather be at home anyway.

97
00:06:38,220 --> 00:06:40,780
Since we've been banned
from touring America,

98
00:06:40,980 --> 00:06:43,700
everyone says we should sing our
new songs with American accents

99
00:06:43,860 --> 00:06:47,140
to broaden their appeal but, to me,
it wouldn't suit the material.

100
00:06:47,300 --> 00:06:50,300
Don't get me wrong, it was American
music that first inspired me

101
00:06:50,460 --> 00:06:54,260
to become a musician but
I'm a working-class Londoner

102
00:06:54,380 --> 00:06:57,140
and I can't pretend to be otherwise.

103
00:06:57,300 --> 00:07:00,860
So, from now on, I'm singing
about where I come from,

104
00:07:01,020 --> 00:07:05,100
about people that I know
and in my own accent.

105
00:07:05,220 --> 00:07:07,780


106
00:07:07,900 --> 00:07:10,380


107
00:07:10,540 --> 00:07:13,220

at five-thirty...

108
00:07:13,380 --> 00:07:16,700
I think when Ray Davies just
decided to, like, stop pursuing

109
00:07:16,860 --> 00:07:20,700
the kind of RandB, the American
thing and drop the accent a bit,

110
00:07:20,860 --> 00:07:25,860
they did turn more introspective,
more English.

111
00:07:26,020 --> 00:07:30,740
Everybody in the mid-'60s had to
sound American. If you didn't

112
00:07:30,900 --> 00:07:33,580
sound American, you weren't
dealing in the correct currency.

113
00:07:33,740 --> 00:07:37,100
'Sorry, we don't take Scottish
pounds,' or whatever it was.

114
00:07:37,260 --> 00:07:40,580
You weren't...
You just couldn't get arrested.

115
00:07:40,740 --> 00:07:43,780
And so everybody had
smatterings of RandB

116
00:07:43,940 --> 00:07:47,580
and the blues and rock and roll
and that sort of stuff.

117
00:07:47,740 --> 00:07:52,500
But then the Kinks hit
this huge seam of Englishness

118
00:07:52,660 --> 00:07:58,300
and wa-hah! It gelled.
It just took off.

119
00:07:58,460 --> 00:08:01,140
Ian Hunter from Mott the Hoople
said, when they asked him,

120
00:08:01,300 --> 00:08:03,460
'Why have you written
All The Way To Memphis?'

121
00:08:03,620 --> 00:08:06,900
He said, 'Well, I can hardly write
'All The Way To Walthamstow.'

122
00:08:07,060 --> 00:08:09,940
But, in fact, Ray Davies did write,
'All The Way To Walthamstow.'

123
00:08:10,100 --> 00:08:12,900
And, indeed,
Willesden Green and beyond.

124
00:08:13,060 --> 00:08:16,180

in his body and his mind

125
00:08:16,340 --> 00:08:19,620

man about town

126
00:08:19,780 --> 00:08:23,300

so conservatively

127
00:08:24,420 --> 00:08:26,860


128
00:08:26,980 --> 00:08:29,420


129
00:08:29,580 --> 00:08:31,940

with councillors

130
00:08:32,060 --> 00:08:34,060


131
00:08:34,180 --> 00:08:35,300


132
00:08:35,460 --> 00:08:37,500
Because we were banned
from touring America,

133
00:08:37,660 --> 00:08:41,980
I decided to become British
and look at where I'm from.

134
00:08:42,140 --> 00:08:44,580
Write songs about
the place I grew up.

135
00:08:44,700 --> 00:08:46,700
And nobody was doing that.

136
00:08:46,860 --> 00:08:50,380
You have the first Kinks EP
which is, um,

137
00:08:50,540 --> 00:08:53,460
the first of Ray's
social-comment songs,

138
00:08:53,580 --> 00:08:55,500
which is A Well Respected Man.

139
00:08:55,660 --> 00:08:59,340
And suddenly,
he finds a new, um, avenue,

140
00:08:59,460 --> 00:09:02,060
a very fertile path to go down.

141
00:09:02,220 --> 00:09:06,620
Kind of having a dig at
the middle classes, really.

142
00:09:07,660 --> 00:09:09,620
Um...

143
00:09:09,780 --> 00:09:14,180
I thought there was an element
of people thought that was, um,

144
00:09:14,340 --> 00:09:17,820
was just very cynical,
really, of Ray, you know.

145
00:09:17,980 --> 00:09:21,500
But they were all valid,
very valid, er,

146
00:09:21,620 --> 00:09:24,020
points to be made, really, you know.

147
00:09:24,180 --> 00:09:26,900
The old establishment
were still there running things.

148
00:09:27,060 --> 00:09:29,860
It might have been
swinging and, er...

149
00:09:30,020 --> 00:09:32,020
But the same systems
were still in place.

150
00:09:32,180 --> 00:09:35,700
We made a huge impression with our
blues invasion over in the States.

151
00:09:35,820 --> 00:09:38,380
But really underneath all of that,

152
00:09:38,500 --> 00:09:41,380
there is, um, Harry Champion,

153
00:09:41,500 --> 00:09:44,260
Noel Coward, Max Miller

154
00:09:44,420 --> 00:09:47,180
and there's this sort of music,
these sort of songs.

155
00:09:47,340 --> 00:09:49,420
Thank you very much,
ladies and gentlemen.

156
00:09:49,580 --> 00:09:52,500
If I don't work fast tonight,
please forgive me, I'm very tired.

157
00:09:52,620 --> 00:09:54,540
I've been shoplifting.

158
00:09:54,700 --> 00:09:58,020
And some of those shops are very
heavy, I'll tell you. (LAUGHTER)

159
00:09:58,180 --> 00:10:02,580
People like Max Miller. All
these great wonderful characters.

160
00:10:02,700 --> 00:10:04,620
George Formby.

161
00:10:04,780 --> 00:10:10,460
This interesting, quirky,
eccentric Englishness about them.

162
00:10:10,620 --> 00:10:15,780
Wonderful to discover
on our own land.

163
00:10:15,940 --> 00:10:20,940
Although I just wanted
to grow up being Eddie Cochran,

164
00:10:21,060 --> 00:10:24,220
there was also this background

165
00:10:24,380 --> 00:10:27,500
or a backstory of music
that was our own, that was English.

166
00:10:27,660 --> 00:10:30,740
In England, I feel like was really
focusing in on a lot of American

167
00:10:30,900 --> 00:10:33,860
sound and the American blues
and rhythm and blues

168
00:10:33,980 --> 00:10:35,900
and stuff like that.

169
00:10:36,060 --> 00:10:40,500
You find Ray just kind of going for
these, like, almost old-fashioned,

170
00:10:40,660 --> 00:10:45,740
you know, references and songs
that parents were listening to.

171
00:10:45,900 --> 00:10:48,740
When you read about their Saturday
night parties and all that stuff

172
00:10:48,900 --> 00:10:51,860
around their house and everyone
singing and everyone doing a song

173
00:10:52,020 --> 00:10:56,220
on their turn, that's all
fed into that music, really.

174
00:10:56,380 --> 00:11:00,580

and if she belonged to me

175
00:11:00,700 --> 00:11:04,300


176
00:11:04,460 --> 00:11:08,580

who is six-foot three.

177
00:11:08,700 --> 00:11:11,860


178
00:11:12,020 --> 00:11:15,820

not a month nor more

179
00:11:15,940 --> 00:11:19,220


180
00:11:19,380 --> 00:11:23,220

that the likes of her

181
00:11:23,340 --> 00:11:26,860


182
00:11:32,380 --> 00:11:34,780
1966 was the year

183
00:11:34,940 --> 00:11:40,780
when mod began to become rock,
began to become psychedelia.

184
00:11:40,940 --> 00:11:43,820
The influence of drugs
was beginning to percolate

185
00:11:43,940 --> 00:11:46,980
into mainstream white music.

186
00:11:47,140 --> 00:11:51,700
You're starting to get
more complicated, more urgent,

187
00:11:51,820 --> 00:11:53,940
more compressed, a lot of ideas,

188
00:11:54,100 --> 00:11:57,140
still being compressed into
a two, three-minute single.

189
00:11:57,260 --> 00:11:59,180
An incredibly fertile time.

190
00:12:00,220 --> 00:12:04,540
In a way, Ray Davies and the Kinks
found themselves in the middle of it

191
00:12:04,700 --> 00:12:09,140
because he was able
to tap into the various moods

192
00:12:09,300 --> 00:12:11,340
with three extraordinary
singles that year.

193
00:12:11,500 --> 00:12:13,380
And they really are
among his best work.

194
00:12:13,540 --> 00:12:16,060
Which are Dead End Street,
Sunny Afternoon

195
00:12:16,180 --> 00:12:18,100
and Dedicated Follower Of Fashion.

196
00:12:18,220 --> 00:12:19,940


197
00:12:20,060 --> 00:12:22,020


198
00:12:23,260 --> 00:12:25,060


199
00:12:25,980 --> 00:12:27,620


200
00:12:29,660 --> 00:12:34,300

so he's got to buy the best

201
00:12:34,460 --> 00:12:38,820

a dedicated follower of fashion...

202
00:12:38,980 --> 00:12:41,580
I've known from very early on,
the best way to attack somebody

203
00:12:41,700 --> 00:12:44,100
is with humour, or make a statement.

204
00:12:44,220 --> 00:12:46,660
You can't just be angry at things.

205
00:12:46,820 --> 00:12:50,100
Dedicated Follower Of Fashion
came out of a falling out with

206
00:12:50,260 --> 00:12:53,580
a clothes designer who
accused me of wearing flares.

207
00:12:53,740 --> 00:12:56,100
Anyway, I wasn't,
I was wearing tapered trousers.

208
00:12:56,260 --> 00:12:58,380
He said, 'You're going
to end up buying flares.'

209
00:12:58,540 --> 00:13:00,860
I said, 'Get out of my house,'
at a party.

210
00:13:01,020 --> 00:13:02,900
'It's my party
and I'll cry if I want to.'

211
00:13:03,060 --> 00:13:06,540
And I went...
Instead of having a fight,

212
00:13:06,660 --> 00:13:09,020
I went straight back to my typewriter

213
00:13:09,180 --> 00:13:11,220
and typed out
Dedicated Follower Of Fashion.

214
00:13:11,340 --> 00:13:13,260
Word... Didn't have to change a word.

215
00:13:13,380 --> 00:13:17,340
Humour, the silliest things

216
00:13:17,460 --> 00:13:19,660
that he might think of

217
00:13:19,780 --> 00:13:22,180
that probably to anybody else

218
00:13:22,300 --> 00:13:24,220
was totally unfunny

219
00:13:24,380 --> 00:13:27,860
but he came, 'Oh, yeah!
Ha-ha-ha.' Big laugh.

220
00:13:28,020 --> 00:13:32,980
It is that connection that really
helped to keep the Kinks moving.

221
00:13:33,140 --> 00:13:35,460
When you're in a band
with a family member,

222
00:13:35,620 --> 00:13:40,540
that can be the band's
greatest strength

223
00:13:40,700 --> 00:13:43,860
but it's also the band's
greatest weakness.

224
00:13:44,020 --> 00:13:46,980
Um, but the thing that brothers
have when they're singing together

225
00:13:47,140 --> 00:13:50,860
is there's nothing like two
family members singing together.

226
00:13:51,020 --> 00:13:55,460

nylon panties right up tight

227
00:13:55,620 --> 00:13:59,820

follower of fashion

228
00:14:00,900 --> 00:14:03,740


229
00:14:03,900 --> 00:14:07,340


230
00:14:07,500 --> 00:14:11,940
Every schoolboy sang that. We'd be
bellowing it over the playground.

