Whenever I read plaudits about Ray Davies' songwriting- as I often do- they're almost always accompanied by a rider/qualification along the lines of: "well-observed and deeply felt vignettes of English suburban life".

How true is this?

What kind of resonance do site-specific songs like "Waterloo Sunset" or a climate-specific song like "Autumn Almanac" or time-and-place-specific songs like "Dedicated Follower of Fashion" have in far fields and foreign climes?

Parochial? Universal? Both?

No deep thought here, Eddie, just a passing 'thinks' bubble: Ray Davies's songs strike me as more of the music hall than of rock 'n' roll - and music hall was a pretty "English" - erm, what's the word I'm looking for, genre? form? Can I answer (for now), facetiously, 'neither'?

(The Kinks were big favourites of a mod* workmate of mine in the mid 60s - who, incidentally, loaned me his newly-purchased Bob Dylan albums: first four, if I remember right - and set me off down a particular trail which I still follow erratically nearly half a century later)

*EDIT: there's a pun in there - unintentional - my workmate was indeed a 'mod'; and we both worked for a particular department of state with a similar acronymic name. So it goes.

To Minnesotans they sound like they are from a faraway land. And they talk funny--not like regular people.

I love Lola! The Kinks warned folks about oil addiction in the 70s and no one in power paid them any mind. There is a man under my bed, there's a little green (or is it yellow) man in my head...

Yeah, I have no answer for ya Eddie.




I want to be a Celluloid Hero. Because they don't feel any pain...

Mulling the whole matter over:

In a way, it was a silly question.

I've never surfed a roller in my life, but that doesn't debar me from admission to the world of the Beach Boys. Neither have I driven down Route 66, but I love the song.

For that matter, I couldn't point out Ashtabula on a map to save my life.

About 5 years ago I heard part of an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live with Greil Marcus in which he was discussing "Waterloo Sunset", surely one of the best "Pop" songs ever written.

Where can I read what Mr Marcus has to say about the Kinks?

6 Denmark Terrace, birthplace of the Davies brothers. About as English suburban as it gets.

http://www.last.fm/music/The+Kinks

You Really Got Me- The Kinks.

Ray Davies' autobiography X-Ray is a characteristically left-field production.

The book is structured around the story of a young gun-slinging music journalistist who manages to obtain a rare interview with the notoriously cranky and reclusive Mr Davies; their dialogue becomes the substance of the book.

Highly unusual and original, as you'd expect; certainly, a cut above most music biogs. Well worth reading.

Ah yes, I have a copy of Mystery Train. Thanks for the nudge, felix.

Marcus the Magus' words of wisdom on the Kinks must be buried somewhere in the endless, interminable appendices.

Diggit...