Every week, the pop culture website Pop-A-Looza shares a post from my vast 'n' captivating Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) archives. This week's shared post is "The Bands That Would Be Kinks," a look back at the few times I heard someone's cover of a song by The Kinks before I heard the original version.
Man, I love The Kinks. On This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana& Carl, we refer to The Kinks as our house band. It's not that we play them on the show every week--there aren't any acts that get played on our show every week--but it's a reflection of a specific bond we feel with The Kinks' music, a bond I can't properly articulate. Dana and I would agree that our all-time favorite group is The Beatles, and The Ramones and The Flashcubes are right up there with the Fabs in my rockin' pop cosmology, with The Kinks and The Monkees maybe a half-notch off from that pinnacle (followed, of course, by literally dozens of other cherished acts). So, why this specific thing for The Kinks? My answer never changes: Because they're The Kinks.
The Kinks remain the only act in TIRnRR's long and storied history to ever take over one of our shows in its entirety. In fact, we've done two all-Kinks shows, and I doubt any other act will ever be given that particular honor even once. When some of our listeners collaborated on a project to benefit our perpetually-marginal radio show, the resulting compilation album was toplined by their new cover of The Kinks' "Waterloo Sunset." Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio features my grateful liner notes, and is available to purchase as a CD or as a digital download.
When my Dad passed away in 2012, I used the lyrics of The Kinks' Days" in my eulogy at his funeral. My Everlasting First reminiscence of how I became a Kinks fan may be this blog's all-time most-read piece. My Virtual Ticket Stub Gallery recollection of my first Kinks concert is a personal favorite, immersed in the teen experience and the reluctant understanding that it was time to at least try to grow up. Last year, I revamped that same Kinks concert retrospective to serve as the "Waterloo Sunset" chapter in my forthcoming book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). In my book, the "Waterloo Sunset" chapter will be followed immediately by a chapter on "You Really Got Me," providing a 1-2 punch of my favorite Kinks songs. There are many more.
Oh! And there was "A GIRL AND A BOY: The Story So Far," a song cycle I did for TIRnRR in 2014. This was an attempt to create a storyline of the rise, fall, and aftermath of a relationship between a girl and a boy. The Kinks play an integral part in that storyline.
I'll be getting back to more Kinks coverage in future editions of Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do). My big ol' stack o' drafts includes essays about The Kinks' Greatest Hits LP and my 25 favorite Kinks tracks, and I'll probably write more about The Kinks after those, too. Because they're The Kinks. And they're the inspiration for "The Bands That Would Be Kinks," this week's Boppin' Pop-A-Looza.
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This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.
The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:
Volume 1: download
Volume 3: download
Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio: CD or download
Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 134 essays about 134 tracks, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1).
Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 134 essays about 134 tracks, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1).
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