231
00:14:12,100 --> 00:14:15,620

It became a huge catchphrase.

232
00:14:15,780 --> 00:14:20,580
It plugged straight into
the English music hall psyche.

233
00:14:20,740 --> 00:14:24,540
You've got a very dangerous
sort of precipice of novelty,

234
00:14:24,700 --> 00:14:27,140
you know, it's very easy
to fall into novelty.

235
00:14:27,300 --> 00:14:30,660
But to walk that line
is a really marvellous thing.

236
00:14:32,340 --> 00:14:34,780
Everyone's talking about
Swinging London

237
00:14:34,940 --> 00:14:39,060
but, as far as I'm concerned,
it's a diversion, a form of escape.

238
00:14:39,220 --> 00:14:42,980
I can't help feeling
that something, a time,

239
00:14:43,100 --> 00:14:45,020
is coming to an end.

240
00:14:45,180 --> 00:14:47,460
There are more important
things going on in the world.

241
00:14:47,620 --> 00:14:50,900
So I've decided to stay home,
sing for my fans.

242
00:14:51,060 --> 00:14:53,180
Get the message across
through the music.

243
00:14:57,260 --> 00:14:58,980
(CHEERING)

244
00:14:59,900 --> 00:15:04,460
Sport was my only way,
before songwriting,

245
00:15:04,580 --> 00:15:06,740
of associating with the world.

246
00:15:06,900 --> 00:15:10,620
When we got Germany in the final,
it brought in the old rivalry again.

247
00:15:10,780 --> 00:15:13,740
It was amazing because
we didn't really think

248
00:15:13,860 --> 00:15:15,860
we had the team to win, really.

249
00:15:16,020 --> 00:15:19,340
Racing to beat the whistle, Geoff
Hurst saw an opening in the defence

250
00:15:19,500 --> 00:15:22,340
and achieved a hat-trick.
(CHEERING)

251
00:15:22,460 --> 00:15:24,380
I wanted everything to end then

252
00:15:24,540 --> 00:15:26,500
because it doesn't
get any better than that

253
00:15:26,660 --> 00:15:29,660
England winning the World Cup.
I learnt a lot from football.

254
00:15:29,780 --> 00:15:32,980
And Ray was good at football also.

255
00:15:33,140 --> 00:15:35,100
It helps with music as well
because, you know,

256
00:15:35,260 --> 00:15:37,860
you can't just play
all the way through,

257
00:15:38,020 --> 00:15:42,820
you know. When you're in a team,
it's the give and take and emphasis.

258
00:15:42,980 --> 00:15:45,500
Then you've got to cover
things in a different way.

259
00:15:45,660 --> 00:15:50,900
Music is often about
when and not to do things.

260
00:15:51,060 --> 00:15:56,100
We're a team. Everything,
all that rivalry is cast aside

261
00:15:56,260 --> 00:15:58,260
because that was our
common denominator.

262
00:15:58,380 --> 00:16:03,100
And it was just magical, really.

263
00:16:03,220 --> 00:16:05,020
We were touring, recording

264
00:16:05,140 --> 00:16:07,220
and living together,

265
00:16:07,340 --> 00:16:09,260
fighting together,

266
00:16:09,420 --> 00:16:11,300
love and hate.
All the emotions were there

267
00:16:11,460 --> 00:16:14,060
and it just came through.
Playing was the good part.

268
00:16:15,900 --> 00:16:19,820


269
00:16:19,940 --> 00:16:23,820


270
00:16:23,940 --> 00:16:28,220


271
00:16:28,380 --> 00:16:32,820
To actually get a number one
and the British football team

272
00:16:32,980 --> 00:16:36,580
winning the World Cup,
that was wonderful.

273
00:16:36,740 --> 00:16:41,140
Sunny Afternoon was...
I remember Ray phoning me up

274
00:16:41,260 --> 00:16:43,180
and say, 'Come and have a listen.'

275
00:16:43,340 --> 00:16:47,020
And he started this
dissenting line with a piano.

276
00:16:47,180 --> 00:16:50,700
And it's incredible. You hear
that and you get those vibes,

277
00:16:50,820 --> 00:16:53,860
those moments, a positive feeling.

278
00:16:54,020 --> 00:16:55,900
You know you're
doing something right.

279
00:16:56,060 --> 00:16:58,220
It makes me think of Philip
Larkin, it makes me think

280
00:16:58,380 --> 00:17:02,580
of John Betjeman, some of those very
well-established English poets.

281
00:17:02,740 --> 00:17:05,820
But I also think it's a very
underrated craft, you know.

282
00:17:05,980 --> 00:17:09,420
It's easier almost
to write abstraction

283
00:17:09,580 --> 00:17:13,420
than it is to write rhyming
couplets that tell a story.

284
00:17:13,580 --> 00:17:17,460
That more often than not
end up being with, you know,

285
00:17:17,620 --> 00:17:20,460
er... you know, it's me as well,
you know what I mean.

286
00:17:20,580 --> 00:17:22,500
It's not like I'm slagging you off.

287
00:17:22,660 --> 00:17:27,380

of drunkenness and cruelty...

288
00:17:27,540 --> 00:17:32,460
I loved his cynicism and I loved
his kind of wry sense of humour

289
00:17:32,620 --> 00:17:35,940
but, at the same time,
there was this earnestness.

290
00:17:36,100 --> 00:17:39,460
And there was this dichotomy that
always seemed to be going on

291
00:17:39,580 --> 00:17:41,500
in his voice.

292
00:17:41,660 --> 00:17:46,260

help me sail away.

293
00:17:46,420 --> 00:17:49,620
He influenced a lot of people
in pop music at that time,

294
00:17:49,740 --> 00:17:51,660
especially English bands.

295
00:17:51,780 --> 00:17:53,700
Certainly, the Rolling Stones did.

296
00:17:53,860 --> 00:17:56,380
The Rolling Stones did
at least two or three songs

297
00:17:56,500 --> 00:17:58,820
that were overtly Kinks-like.

298
00:17:58,980 --> 00:18:03,060
Mother's Little Helper,
that's like ersatz Kinks.

299
00:18:03,220 --> 00:18:06,300
The Kinks' influence
went everywhere.

300
00:18:06,460 --> 00:18:09,900
I have a feeling that underneath
all the fashion and glamour,

301
00:18:10,020 --> 00:18:11,940
society seems to be struggling.

302
00:18:12,100 --> 00:18:14,340
But I wouldn't exactly
say it's falling apart

303
00:18:14,500 --> 00:18:19,220
but there's poverty,
unemployment, homelessness,

304
00:18:19,380 --> 00:18:22,340
just like my dad used to tell
me about the Great Depression.

305
00:18:23,420 --> 00:18:26,460
But the world keeps on
rocking regardless.

306
00:18:26,620 --> 00:18:29,540
So I'm going to keep
writing songs about it.

307
00:18:29,660 --> 00:18:33,060


308
00:18:33,180 --> 00:18:36,740


309
00:18:36,860 --> 00:18:40,580


310
00:18:40,740 --> 00:18:45,180

of bread and honey...

311
00:18:45,340 --> 00:18:50,260
From celebrating the boom with
Dedicated Follower Of Fashion,

312
00:18:50,420 --> 00:18:54,340
in a kind of ironic way,
to catching the down turn

313
00:18:54,500 --> 00:18:57,940
with Sunny Afternoon.
With Dead End Street,

314
00:18:58,100 --> 00:19:02,300
you actually have this
empathy for the poor

315
00:19:02,460 --> 00:19:07,300
and the downtrodden.


316
00:19:07,460 --> 00:19:10,860

should be in dead end street?

317
00:19:11,020 --> 00:19:15,020

in dead end street

318
00:19:15,140 --> 00:19:19,220
His gift of melody and, um,

319
00:19:19,380 --> 00:19:21,260
and the subject matter
he was writing about,

320
00:19:21,420 --> 00:19:24,460
no-one else was really covering
that, you know. With something like

321
00:19:24,620 --> 00:19:27,060
Dead End Street, no-one
was really writing about that.

322
00:19:27,220 --> 00:19:30,060
That other side of England.
Everything was swinging, you know,

323
00:19:30,180 --> 00:19:32,100
apparently, Swinging London.

324
00:19:32,260 --> 00:19:35,900
But there was still, you know, there
was still many, many poor people.

325
00:19:36,060 --> 00:19:39,380
England won the World Cup, everyone
was ebullient, jumping around,

326
00:19:39,540 --> 00:19:42,940
waving their flags and quite
rightly so, it was a great time.

327
00:19:43,100 --> 00:19:46,980
But underneath it, there was
this hard Labour government

328
00:19:47,100 --> 00:19:49,020
and decisions were being made.

329
00:19:49,180 --> 00:19:51,540

The kitchen sink...

330
00:19:51,700 --> 00:19:55,180
It's kind of metaphorical
in many respects.

331
00:20:09,900 --> 00:20:14,180

must you keep rolling,

332
00:20:14,300 --> 00:20:17,540


333
00:20:18,860 --> 00:20:23,260


334
00:20:23,380 --> 00:20:26,700


335
00:20:28,060 --> 00:20:29,620


336
00:20:30,100 --> 00:20:32,060
It was called Liverpool Sunset

337
00:20:32,220 --> 00:20:34,460
and it was about
the demise of Mersey Beat.

338
00:20:34,620 --> 00:20:37,580
But Waterloo has always
been an important place.

339
00:20:37,740 --> 00:20:39,740
I still get a buzz
when I go down there.

340
00:20:39,860 --> 00:20:42,740
It's totally and utterly human.

341
00:20:42,900 --> 00:20:47,300
It's a small observation
of a big scene.

342
00:20:47,460 --> 00:20:50,260
I'd say Waterloo Sunset's my
favourite pop song of all time.

343
00:20:50,380 --> 00:20:52,380
Bar none.

344
00:20:52,540 --> 00:20:56,140
It's a hugely romantic song,
isn't it, you know,

345
00:20:56,300 --> 00:20:58,780
Waterloo Sunset?
It's got everything.

346
00:20:58,900 --> 00:21:01,100
It gives me this feeling of, um,

347
00:21:01,220 --> 00:21:06,420
comfort in an alienating world.

348
00:21:06,580 --> 00:21:09,060
I do believe Ray Davies
is a musical genius.

349
00:21:09,220 --> 00:21:14,500
I think, to be of such
a young age and to write

350
00:21:14,660 --> 00:21:17,380
consistently brilliant singles,
as he did,

351
00:21:17,540 --> 00:21:22,260
er, for a good old stretch as well,
for a long time as well,

352
00:21:22,420 --> 00:21:26,100
from, like, '64 up until,
for me anyway, up until, like, '71,

353
00:21:26,260 --> 00:21:30,700
kind of, um... I don't know if
it gets too much better than that

354
00:21:30,820 --> 00:21:32,740
in terms of songwriting anyway.

355
00:21:32,860 --> 00:21:34,780
Many a time I've been writing songs

356
00:21:34,940 --> 00:21:36,820
and got the Kinks on
for a bit of inspiration

357
00:21:36,980 --> 00:21:38,860
and just put the pen down
and gone, 'Fuck it!'

358
00:21:39,020 --> 00:21:41,660
There's no point. (LAUGHS)
It's already been done.

359
00:21:42,780 --> 00:21:44,700
Yeah, I'm still
writing popular songs

360
00:21:44,860 --> 00:21:46,740
but everything else
is turning upside down.

361
00:21:46,900 --> 00:21:50,060
If we lose this court case,
we could become bankrupt.

362
00:21:51,980 --> 00:21:53,940
My family is breaking apart too.

363
00:21:54,100 --> 00:21:56,260
My older sister Rosie
is emigrating to Australia.

364
00:21:56,420 --> 00:21:58,780
And other members of the family
are moving out of London.

365
00:22:01,260 --> 00:22:04,060
I need an emotional refuge.

366
00:22:05,300 --> 00:22:07,260
A place to escape.

367
00:22:07,460 --> 00:22:09,940
Somewhere I can
keep my memories intact.

368
00:22:10,980 --> 00:22:15,340

creeps a crawly caterpillar

369
00:22:16,340 --> 00:22:19,340


370
00:22:19,460 --> 00:22:23,060


371
00:22:23,220 --> 00:22:27,820

off a musty-coloured yellow

372
00:22:28,500 --> 00:22:31,420


373
00:22:31,580 --> 00:22:35,100

it's my autumn almanac

374
00:22:35,220 --> 00:22:36,740


375
00:22:36,900 --> 00:22:40,980
I have spent my
entire career chasing

376
00:22:41,100 --> 00:22:44,380
that song, trying to write

377
00:22:44,500 --> 00:22:47,060
a song as good

378
00:22:47,180 --> 00:22:49,100
as Autumn Almanac.

379
00:22:49,260 --> 00:22:53,340
Something that had these
little miniature movements,

380
00:22:53,460 --> 00:22:55,380
like a little tiny symphony,

381
00:22:55,540 --> 00:23:00,540
little parts of a clock
that interconnected and...

382
00:23:00,660 --> 00:23:03,660
Oh! I've chased it since then.

383
00:23:03,820 --> 00:23:07,060
How does one write a song
as perfect as that?

384
00:23:07,220 --> 00:23:10,340
One of the high points, I think,
in terms of its complexity, yeah,

385
00:23:10,460 --> 00:23:12,380
and yet, its simplicity.

386
00:23:12,540 --> 00:23:15,420
And you think about writing a song
about Sunday roast and football

387
00:23:15,580 --> 00:23:18,500
and all that could sound
so cliched and, um,

388
00:23:18,660 --> 00:23:21,460
and, er, sentimental.
But it just isn't

389
00:23:21,620 --> 00:23:23,500
because it always
has that kind of, er,

390
00:23:23,620 --> 00:23:26,060
melancholic kind of undertone.

391
00:23:26,180 --> 00:23:30,180


392
00:23:30,300 --> 00:23:33,980


393
00:23:34,100 --> 00:23:38,420


394
00:23:38,540 --> 00:23:41,340


395
00:23:41,500 --> 00:23:44,100
Ray doesn't just sit down
with a guitar and sing it.

396
00:23:44,260 --> 00:23:47,940
He's got different
parts he's working on.

397
00:23:48,100 --> 00:23:52,100
And he doesn't really tell you
what it's all about at all.

398
00:23:52,260 --> 00:23:55,900
Then the vocal goes on
and then it comes alive

399
00:23:56,060 --> 00:24:00,260
and you think,
'Oh, that's how it sounds.' (LAUGHS)

400
00:24:00,420 --> 00:24:03,260
The Kinks did get off
the radar in America.

401
00:24:03,420 --> 00:24:06,740
It's unfortunate that people
missed out in America

402
00:24:06,900 --> 00:24:11,060
on this great music. I feel like
it became more British sounding,

403
00:24:11,220 --> 00:24:15,060
so, you know, it was a very
particular sound palette

404
00:24:15,220 --> 00:24:17,500
that maybe America
wasn't used to hearing.

405
00:24:21,660 --> 00:24:26,540
1968 was the year
when it all comes down,

406
00:24:26,700 --> 00:24:29,060
in that there's,
you know, the Czech Spring,

407
00:24:29,220 --> 00:24:33,380
there's increased demonstrations
against Vietnam in America,

408
00:24:33,540 --> 00:24:35,620
there's Grosvenor Square
demo in London

409
00:24:35,780 --> 00:24:39,580
that the Rolling Stones wrote
Street Fighting Man about.

410
00:24:39,740 --> 00:24:42,580
So suddenly into
an even more polarised time.

411
00:24:42,700 --> 00:24:45,660
And musically the same.

412
00:24:45,820 --> 00:24:49,020
The trends of '67 continue and now
there's almost a complete split

413
00:24:49,180 --> 00:24:51,660
between chart music
and underground music.

414
00:24:51,780 --> 00:24:55,380
And underground music moves from

415
00:24:55,540 --> 00:25:00,180
psychedelia into hard rock,
the start of country rock.

416
00:25:00,300 --> 00:25:03,380
Suddenly, it all becomes a bit dour.

417
00:25:03,500 --> 00:25:07,700
So it's a very, very serious year.

418
00:25:07,860 --> 00:25:10,460
In the parlance of the time,
it's very heavy.

419
00:25:21,300 --> 00:25:23,260
The world seems so chaotic.

420
00:25:25,380 --> 00:25:27,780
I want to make an album
about things that matter to me.

421
00:25:28,780 --> 00:25:31,780
This church is just down the
road from where I used to live.

422
00:25:31,940 --> 00:25:35,340
I want to celebrate where I grew up
and my parents' generation.

423
00:25:35,500 --> 00:25:40,100
Write something they could sing
in a church or down the pub.

424
00:25:44,500 --> 00:25:46,700
I long for a more innocent time.

425
00:25:46,820 --> 00:25:49,860
My school choir sang in this church.

426
00:25:49,980 --> 00:25:52,220
All my sisters got married here.

427
00:25:53,380 --> 00:25:57,060
Sometimes, I think hymns
have been replaced by pop songs.

428
00:25:57,220 --> 00:26:01,300
It was always my ambition to write
a song for the school assembly.

429
00:26:01,460 --> 00:26:05,340
Set aside the anger and
the bitterness of the time.

430
00:26:06,540 --> 00:26:08,780
Create my own dreamscape.

431
00:26:08,900 --> 00:26:12,220
My own village green.

432
00:26:14,180 --> 00:26:17,420


433
00:26:17,580 --> 00:26:23,220

and noise of the city

434
00:26:23,340 --> 00:26:25,900


435
00:26:26,020 --> 00:26:29,500


436
00:26:29,660 --> 00:26:34,940

on the church with the steeple

437
00:26:35,060 --> 00:26:38,060


438
00:26:38,180 --> 00:26:41,020
Village Green is about innocence,

439
00:26:41,180 --> 00:26:43,060
a time when things
could have been different.

440
00:26:43,220 --> 00:26:47,180
That pivotal moment in your life
when you went on to become an adult.

441
00:26:47,340 --> 00:26:51,620
Village Green is a perfect
example of Ray conjuring up

442
00:26:51,780 --> 00:26:55,300
these new characters that
are based on real people.

443
00:26:55,420 --> 00:26:57,340
It's, is...

444
00:26:57,500 --> 00:27:02,260
Which is a wonderful thing to be
able to do. It's like painting.

445
00:27:02,420 --> 00:27:04,380
Village Green is special
for everybody.

446
00:27:04,540 --> 00:27:07,700
Everybody's got their
own version of it, I think.

447
00:27:07,820 --> 00:27:09,940


448
00:27:10,060 --> 00:27:12,220


449
00:27:12,340 --> 00:27:14,780


450
00:27:14,900 --> 00:27:16,740


451
00:27:16,860 --> 00:27:18,900


452
00:27:19,020 --> 00:27:21,100


453
00:27:21,220 --> 00:27:23,900


454
00:27:24,060 --> 00:27:27,900

and we'll sip tea, laugh

455
00:27:28,020 --> 00:27:30,460


456
00:27:30,580 --> 00:27:32,980


457
00:27:34,980 --> 00:27:39,140


458
00:27:39,260 --> 00:27:43,140


459
00:27:43,300 --> 00:27:46,740
It's not often that an album
works as a collection of tracks

460
00:27:46,900 --> 00:27:49,300
just on their own
and then as an album as well.

461
00:27:49,420 --> 00:27:51,700
They're rare those records.

462
00:27:51,860 --> 00:27:55,060
Love the production on it, the
songs, the melodies, Ray's voice.

463
00:27:55,220 --> 00:27:57,060
I love the fact that
it wasn't overblown.

464
00:27:57,220 --> 00:28:01,140
It's intimate. It's beautiful.
There's a sadness to it all.

465
00:28:01,300 --> 00:28:04,180
It pretty much encapsulates
all that I like about England.

466
00:28:04,340 --> 00:28:06,660
I was brought up in London.
I feel myself as a Londoner.

467
00:28:06,820 --> 00:28:10,140
I find it very difficult to
grasp what England really means.

468
00:28:10,260 --> 00:28:12,380
So I would suggest, if I had to,

469
00:28:12,540 --> 00:28:15,140
that album would be
what I feel England means.

470
00:28:15,260 --> 00:28:17,860
It's a great snapshot of England.

471
00:28:18,020 --> 00:28:22,620
Um, whether it's the real
England or an imagined one,

472
00:28:22,740 --> 00:28:25,300
it doesn't really matter too much

473
00:28:25,460 --> 00:28:28,300
because it's art and you can
make of it whatever you want.

474
00:28:28,460 --> 00:28:32,780
I think it's the same place
that George Orwell talks about

475
00:28:32,940 --> 00:28:36,140
when he talks about the air
is different in England

476
00:28:36,300 --> 00:28:39,140
when you arrive back here.
The coins are heavier.

477
00:28:39,260 --> 00:28:41,180
The beer is bitterer.

478
00:28:41,300 --> 00:28:44,780
Um, it's a romance of England.

479
00:28:44,940 --> 00:28:47,460
It's a romance of England
that is in the details.

480
00:28:47,620 --> 00:28:50,140
It's not in the...
It's not in the big stuff,

481
00:28:50,300 --> 00:28:54,580
it's in the little stuff,
it's in the little collection box

482
00:28:54,700 --> 00:28:57,060
shaped like a lifeboat in the pub.

483
00:28:57,220 --> 00:29:01,140
Ray started to carve
these lovely, er,

484
00:29:01,260 --> 00:29:04,140
this lovely poetry, really,

485
00:29:04,300 --> 00:29:07,460
about these people that
we knew but didn't know.

486
00:29:07,580 --> 00:29:09,500
You know, I love that mystery.

487
00:29:09,660 --> 00:29:13,740
That reminds me of so-and-so,
you know.

488
00:29:13,900 --> 00:29:16,860
I think that's when it
kind of hit home

489
00:29:17,020 --> 00:29:21,460
what a beautiful romantic
concept it was.

490
00:29:21,580 --> 00:29:23,620
The village was in the city.

491
00:29:23,740 --> 00:29:26,620
And the community was important,

492
00:29:26,780 --> 00:29:28,740
although I didn't
think so at the time.

493
00:29:28,900 --> 00:29:31,660
You know, you've got the church,
opposite you've got the cinema,

494
00:29:31,780 --> 00:29:33,700
which used to be called the Odeon.

495
00:29:33,860 --> 00:29:36,660
Opposite there's a dance hall,
which is now a Sainsbury's.

496
00:29:36,820 --> 00:29:40,020
So, within that roundabout,
was all our cultural experience.

497
00:29:40,180 --> 00:29:45,220
Ray's writing is drawn from real
people that we knew or knew of.

498
00:29:45,380 --> 00:29:48,460
And a lot of these
characters, I think,

499
00:29:48,580 --> 00:29:53,220
became characters in songs.

500
00:29:53,380 --> 00:29:56,820
The countryside symbolised
the freedom from the city.

501
00:29:56,980 --> 00:29:59,660
So the countryside
represented the adventures

502
00:29:59,780 --> 00:30:01,700
we didn't speak about in London.

503
00:30:01,820 --> 00:30:04,140
The secret world, the secret people.

504
00:30:04,300 --> 00:30:08,100

when you're getting old...

505
00:30:08,260 --> 00:30:13,020
Picture Book is really
important for many reasons.

506
00:30:13,180 --> 00:30:17,340
That family unity thing.
Me and Ray always worked best

507
00:30:17,460 --> 00:30:20,140
when we did the octave vocal thing.

508
00:30:20,300 --> 00:30:24,020

pictures of your mama

509
00:30:24,140 --> 00:30:28,020


510
00:30:28,180 --> 00:30:31,900

of people with each other

511
00:30:32,060 --> 00:30:36,140

each other a long time ago

512
00:30:36,260 --> 00:30:37,980


513
00:30:38,140 --> 00:30:42,260
Mick Avory is playing the drums
and the snare drum has no snare.

514
00:30:42,420 --> 00:30:46,020
The snares are not on, so you hear
this kind of thud on the snare drum,

515
00:30:46,180 --> 00:30:48,060
then mixed with
the 12-string guitars.

516
00:30:48,220 --> 00:30:51,660
It's a sound I really haven't
heard on any other record.

517
00:30:51,780 --> 00:30:54,300
It gives it a different sound.

518
00:30:54,460 --> 00:30:57,260
It seemed to work on that number,
I don't know why.

519
00:30:57,420 --> 00:30:59,580
Mick Avory's drumming
on the whole album, I think,

520
00:30:59,700 --> 00:31:01,620
he's, like, my favourite drummer.

521
00:31:01,780 --> 00:31:04,660
He's just got the, you know,
whether he knows it or not,

522
00:31:04,820 --> 00:31:07,020
he's just got such
a great flair for

523
00:31:07,180 --> 00:31:09,780
and feeling for the drum rolls,
you know.

524
00:31:09,940 --> 00:31:13,260
And, er, I know it's a muso thing
but it's really important

525
00:31:13,420 --> 00:31:15,980
within the sound and
the songs of the Kinks.

526
00:31:16,140 --> 00:31:18,620
I think Mick Avory
is brilliant on that album.

527
00:31:18,740 --> 00:31:22,820


528
00:31:22,980 --> 00:31:26,740

in sunny Southend...

529
00:31:26,900 --> 00:31:28,780
And then you have this
really interesting

530
00:31:28,940 --> 00:31:32,140
sort of circle fifths kind of thing
going on with the chords,

531
00:31:32,300 --> 00:31:34,900
which is going up a fourth and
then a fourth and then it sort of

532
00:31:35,060 --> 00:31:37,740
very cleverly kind of brings you
back to the beginning again.

533
00:31:48,300 --> 00:31:50,260


534
00:31:52,540 --> 00:31:54,500


535
00:31:56,540 --> 00:31:58,500


536
00:32:01,340 --> 00:32:05,260


537
00:32:05,420 --> 00:32:09,220
The picture book that my family
had hasn't changed since

538
00:32:09,340 --> 00:32:12,180
1975. Yeah.

539
00:32:12,340 --> 00:32:14,740
And it's full of these
faded photographs

540
00:32:14,900 --> 00:32:19,020
of parties and yellow shirts,
the collars are far too big.

541
00:32:19,180 --> 00:32:22,700
Me dressed as a cowboy. My sister
with her first acoustic guitar,

542
00:32:22,820 --> 00:32:24,740
which I nicked when I was 13.

543
00:32:24,860 --> 00:32:27,020


544
00:32:27,140 --> 00:32:29,100


545
00:32:33,380 --> 00:32:36,740
A lot of the Kinks was,
'Let's get away from modern life.

546
00:32:36,860 --> 00:32:40,980
'Let's do all those dumpy things.

547
00:32:41,100 --> 00:32:43,020
'Let's sit in a deckchair.'

548
00:32:43,180 --> 00:32:47,460
You know, 'Let's have a hanky on our
head at the seafront at Brighton.'

549
00:32:50,900 --> 00:32:54,220
My favourite on that album
is Do You Remember Walter?

550
00:32:54,380 --> 00:32:58,020
What a tune.
What a shiver that gives you.

551
00:32:58,180 --> 00:33:01,900

when the world was young

552
00:33:02,060 --> 00:33:05,620

knew Walter's name?

553
00:33:05,780 --> 00:33:08,260
Every time I hear it, I think
of an old fella with a pipe

554
00:33:08,420 --> 00:33:13,540
and he's thinking about his
best pal at the time, Walter.

555
00:33:13,700 --> 00:33:16,940

playing cricket

556
00:33:17,060 --> 00:33:21,300


557
00:33:21,460 --> 00:33:25,140

smoking cigarettes

558
00:33:25,260 --> 00:33:28,820


559
00:33:28,980 --> 00:33:32,020
He's somebody I pass almost
every day in the street

560
00:33:32,180 --> 00:33:36,580
and I'm sure he was my best friend
when I was about seven or eight.

561
00:33:36,740 --> 00:33:39,460
But I cannot pluck up
the courage to say to him,

562
00:33:39,620 --> 00:33:42,180
'Didn't you used to be...?'
You know.

563
00:33:42,340 --> 00:33:45,020
I'm kind of afraid
of what he might say.

564
00:33:45,180 --> 00:33:48,140
Well, he'll only say no.
If he says yes,

565
00:33:48,300 --> 00:33:51,740
it'll be like, 'Why didn't you
say something every time we pass?'

566
00:33:51,860 --> 00:33:53,780
You know, it's... It...

567
00:33:53,940 --> 00:33:57,740
Do You Remember Walter
digs up a very personal

568
00:33:57,860 --> 00:34:00,660
common trope for everybody.

569
00:34:00,780 --> 00:34:02,700


570
00:34:04,340 --> 00:34:07,940


571
00:34:08,100 --> 00:34:13,940

knew Walter's name?

572
00:34:15,540 --> 00:34:17,980


573
00:34:19,140 --> 00:34:22,620


574
00:34:22,740 --> 00:34:26,660


575
00:34:29,540 --> 00:34:32,180
The song is modulating
all over the place.

576
00:34:32,340 --> 00:34:35,660
the chords, you know, the key
centre is changing all the time.

577
00:34:35,820 --> 00:34:39,620
Then you have this very
sort of memorable melody on top

578
00:34:39,780 --> 00:34:42,700
that's almost like a nursery rhyme.
It's just tying it together.

579
00:34:42,860 --> 00:34:45,420
The first verse of the song,
you have in C, you have...

580
00:34:54,460 --> 00:34:56,140
We're now in the key of B-flat.

581
00:34:56,260 --> 00:34:58,420
E-flat being the four of B-flat.

582
00:34:58,580 --> 00:35:00,580
Now in the five of B-flat,
which is F.

583
00:35:00,740 --> 00:35:03,420
And so we're here,
now we modulate it.

584
00:35:10,660 --> 00:35:13,060
Now we go to E-flat.

585
00:35:19,100 --> 00:35:21,060
Now we modulate to G.

586
00:35:26,380 --> 00:35:28,660
Still on G. Now we go to E-flat.

587
00:35:35,420 --> 00:35:38,020
And then back to C.
Very cleverly done.

588
00:35:38,180 --> 00:35:42,260
With Walter, I always felt
really sad when we did it

589
00:35:42,380 --> 00:35:46,260
because it reminded me of, like,

590
00:35:46,420 --> 00:35:49,620
guys that you'd got
best friends at school

591
00:35:49,780 --> 00:35:52,100
and, all of a sudden,
they're not there.

592
00:35:52,260 --> 00:35:54,140
His guitar playing
is great on that album.

593
00:35:54,300 --> 00:35:56,180
In stuff like,
Do You Remember Walter?

594
00:35:56,340 --> 00:35:59,780
It's, er... He's playing...
He's playing the song, isn't he?

595
00:35:59,940 --> 00:36:04,100
Because the songs have changed,
the songwriting changed.

596
00:36:04,260 --> 00:36:08,540
But he's still got a great sound.
He's really melodic.

597
00:36:08,660 --> 00:36:11,020
And it comes through.

598
00:36:11,180 --> 00:36:13,980
I think his guitar playing
is really underrated, Dave Davies.

599
00:36:14,100 --> 00:36:17,100


600
00:36:18,020 --> 00:36:24,100

and sail away to sea

601
00:36:27,500 --> 00:36:30,940


602
00:36:31,100 --> 00:36:34,900
All those memories
about people you loved

603
00:36:35,020 --> 00:36:36,940
and played with at school

604
00:36:37,060 --> 00:36:40,340
and who are they? Where did they go?

605
00:36:42,820 --> 00:36:44,780


606
00:36:44,940 --> 00:36:51,180

I knew so long ago

607
00:36:51,300 --> 00:36:53,220


608
00:36:53,380 --> 00:36:58,060

you wouldn't even know my name

609
00:36:59,580 --> 00:37:01,900


610
00:37:02,060 --> 00:37:06,180

and tucked up safe

611
00:37:07,260 --> 00:37:11,980

old times, you'd just get bored

612
00:37:12,100 --> 00:37:14,540


613
00:37:15,980 --> 00:37:18,940


614
00:37:19,100 --> 00:37:24,900

of people can remain.

615
00:37:27,300 --> 00:37:31,340
'We said we'd fight
the world so we'd be free.'

616
00:37:31,460 --> 00:37:33,380
You know, point.

617
00:37:33,500 --> 00:37:35,420
Oh-oh!

618
00:37:35,540 --> 00:37:37,940
Oh, shit. Oh!

619
00:37:44,555 --> 00:37:47,235
Sometimes I have trouble
communicating my ideas.

620
00:37:47,395 --> 00:37:50,075
that's why I express
myself better through songs.

621
00:37:50,195 --> 00:37:52,115
I find it easier to do that.

622
00:37:52,275 --> 00:37:55,795
Songs allow me to say something
serious in a funny way.

623
00:37:55,915 --> 00:37:57,915
Speak from inside myself so that

624
00:37:58,075 --> 00:38:00,875
you can feel happy
and sad in the same moment.

625
00:38:01,035 --> 00:38:05,595
Living reality and fantasy, the past
and the present at the same time.

626
00:38:06,595 --> 00:38:08,555
No, it's not nostalgia.

627
00:38:09,595 --> 00:38:12,675
It's more like time travel.

628
00:38:21,115 --> 00:38:24,635


629
00:38:24,755 --> 00:38:29,475


630
00:38:29,635 --> 00:38:34,155

he can buy her love

631
00:38:34,315 --> 00:38:39,475

sweet loving from Monica...

632
00:38:39,635 --> 00:38:45,515
You can imagine Monica. You can
have your own relationship with her.

633
00:38:45,675 --> 00:38:49,275
There is something
lovely and romantic about..

634
00:38:50,675 --> 00:38:53,115
..about the Village Green
and the characters

635
00:38:53,275 --> 00:38:56,835
and, um, the foreboding...
You know, the age-old thing

636
00:38:56,995 --> 00:38:59,315
of don't go into the woods,
you know.

637
00:38:59,435 --> 00:39:01,355
And, um,

638
00:39:01,475 --> 00:39:04,035
and weird fat cats in trees.

639
00:39:04,155 --> 00:39:06,275
And then

640
00:39:06,395 --> 00:39:09,035
beautiful but aloof girls.

641
00:39:09,155 --> 00:39:12,195


642
00:39:12,315 --> 00:39:16,755


643
00:39:16,915 --> 00:39:22,155

that Monica glows at night

644
00:39:22,315 --> 00:39:28,075

and prove to you she is right

645
00:39:29,075 --> 00:39:31,755


646
00:39:31,915 --> 00:39:35,875

Oh, Monica, my love...

647
00:39:35,995 --> 00:39:37,915
Monica was a real person.

648
00:39:38,075 --> 00:39:42,835
Unlike the way she's depicted
by many people as glamorous,

649
00:39:42,995 --> 00:39:47,715
you know, stockings,
she was quite a modest girl.

650
00:39:47,875 --> 00:39:51,835
In fact, we walked
just over there one night.

651
00:39:51,995 --> 00:39:56,155
Just over by that tennis court,
whatever it is.

652
00:39:56,275 --> 00:39:58,195
So they're all real people.

653
00:39:58,355 --> 00:40:00,915
I was aware of litigation
even in those days,

654
00:40:01,075 --> 00:40:03,355
so I changed them
into different people.

655
00:40:03,515 --> 00:40:05,395
That's why I like
to paint the way I do

656
00:40:05,515 --> 00:40:07,435
because I feel like

657
00:40:07,595 --> 00:40:13,435
I'm expressing a lot of what's
going on in our subconscious.

658
00:40:13,595 --> 00:40:16,715
Because it's just as important,
probably more important

659
00:40:16,835 --> 00:40:20,235
than our conscious, physical reality

660
00:40:20,395 --> 00:40:23,435
because that's where a lot
of this weird shit comes from.

661
00:40:23,555 --> 00:40:28,675
And I decided to do a Monica,

662
00:40:28,835 --> 00:40:35,115
which is a more
abstract surrealist thing.

663
00:40:35,275 --> 00:40:40,835
I love the rhythm of that song,
that kind of Latin vibe of it.

664
00:40:40,955 --> 00:40:43,915
And did her with a stuck-up nose

665
00:40:44,075 --> 00:40:47,075
and looking down on
all these guys that adore her

666
00:40:47,195 --> 00:40:49,755
and pay a few bob for. (LAUGHS)

667
00:40:49,875 --> 00:40:54,075


668
00:40:54,235 --> 00:40:59,315

because Monica knows, you know

669
00:40:59,475 --> 00:41:04,835

and say what a fool you are

670
00:41:05,555 --> 00:41:07,515


671
00:41:16,315 --> 00:41:20,955
I'd like to add that I walked
with Monica but nothing happened.

672
00:41:28,915 --> 00:41:30,875
Phenomenal Cat is one of the tracks

673
00:41:31,035 --> 00:41:33,315
on the record that
really stood out to me,

674
00:41:33,475 --> 00:41:38,075
I'm a big fan of the Mellotron and
this is the perfect Mellotron song.

675
00:41:38,195 --> 00:41:41,755


676
00:41:41,875 --> 00:41:45,355


677
00:41:45,475 --> 00:41:49,475


678
00:41:49,595 --> 00:41:53,195


679
00:41:53,355 --> 00:41:56,515
The artists I find most compelling
are those that can create a world.

680
00:41:56,675 --> 00:42:01,155
He was somehow able to fuse together
all these different styles

681
00:42:01,275 --> 00:42:03,515
of music and points of view.

682
00:42:03,675 --> 00:42:06,035
Literary devices.
Whether it was first person

683
00:42:06,195 --> 00:42:10,595
or creating characters
and having them interact.

684
00:42:10,715 --> 00:42:12,755


685
00:42:13,475 --> 00:42:16,915


686
00:42:17,675 --> 00:42:21,435
The voice that is, like,
the fa-la-la-la-la voice

687
00:42:21,595 --> 00:42:25,915
in Phenomenal Cat, it sounds like
it's been speeded up slightly

688
00:42:26,075 --> 00:42:29,995
Almost like some strange sort
of little person from a circus

689
00:42:30,155 --> 00:42:34,795
or another sort of
elfish character there.

690
00:42:34,915 --> 00:42:37,995


691
00:42:38,115 --> 00:42:41,835


692
00:42:41,955 --> 00:42:46,115


693
00:42:46,275 --> 00:42:50,435
His production on it, to me, is
great because it's very honest.

694
00:42:50,595 --> 00:42:52,595
it's not really production
that gets in the way.

695
00:42:52,755 --> 00:42:56,915
And, as a producer, that's, to me,
you know, one of the goals.

696
00:43:03,595 --> 00:43:06,035
I always loved Wicked Annabella.

697
00:43:06,195 --> 00:43:10,035
That's kind of the most scariest
and rock and roll of the lot,

698
00:43:10,195 --> 00:43:12,555
with the buzzing guitars
and that incredible

699
00:43:12,675 --> 00:43:15,115
drum sound at the beginning.

700
00:43:18,435 --> 00:43:21,235
The subject matter has
always fascinated me.

701
00:43:21,355 --> 00:43:23,275
That's why I did that painting.

702
00:43:23,395 --> 00:43:26,195
It's a painting of Wicked Annabella.

703
00:43:26,355 --> 00:43:30,675
In the end, I was looking for
somebody who was really quite

704
00:43:30,795 --> 00:43:34,075
alone and sad and angry.

705
00:43:34,195 --> 00:43:37,875


706
00:43:37,995 --> 00:43:41,835


707
00:43:42,795 --> 00:43:44,715
Of course, I love it
because I sing it.

708
00:43:44,875 --> 00:43:47,875
And it's quite
a raunchy song to sing.

709
00:43:48,035 --> 00:43:51,115
I always particularly
liked singing bridge

710
00:43:51,275 --> 00:43:54,475
and when I do it live,
I put two bridges on it

711
00:43:54,635 --> 00:43:58,395
because it seems like...
I think that bridge is so...

712
00:43:59,355 --> 00:44:01,755
..cool, it should have been twice.

713
00:44:01,875 --> 00:44:04,315


714
00:44:04,435 --> 00:44:06,595


715
00:44:06,715 --> 00:44:09,995


716
00:44:10,115 --> 00:44:13,555


717
00:44:13,675 --> 00:44:15,955


718
00:44:16,075 --> 00:44:21,235


719
00:44:22,515 --> 00:44:24,995
It's the most impudent album.

720
00:44:25,115 --> 00:44:27,115
Dangerous isn't the right word.

721
00:44:27,275 --> 00:44:29,795
I just knew it was
risky putting it out.

722
00:44:29,915 --> 00:44:32,395


723
00:44:32,795 --> 00:44:37,195


724
00:44:37,315 --> 00:44:40,075


725
00:44:40,195 --> 00:44:42,595


726
00:44:42,755 --> 00:44:46,315

open their eyes.

727
00:44:46,435 --> 00:44:47,835


728
00:44:47,995 --> 00:44:50,155
It's just a really
dark-sounding track.

729
00:44:50,315 --> 00:44:53,075
Which, again, I think
is the skills of Dave Davies,

730
00:44:53,195 --> 00:44:57,195
you know, to, um, to create that...

731
00:44:57,315 --> 00:44:59,235
the aura of that track.

732
00:44:59,355 --> 00:45:02,075
The great artist Ray is,

733
00:45:02,235 --> 00:45:05,915
I'm sure I should be
paying him that compliment,

734
00:45:06,035 --> 00:45:08,755
and, er, it's like painting.

735
00:45:08,915 --> 00:45:13,355
You know, these people
appear out of the invisible.

736
00:45:13,515 --> 00:45:16,035
I heard a band from America
called The Turtles.

737
00:45:16,155 --> 00:45:19,315
Their big hit was Happy Together.

738
00:45:19,435 --> 00:45:21,235
They phoned me up where I was living

739
00:45:21,395 --> 00:45:24,435
and they said, 'We want you
to produce our next album.'

740
00:45:24,595 --> 00:45:28,635
I sad, 'Why?' 'Because
you produced Village Green.'

741
00:45:28,795 --> 00:45:31,195
I said, 'Yeah, but you
just had a big success

742
00:45:31,315 --> 00:45:33,235
'and I can only offer you failure.'

743
00:45:33,395 --> 00:45:38,635
They said, 'We want that danger and,
other than that, risk taking.'

744
00:45:38,755 --> 00:45:40,675
We took risks.

745
00:45:40,835 --> 00:45:43,915
I think, more than anything else,
that's important.

746
00:45:44,075 --> 00:45:46,235
Big Sky, Big Sky
is such a great song.

747
00:45:46,355 --> 00:45:51,075
I love the whole magic of Big Sky

748
00:45:51,195 --> 00:45:53,875
and the way Ray sings it.

749
00:45:53,995 --> 00:45:57,115
Quite, like, scared.

750
00:45:57,235 --> 00:46:00,875
Scared of the universe almost.

751
00:46:01,035 --> 00:46:03,195
I think Big Sky
is really futuristic.

752
00:46:04,675 --> 00:46:06,595
And, er, I think,
if it was written today,

753
00:46:06,755 --> 00:46:10,595
I think it's, um, I think
it's a really great lyric,

754
00:46:10,755 --> 00:46:13,075
delivered in, you know,
just the speech.

755
00:46:13,235 --> 00:46:16,355
It's the first song I'd ever
heard that had no singing in it

756
00:46:16,475 --> 00:46:18,395
but it was just talking.

757
00:46:18,515 --> 00:46:20,555
There was just this monologue about

758
00:46:20,715 --> 00:46:23,515
people looking up at the Big Sky
and the Big Sky looks at the people.

759
00:46:23,755 --> 00:46:26,435
I just though, 'What?' You know,
you couldn't sing along to it.

760
00:46:26,595 --> 00:46:28,475
You know, it was this...
It was like...

761
00:46:28,635 --> 00:46:30,755
I don't know what the musical
term is for that thing

762
00:46:30,875 --> 00:46:32,795
but Damon did it in Parklife.

763
00:46:32,955 --> 00:46:35,035
Er, Ian Dury used
to do it all the time.

764
00:46:36,155 --> 00:46:39,595

people looking up at the Big Sky

765
00:46:41,075 --> 00:46:43,275

one another around

766
00:46:46,115 --> 00:46:49,675

the children scream and cry

767
00:46:51,195 --> 00:46:53,835

to let it get him down...

768
00:46:53,995 --> 00:46:56,955
He's sort of addressing it
almost like a vicar.

769
00:46:57,075 --> 00:46:59,035
Big Sky, da-da-da-da.

770
00:46:59,195 --> 00:47:03,035
It's got that kind of tone
going on in the, you know...

771
00:47:03,195 --> 00:47:06,395
Big Sky, we're all
talking to you now, Big Sky.

772
00:47:06,555 --> 00:47:08,835
I suppose it's Ray writing
about God. I don't know.

773
00:47:08,995 --> 00:47:11,275
I guess, anyway,
that's what I always assumed.

774
00:47:11,435 --> 00:47:13,795
Looking down on all
these little people

775
00:47:13,955 --> 00:47:18,115
and, um, not really giving a fuck
and not really helping them.

776
00:47:18,275 --> 00:47:20,755
Er, that's what
I got from it anyway.

777
00:47:20,915 --> 00:47:24,475
Big Sky was about
an imaginary preacher.

778
00:47:24,635 --> 00:47:28,755
Playing it today, sounds like
all the Bible-bashers on TV,

779
00:47:28,875 --> 00:47:31,195
it sounds very contemporary.

780
00:47:31,315 --> 00:47:34,275
But then there's the bridge.

781
00:47:34,435 --> 00:47:38,475
I always loved the,
'One day we'll be free.'

782
00:47:38,595 --> 00:47:40,515
We sing the harmonies together

783
00:47:40,635 --> 00:47:43,235
and it sounds like... It feels like,

784
00:47:43,395 --> 00:47:46,435
we can get there somehow
and be free and happy.

785
00:47:46,555 --> 00:47:48,955
Free from work, free from religion,

786
00:47:49,115 --> 00:47:53,235
free from anything
that drives you insane.

787
00:47:53,355 --> 00:47:58,275


788
00:47:58,395 --> 00:48:03,155


789
00:48:03,275 --> 00:48:08,035


790
00:48:08,155 --> 00:48:12,235


791
00:48:12,395 --> 00:48:15,355
The middle eight of Big Sky,
the guitar plucking,

792
00:48:15,475 --> 00:48:17,435
it's a really beautiful part of it.

793
00:48:17,595 --> 00:48:19,475
And then it's sort of
like a dreamscape

794
00:48:19,635 --> 00:48:23,115
and then it goes back into
the main talking section.

795
00:48:25,075 --> 00:48:28,955


796
00:48:29,075 --> 00:48:33,115


797
00:48:35,475 --> 00:48:38,995

people who think they got problems

798
00:48:40,115 --> 00:48:42,595

hold their heads in their hands

799
00:48:42,715 --> 00:48:44,595


800
00:48:45,235 --> 00:48:48,355

and they look up to the Big Sky

801
00:48:49,395 --> 00:48:52,195

is too big to sympathise.

802
00:48:52,355 --> 00:48:54,315
I got the feeling that
it was our last album.

803
00:48:54,475 --> 00:48:58,875
That's why I said, 'This will be
about friendship and magic times.'

804
00:48:59,035 --> 00:49:03,755
Time for reflection. Hm!
And some funny dodgy characters

805
00:49:03,915 --> 00:49:06,235
and some angry characters,
Johnny Thunder.

806
00:49:06,995 --> 00:49:09,275


807
00:49:09,395 --> 00:49:11,675


808
00:49:11,795 --> 00:49:14,315


809
00:49:14,475 --> 00:49:17,915

Baa baa baa baa baa

810
00:49:18,035 --> 00:49:20,075


811
00:49:20,195 --> 00:49:22,755


812
00:49:22,875 --> 00:49:25,155


813
00:49:25,315 --> 00:49:29,795
He's a character I'd like to be.
He's kind of Neal Cassady/Kerouac.

814
00:49:29,955 --> 00:49:33,195
He's a great character,
the person in the song, you know.

815
00:49:33,355 --> 00:49:37,035
Likes the highways, doesn't
care what anyone else thinks.

816
00:49:37,195 --> 00:49:40,355
The imagery in the lyrics
are just, wow, fuck! Amazing.

817
00:49:40,515 --> 00:49:44,515
He reminded me of someone
I knew in Muswell Hill.

818
00:49:44,675 --> 00:49:48,595
A biker and he was kind of like...
I forget his name.

819
00:49:50,475 --> 00:49:52,435
But he was, er...

820
00:49:53,555 --> 00:49:56,395
..out on his own,
just riding his bike.

821
00:49:56,555 --> 00:49:59,115
Yeah, there were a couple...
It was based on a couple of guys,

822
00:49:59,235 --> 00:50:01,155
a couple of heroes.

823
00:50:03,595 --> 00:50:06,635
Always got the girl
on the back of the bike.

824
00:50:07,475 --> 00:50:09,555
The fact that Johnny Thunders
from New York Dolls

825
00:50:09,675 --> 00:50:11,555
must have got his name for it.

826
00:50:11,715 --> 00:50:14,875
Johnny Thunder
is just an amazing sound.

827
00:50:14,995 --> 00:50:16,915
Ray's voice is, er...

828
00:50:20,355 --> 00:50:22,555
It's hard to put into words.
Just the way he sings it.

829
00:50:22,715 --> 00:50:25,475
The melody of it is amazing.
Nick Avory's drum rolls

830
00:50:25,635 --> 00:50:29,795
into the bridge part of it
is just beautiful, you know.

831
00:50:29,955 --> 00:50:32,835
Johnny Thunder, in particular,
was always a big favourite of mine.

832
00:50:32,955 --> 00:50:35,275
Um, so it's a very varied record.

833
00:50:35,435 --> 00:50:38,355
You've got Smokestack Lightnin'
again coming up

834
00:50:38,515 --> 00:50:40,395
with Last Of The
Steam-Powered Trains.

835
00:50:40,555 --> 00:50:46,315

good old puffer trains

836
00:50:46,475 --> 00:50:52,995

blood and sweat brigade...

837
00:50:53,155 --> 00:50:56,115
It's a celebration
of the music that inspired me.

838
00:50:56,275 --> 00:50:59,995
It's tipping your hat to
Smokestack Lightnin' by Howlin' Wolf.

839
00:51:00,155 --> 00:51:03,995
It's a different metre
and different chords.

840
00:51:05,395 --> 00:51:08,995
I'm going to keep rolling. It's about
an old rocker who won't give up.

841
00:51:09,155 --> 00:51:11,355
I'm gong to keep on
rolling until my dying day.

842
00:51:11,515 --> 00:51:14,995
So there is a sense that it's the
most rebellious song on the record.

843
00:51:15,115 --> 00:51:17,755


844
00:51:20,155 --> 00:51:22,755
All those great riffs
that we kind of borrowed

845
00:51:22,875 --> 00:51:25,195
or tried to copy and fucked them up.

846
00:51:25,355 --> 00:51:27,395
Because that's how
I learned to improvise

847
00:51:27,555 --> 00:51:30,355
because I wasn't
very good at copying.

848
00:51:30,515 --> 00:51:34,195
It sounded like something else.
I thought, 'Do it anyway.'

849
00:51:34,355 --> 00:51:36,475
It sounded really live.
It sounded like

850
00:51:36,635 --> 00:51:39,875
you could just walk in to
a room and the music was happening.

851
00:51:40,035 --> 00:51:43,475
At the time, I was listening
to a lot of bands from England,

852
00:51:43,635 --> 00:51:46,955
like Roxy Music
and I loved David Bowie.

853
00:51:47,115 --> 00:51:50,475
And those records seemed
a little more pristine,

854
00:51:50,595 --> 00:51:52,755
especially the Roxy Music records.

855
00:51:52,915 --> 00:51:58,635
And, um, the Kinks records just
seemed very live and sloppy and...

856
00:51:58,795 --> 00:52:03,675
Dave, you know, you could
get a better guitarist

857
00:52:03,835 --> 00:52:06,315
to come in and do
an overdub and that.

858
00:52:06,475 --> 00:52:09,755
But it wouldn't...
It wouldn't have the right feel

859
00:52:09,875 --> 00:52:14,395
or the right attitude that Dave had.

860
00:52:14,555 --> 00:52:19,075
Because he knows
instinctively what to play.

861
00:52:19,235 --> 00:52:21,915
He's just a great guitar player
as in that he plays the song.

862
00:52:22,075 --> 00:52:25,675
I think that especially at a time
when everyone's getting, like,

863
00:52:25,795 --> 00:52:27,715
groups around like Cream and all.

864
00:52:27,875 --> 00:52:30,835
You know, I really didn't
care for them and their...

865
00:52:30,995 --> 00:52:33,915
He's just holding it down
over his brother's songs,

866
00:52:34,075 --> 00:52:36,515
which, I would imagine,
would have been tricky, you know,

867
00:52:36,675 --> 00:52:39,155
knowing what we all do
of their relationship.

868
00:52:39,275 --> 00:52:41,395
And he's just doing it very humbly

869
00:52:41,555 --> 00:52:44,755
and, er, very melodically.
And I love him for that.

870
00:52:44,875 --> 00:52:46,795
Dave is...

871
00:52:46,955 --> 00:52:51,475
I cannot stress enough
what a guitarist that guy is.

872
00:52:51,595 --> 00:52:53,515
And Ray as a songwriter.

873
00:52:53,635 --> 00:52:55,555
One...

874
00:52:57,035 --> 00:52:59,395
So for them to create that
sound between the two of them,

875
00:52:59,515 --> 00:53:01,435
without even thinking about it,

876
00:53:01,595 --> 00:53:03,755
it must say something
about their genetic make-up.

877
00:53:06,115 --> 00:53:11,395

good old choo-choo trains.

878
00:53:12,155 --> 00:53:14,795
He's an incredible,
memorable guitar player.

879
00:53:14,955 --> 00:53:18,515
Especially for people like me
who didn't want to spend ages,

880
00:53:18,675 --> 00:53:23,515
who wanted to just be raw
and just play and emote

881
00:53:23,635 --> 00:53:25,555
and be expressive,

882
00:53:25,675 --> 00:53:29,235
Dave Davies was the man really.

883
00:53:29,395 --> 00:53:35,115
He was doing it, he didn't play
like Jimmy Page or Eric Clapton

884
00:53:35,275 --> 00:53:39,715
or Hendrix, but they were already
doing that, so what's the point?

885
00:53:39,875 --> 00:53:44,315
Whether Ray was metaphorically
writing about the Kinks at that time

886
00:53:44,475 --> 00:53:49,235
because they were being very
much marginalised by that time,

887
00:53:49,395 --> 00:53:53,395
critically and also
in terms of success and stuff.

888
00:53:53,555 --> 00:53:58,475
And, um, and obviously not having
the recognition from America,

889
00:53:58,635 --> 00:54:00,515
which all of his
contemporaries were having.

890
00:54:00,675 --> 00:54:04,075
Village Green felt like it was
the last record we'd ever make.

891
00:54:04,235 --> 00:54:07,275
In fact, it was the last
record of the original band.

892
00:54:07,395 --> 00:54:09,435
Pete Quaife left at the end of it.

893
00:54:09,595 --> 00:54:12,315
And that shot of us
standing on Hampstead Heath

894
00:54:12,475 --> 00:54:15,115
is one of the last
photographs taken together.

895
00:54:25,315 --> 00:54:30,235

Preservation Society

896
00:54:30,395 --> 00:54:35,515

vaudeville and variety

897
00:54:35,675 --> 00:54:40,315

Appreciation Society

898
00:54:40,475 --> 00:54:45,475

and all the different varieties

899
00:54:45,635 --> 00:54:50,235

from being abused

900
00:54:50,395 --> 00:54:55,155

for me and for you

901
00:54:55,795 --> 00:54:58,075


902
00:54:58,235 --> 00:55:02,595
I love the quintessential
Britishness of that song,

903
00:55:02,755 --> 00:55:05,435
The Village Green
Preservation Society.

904
00:55:05,595 --> 00:55:08,755
I learned the song
about 40 years ago

905
00:55:08,915 --> 00:55:13,635
but when I learned it I didn't
know what Ray was referring to.

906
00:55:13,795 --> 00:55:17,315
Over the years, I've figured out
what a George Cross is

907
00:55:17,435 --> 00:55:20,675
and, um, Moriarty

908
00:55:20,835 --> 00:55:24,035
and Mrs Mopp
and Mrs Mopp and, is...

909
00:55:24,155 --> 00:55:27,555
Of course, china cups and virginity,

910
00:55:27,715 --> 00:55:29,875
I could figure out on my own.
(LAUGHS)

911
00:55:29,995 --> 00:55:32,915
But I love,

912
00:55:33,075 --> 00:55:34,955
yes, the Englishness of it all.

913
00:55:35,075 --> 00:55:37,115
It makes you feel nostalgic,

914
00:55:37,235 --> 00:55:40,715
um, but, by the same token,

915
00:55:40,835 --> 00:55:42,755
it still sounds so fresh,

916
00:55:42,915 --> 00:55:47,835
even though it was about nostalgia
and preserving the past.

917
00:55:47,955 --> 00:55:50,195
The opening track, to me,

918
00:55:50,315 --> 00:55:52,515
lyrically is staggering.

919
00:55:52,635 --> 00:55:54,755
I've listened to it, um,

920
00:55:54,875 --> 00:55:57,355
you know, from time to time

921
00:55:57,515 --> 00:56:02,915
and to get all those images
to rhyme in that song...

922
00:56:05,395 --> 00:56:07,315
(LAUGHS) ..it's absurd.

923
00:56:07,475 --> 00:56:12,555

English-speaking Vernacular

924
00:56:12,715 --> 00:56:18,595

Moriarty and Dracula

925
00:56:18,755 --> 00:56:24,475

Persecution Affinity

926
00:56:24,635 --> 00:56:31,315

china cups and virginity.

927
00:56:31,475 --> 00:56:34,715
Ray just always looked at the
subject of what was around him

928
00:56:34,875 --> 00:56:37,155
and was deconstructing it
but he was also saying,

929
00:56:37,315 --> 00:56:40,715
'This is progress. Everyone's
talking about moving forward.'

930
00:56:40,875 --> 00:56:44,635
I don't think that's a context of
what America meant at that time.

931
00:56:44,795 --> 00:56:47,515
And he's saying, 'Just before we go,
let's just kind of register

932
00:56:47,675 --> 00:56:50,755
'what is going on around us,
even if it's not all perfect.'

933
00:56:50,915 --> 00:56:54,635
You know, in The Village Green
Preservation Society, what is it?

934
00:56:54,795 --> 00:56:57,755
'Protecting the old ways
from being abused.'

935
00:56:57,915 --> 00:57:00,235
You know, 'Protecting the new ways,
for me and for you.'

936
00:57:00,395 --> 00:57:02,315
I think that really
sums the whole thing up.

937
00:57:02,475 --> 00:57:04,475
Although it's not
a concept record, as such,

938
00:57:04,635 --> 00:57:06,715
it has a certain sort
of theme to it, I suppose.

939
00:57:06,835 --> 00:57:11,555
Er, a longing and a loss of, um...

940
00:57:11,715 --> 00:57:16,075
things that might not
have even really existed, you know.

941
00:57:16,235 --> 00:57:19,195
He was... He was looking back.
He was...

942
00:57:19,315 --> 00:57:22,075
But, in a way, that's kind of

943
00:57:22,195 --> 00:57:24,115
revolutionary in itself.

944
00:57:24,235 --> 00:57:27,275
It... It... It's not necessarily

945
00:57:27,395 --> 00:57:31,075
what teens wanted.

946
00:57:31,195 --> 00:57:35,275
Um, and it probably

947
00:57:35,435 --> 00:57:39,115
annoyed some of them
and all the better for it, you know.

948
00:57:39,275 --> 00:57:41,675
If you can't annoy a teenager,
who can you annoy?

949
00:57:57,471 --> 00:58:01,631


950
00:58:01,791 --> 00:58:05,991

those sacred days you gave me

951
00:58:06,111 --> 00:58:10,751


952
00:58:11,591 --> 00:58:13,191


953
00:58:13,351 --> 00:58:15,831
I think because they
wanted it as a single,

954
00:58:15,991 --> 00:58:20,271
I was a bit of an upstart,
I said, 'If it's a single,

955
00:58:20,431 --> 00:58:22,591
'I want Village Green
not to have any singles on it.'

956
00:58:22,751 --> 00:58:28,791
Silly thing because business
sense says put the single on.

957
00:58:28,911 --> 00:58:31,271
So it was a bad choice on my part.

958
00:58:31,431 --> 00:58:35,151
Perfect songwriting, you know,
it's like every section,

959
00:58:35,311 --> 00:58:37,191
to me, sounds like
it's a chorus, you know,

960
00:58:37,351 --> 00:58:40,991
just when you think it's peaked, you
kind of get into the next section

961
00:58:41,151 --> 00:58:44,151
and then it's almost like
that even peaks even more.

962
00:58:44,311 --> 00:58:47,391
I feel like it's sort of
moves you through the song.

963
00:58:47,511 --> 00:58:51,791


964
00:58:51,911 --> 00:58:54,071


965
00:58:54,631 --> 00:58:57,591


966
00:59:00,351 --> 00:59:04,791


967
00:59:04,951 --> 00:59:06,991
It would have made
the album even stronger.

968
00:59:07,151 --> 00:59:10,431
The yearning in that song,
the yearning

969
00:59:10,591 --> 00:59:15,391
and that semitone climb,
you know, that ratchets up.

970
00:59:15,551 --> 00:59:19,151
And ah! The release.
Great piece of musicianship.

971
00:59:20,631 --> 00:59:25,511


972
00:59:31,791 --> 00:59:35,391
It's just an amazing tune
and such beautiful words as well.

973
00:59:35,551 --> 00:59:39,871
And, er, yeah, that's it.
It's a classic.

974
00:59:40,031 --> 00:59:43,471
Great words, great melody.
That's it. That's a great song.

975
00:59:43,631 --> 00:59:49,151
Village Green is an album
for friends, a personal record

976
00:59:49,271 --> 00:59:54,311
and to hell with airplay and sales.

977
00:59:54,471 --> 00:59:56,671
Maybe it wasn't their time.
Some things don't click,

978
00:59:56,831 --> 00:59:59,191
do they, at the time? Which,
you know, is kind of shocking

979
00:59:59,351 --> 01:00:01,991
looking back and seeing how
great it still is as an album.

980
01:00:02,151 --> 01:00:04,031
If you look at the context
of when it came out,

981
01:00:04,191 --> 01:00:07,631
yeah, and everyone's going really
wild and freaking out and, yeah.

982
01:00:07,791 --> 01:00:09,791
You know RandB
is turning into heavy metal,

983
01:00:09,951 --> 01:00:13,271
Led Zeppelin and, you know, people
are throwing their clothes off.

984
01:00:13,431 --> 01:00:18,271
You know, and then Ray turns up
dressed as Max Miller. (LAUGHS)

985
01:00:18,431 --> 01:00:23,311
The Kinks were out of whack
with British tastes.

986
01:00:23,471 --> 01:00:27,431
Er, in '68, we did
want to look to America.

987
01:00:27,551 --> 01:00:31,271
I felt more akin to the Kinks'

988
01:00:31,431 --> 01:00:34,791
British music hall
sense... sensibility.

989
01:00:34,951 --> 01:00:40,191
The Kinks were not
forthcoming as characters.

990
01:00:40,351 --> 01:00:43,191
If you look back on YouTube
and look at their interviews,

991
01:00:43,351 --> 01:00:45,231
they don't want to be
doing interviews.

992
01:00:45,391 --> 01:00:47,431
They don't want to be
having their picture taken.

993
01:00:47,591 --> 01:00:49,471
They don't want to be
talking to anyone.

994
01:00:49,631 --> 01:00:53,351
You see the Beatles,
they're loving it.

995
01:00:54,431 --> 01:00:57,991
OK, so the record didn't
manage to find an audience.

996
01:00:58,151 --> 01:01:02,151
But, who knows, perhaps one day it
will end up connecting with someone.

997
01:01:02,271 --> 01:01:05,271
I'm just glad we stood our ground,

998
01:01:05,431 --> 01:01:09,511
celebrated this
somewhat eccentric land.

999
01:01:10,831 --> 01:01:13,751
And, as for the village green
and all those great characters...

1000
01:01:15,231 --> 01:01:18,231
..they're here in the songs.

1001
01:01:26,111 --> 01:01:28,711


1002
01:01:28,871 --> 01:01:31,991

thought they had missed it

1003
01:01:32,111 --> 01:01:35,231


1004
01:01:35,391 --> 01:01:38,391

pictures of the mothers

1005
01:01:38,551 --> 01:01:42,031

pictures of brothers.

1006
01:01:42,191 --> 01:01:44,991
The Kinks were an uncool band,
we still are very uncool.

1007
01:01:45,111 --> 01:01:48,031
And, um... Which saved us in the end.

1008
01:01:48,191 --> 01:01:50,071
If you make a records
for an audience,

1009
01:01:50,231 --> 01:01:53,271
there's always a chance that
it will start to lose its lustre.

1010
01:01:53,431 --> 01:01:56,271
If you make a record that is
deeply personal to yourself,

1011
01:01:56,391 --> 01:02:00,311
then, you know, there's a resonance,

1012
01:02:00,471 --> 01:02:03,471
there's something genuine
in that piece of music.

1013
01:02:03,631 --> 01:02:06,231
It's kind of created
its own time, really.

1014
01:02:06,351 --> 01:02:08,271
It doesn't sound psychedelic.

1015
01:02:08,431 --> 01:02:10,871
It doesn't really sound
like the late '60s.

1016
01:02:11,031 --> 01:02:14,511
It doesn't sound like anything else
that was going on around that time.

1017
01:02:15,631 --> 01:02:20,271
And, um, therefore,
I feel it's timeless, really.

1018
01:02:20,391 --> 01:02:22,631
It's a cult album.

1019
01:02:22,791 --> 01:02:26,271
And, thankfully, lots of people
like it, are fond of it.

1020
01:02:26,431 --> 01:02:28,631
Well, the Village Green album
is one of those records

1021
01:02:28,831 --> 01:02:31,311
that ahs just got this
incredible reputation now.

1022
01:02:31,431 --> 01:02:33,911
And it's deserved because,

1023
01:02:34,071 --> 01:02:37,551
um, it is an extraordinary
collection of songs.

1024
01:02:37,711 --> 01:02:41,911
It's the best Kinks album, the
Village Green album is, I think.

1025
01:02:42,071 --> 01:02:46,991
And, er, it's the, um... And the
Kinks are one of the best bands,

1026
01:02:47,151 --> 01:02:49,151
you know,
that England have ever produced.

1027
01:02:49,311 --> 01:02:51,551
It's as an important record
as Sgt Pepper's,

1028
01:02:51,711 --> 01:02:53,991
which, on a global scale,
of course, is Sgt Pepper's

1029
01:02:54,151 --> 01:02:57,911
and, you know, we all know that
meant, um, and still means.

1030
01:02:58,031 --> 01:03:00,831
But, um, Village Green is...

1031
01:03:00,951 --> 01:03:03,271
It's, for me anyway, it's equal.

1032
01:03:06,391 --> 01:03:09,351
That's one of the albums
that I'll go back to.

1033
01:03:09,511 --> 01:03:11,671
You know, when I'm working
with different artists,

1034
01:03:11,831 --> 01:03:15,111
sometimes I'll kind of listen
to stuff just to kind of,

1035
01:03:15,271 --> 01:03:17,991
you know, get inspired.
And, you know,

1036
01:03:18,151 --> 01:03:21,911
the Kinks is absolutely, you know...
Village Green Preservation Society

1037
01:03:22,071 --> 01:03:24,151
is one of the ones that
is definitely to go to.

1038
01:03:24,311 --> 01:03:26,831
Some of the subjects
he was writing about,

1039
01:03:26,991 --> 01:03:29,591
things that would be of
no concern to most people

1040
01:03:29,751 --> 01:03:34,071
and yet all the beautiful little
details that he's spotted

1041
01:03:34,191 --> 01:03:36,111
and put in some song.

1042
01:03:36,271 --> 01:03:39,031
So that would be a definite
influence on my writing.

1043
01:03:39,191 --> 01:03:41,551
It's so obvious how
many musicians love it

1044
01:03:41,671 --> 01:03:43,591
because you see it in other songs.

1045
01:03:43,711 --> 01:03:45,911
It appears in so many other songs.

1046
01:03:46,071 --> 01:03:49,591
There's a bit in Johnny Thunder that
appears in In The Crowd by the Jam.

1047
01:03:49,751 --> 01:03:52,511
And there's the beginning
of Do you Remember Walter?

1048
01:03:52,631 --> 01:03:55,871
which, whenever I hear Mr Blue Sky,

1049
01:03:55,991 --> 01:03:59,871
I go, 'Ooh, they've updated this.'

1050
01:04:00,031 --> 01:04:02,391
And then,
'Of course, it's Mr Blue Sky.'

1051
01:04:02,551 --> 01:04:06,191
So, um...
And that is people paying homage.

1052
01:04:06,351 --> 01:04:08,591
The first one that
springs to mind is Blur.

1053
01:04:08,751 --> 01:04:11,431
Not sure Damon would have
a career without Ray Davies.

1054
01:04:11,591 --> 01:04:16,511
You can see the Kinks...
The thread went forward through us.

1055
01:04:16,671 --> 01:04:19,591
I think it went forward
through people like Blur.

1056
01:04:20,671 --> 01:04:26,711
Um, and I think you can
detect it in a lot of other bands.

1057
01:04:26,871 --> 01:04:30,311
Um, the Franz Ferdinands,
the Kaiser Chiefs.

1058
01:04:30,471 --> 01:04:32,791
You can see the Kinks
thread going on there.

1059
01:04:32,951 --> 01:04:38,431
Er, I think any band
that doesn't try too hard

1060
01:04:38,551 --> 01:04:41,351
to be American and/or international

1061
01:04:41,511 --> 01:04:44,471
and just allows themself,
if they're from Britain,

1062
01:04:44,591 --> 01:04:46,511
allows themself to be British.

1063
01:04:46,671 --> 01:04:51,951
You can't help but tip your hat
in a big way toward the Kinks.

1064
01:04:52,111 --> 01:04:54,711
It goes into Ian Dury,
it goes into us,

1065
01:04:54,871 --> 01:04:58,471
it goes into Blur, Lily Allen,
a number of other people.

1066
01:04:58,631 --> 01:05:02,671
You know, black comedy
but with a bit of kind of going.

1067
01:05:02,831 --> 01:05:06,391

a very big house in the country

1068
01:05:07,631 --> 01:05:11,591

the food he eats in the country...

1069
01:05:11,751 --> 01:05:13,871
They were very similar
to Blur in a lot of ways.

1070
01:05:14,031 --> 01:05:16,511
Well, Blur were very similar
to the Kinks, I should say.

1071
01:05:16,671 --> 01:05:20,271
They had an incredibly
hard-working kind of songwriter.

1072
01:05:20,391 --> 01:05:22,951
A kind of nutcase on guitar,

1073
01:05:23,111 --> 01:05:26,791
who invented everything
on his instrument.

1074
01:05:26,911 --> 01:05:30,191
Um, kind of down-to-earth drummer

1075
01:05:30,351 --> 01:05:34,031
and a sort of groovy stylish
bass player, you know. (LAUGHS)

1076
01:05:34,191 --> 01:05:37,111

slam his car door

1077
01:05:37,271 --> 01:05:40,911

this is respectable street

1078
01:05:41,951 --> 01:05:44,751

he bought that car for?

1079
01:05:44,911 --> 01:05:48,591

this is respectable street.

1080
01:05:48,751 --> 01:05:52,511
Possible the most Kinks thing we
ever did was Respectable Street,

1081
01:05:52,631 --> 01:05:57,831
which is totally and utterly

1082
01:05:57,991 --> 01:06:01,071
what I saw out of my window
and what... The neighbours

1083
01:06:01,231 --> 01:06:04,191
were banging on the wall every
time I put the record player on.

1084
01:06:04,351 --> 01:06:08,631
Or I'd look at the caravans that
people would buy as status symbols

1085
01:06:08,791 --> 01:06:10,991
and just leave them in
their gardens all-year long

1086
01:06:11,151 --> 01:06:13,591
and then, for one week,
they'd disappear for the holiday.

1087
01:06:13,751 --> 01:06:19,191
And, to me, I knew at the time,
Uncle Ray would approve of this.

1088
01:06:19,351 --> 01:06:23,111

in the middle of our street

1089
01:06:23,231 --> 01:06:27,071


1090
01:06:27,191 --> 01:06:29,431


1091
01:06:30,071 --> 01:06:32,551

something happening.

1092
01:06:32,711 --> 01:06:34,591
For me,
I equate it to my own career.

1093
01:06:34,751 --> 01:06:38,271
It'll be Our House, that,
for us, was exactly the same.

1094
01:06:38,391 --> 01:06:40,311
It was a kind of mythical idea

1095
01:06:40,471 --> 01:06:42,831
of what house we
all would've lived in.

1096
01:06:42,991 --> 01:06:45,111
Our Rise and Fall album
is very similar in that sense

1097
01:06:45,271 --> 01:06:48,871
because it's set around
part of Primrose Hill

1098
01:06:49,031 --> 01:06:51,791
and it's set around all the
characters that we grew up with.

1099
01:06:51,951 --> 01:06:55,911
I know that the Kinks influenced
Weller greatly and the Jam.

1100
01:06:56,031 --> 01:06:58,391
And the Jam influenced us...

1101
01:06:59,671 --> 01:07:02,591
..greatly. So there's
a kind of linear thing there.

1102
01:07:02,751 --> 01:07:04,631
It lived with us
a long time that record

1103
01:07:04,791 --> 01:07:07,791
and it still is one of our
favourite albums of all time.

1104
01:07:07,951 --> 01:07:11,351
And so it, you know... We would go
straight from our flats the next day

1105
01:07:11,511 --> 01:07:14,911
to go recording
and it would rub off definitely.

1106
01:07:15,031 --> 01:07:17,591
The thing with those bands is

1107
01:07:17,751 --> 01:07:19,751
they're not ashamed
of sounding British,

1108
01:07:19,871 --> 01:07:21,791
singing in their own accent,

1109
01:07:21,951 --> 01:07:25,591
write about subject matters that
could happen where they grew up.

1110
01:07:25,751 --> 01:07:28,231
Village Green Preservation Society.
Er, one, two...

1111
01:07:28,351 --> 01:07:30,791
Er, one, two, three, four.

1112
01:07:51,031 --> 01:07:55,431

Preservation Society

1113
01:07:55,991 --> 01:08:00,391

vaudeville and variety

1114
01:08:00,551 --> 01:08:04,991

Appreciation Society

1115
01:08:05,591 --> 01:08:10,551

and all the different varieties

1116
01:08:10,711 --> 01:08:14,911

from being abused

1117
01:08:15,751 --> 01:08:19,631

for me and for you

1118
01:08:19,751 --> 01:08:22,271


1119
01:08:22,431 --> 01:08:24,311
I love the man, you know.
I love his work

1120
01:08:24,471 --> 01:08:26,351
and what he's given me
and influenced me

1121
01:08:26,511 --> 01:08:30,111
and, um, and so many
other people as well.

1122
01:08:30,231 --> 01:08:32,431
Hs work lives on and always will do.

1123
01:08:32,591 --> 01:08:35,951
The Kinks have always been sort
of an influence on me, you know.

1124
01:08:36,111 --> 01:08:40,351
I always was drawn to this
juxtaposition of this very dark

1125
01:08:40,511 --> 01:08:44,071
lyric over something that could
be sort of very old-fashioned.

1126
01:08:44,191 --> 01:08:46,151
He became a character in my life.

1127
01:08:46,271 --> 01:08:50,311
And I listened to him quite a bit.

1128
01:08:50,471 --> 01:08:56,631
So, um, I'm sure he kind of infused
me with his style of writing

1129
01:08:56,791 --> 01:08:59,631
and I'm sure it was
in there somewhere

1130
01:08:59,791 --> 01:09:02,791
when I started writing my
own songs shortly afterwards.

1131
01:09:02,951 --> 01:09:04,951
One of the greatest things
that I learnt from Ray

1132
01:09:05,111 --> 01:09:07,591
was that, yeah, just observing
what's going on around you

1133
01:09:07,711 --> 01:09:09,631
and deconstructing it a bit

1134
01:09:09,751 --> 01:09:12,671
but still, you know, loving it,

1135
01:09:12,831 --> 01:09:15,111
you know what I mean,
even though it may not be perfect.

1136
01:09:15,271 --> 01:09:18,591
I wouldn't be a songwriter
if it weren't for the Kinks.

1137
01:09:18,751 --> 01:09:23,471
Paul McCartney and Ray Davies
are our greatest songwriters.

1138
01:09:23,631 --> 01:09:26,911
He has possibly
written songs on his own

1139
01:09:27,031 --> 01:09:28,791
that are better... Uurrgghh!

1140
01:09:28,951 --> 01:09:31,071
I'm sorry about this.
I'm committing heresy.

1141
01:09:31,231 --> 01:09:33,351
..that are better
than Lennon and McCartney.

1142
01:09:34,911 --> 01:09:37,791
I don't think Lennon and McCartney
have ever come up with something

1143
01:09:37,911 --> 01:09:40,231
as poignant as Waterloo Sunset.

1144
01:09:40,391 --> 01:09:43,151
I don't think they've ever
come up with a little symphony

1145
01:09:43,271 --> 01:09:47,271
like Autumn Almanac or Shangri-La.

1146
01:09:47,431 --> 01:09:49,631
I don't think they've
ever some up with

1147
01:09:49,791 --> 01:09:53,391
quite the social commentary
of Sunny Afternoon.

1148
01:09:54,591 --> 01:09:59,271
Or the romance of Days.

1149
01:09:59,391 --> 01:10:01,311
Oh, I'm so sorry.

1150
01:10:01,431 --> 01:10:03,511
I'm sorry but it's got to be said.

1151
01:10:03,631 --> 01:10:05,631
I love being within a band.

1152
01:10:05,791 --> 01:10:07,871
It wasn't the greatest
band in the world

1153
01:10:08,031 --> 01:10:11,031
but we had moments
when nobody could beat us.

1154
01:10:11,151 --> 01:10:17,231


1155
01:10:17,391 --> 01:10:20,151
(APPLAUSE)
Hallelujah!

1156
01:10:21,391 --> 01:10:24,871
So who knows what the future
holds for us or the Village Green.

1157
01:10:25,951 --> 01:10:27,991
And all the characters we sung about?

1158
01:10:29,311 --> 01:10:31,271
All I can say is,

1159
01:10:31,391 --> 01:10:33,791
people often change

1160
01:10:33,911 --> 01:10:36,351
but memories of people can remain.

1161
01:10:40,751 --> 01:10:43,751


1162
01:10:44,391 --> 01:10:47,471


1163
01:10:47,591 --> 01:10:52,111


1164
01:10:52,271 --> 01:10:57,951

Don't let it get you down

1165
01:10:59,711 --> 01:11:02,591


1166
01:11:04,031 --> 01:11:07,871


1167
01:11:09,391 --> 01:11:13,191


1168
01:11:13,311 --> 01:11:17,351


1169
01:11:19,111 --> 01:11:23,591


1170
01:11:24,231 --> 01:11:28,671

just you wait and see

1171
01:11:28,791 --> 01:11:33,151


1172
01:11:33,271 --> 01:11:36,311


1173
01:11:36,431 --> 01:11:41,671


1174
01:11:43,271 --> 01:11:45,471
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