The subject header lies. This is going to be a top 30 list. What does it say that I just made a top 10 for the Rolling Stones and for the Beatles and now I'm making a top 30 for the Kinks? It's not that I think the 30th best Kinks song is better than the 30th best Beatles song or the 30th best Stones song. I'm sure it isn't. I just found the Kinks songs easier to rank, so I kept going.
If you want shorter Kinks lists, look here (including a very short career overview) or here (6 different lists) or perhaps here (with links to youtube videos). Paste also couldn't stick to 10. Here's their top 15. And here's another blogger who went to 20. Ten, 15, 20, where will it stop? I will do 30, I will not drop.
30. State of Confusion (83)
29. Till the End of the Day (66)
28. Victoria (69)
27. Johnny Thunder (68)
26. Destroyer (81)
25. Apeman (70)
24. People Take Pictures of Each Other (68)
23. Wicked Annabella (68)
22. Yo-Yo (81)
21. Dedicated Follower of Fashion (66)
20. Supersonic Rocketship (72)
19. (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman (79)
18. Celluloid Heroes (72)
17. A Rock'n'Roll Fantasy (78)
16. David Watts (67)
15. Where Have All The Good Times Gone (66)
14. Around the Dial (81)
13. Sunny Afternoon (67)
12. Waterloo Sunset (67)
11. You Really Got Me (64)
10. A Well Respected Man (66)
9. Father Christmas (77)
8. Shangri-La (69)
7. All Day and All of the Night (65)
6. Big Sky (68)
5. I'm Not Like Everybody Else (66)
4. Stop Your Sobbing (64)
3. Lola (70)
2. Tired of Waiting for You (65)
1. Village Green Preservation Society (68)
Astute observers will note that there are 5 songs here from the Village Green album, which is a violation of my general philosophy of list making, but I couldn't help it. I'm a hypocrite. Other issues... it's hard to justify leaving "You Really Got Me" out of the top 10, but it loses out to a lot of other songs based on my lack of eagerness to keep hearing it more than I've already heard it. I do like hearing it, but I hear it a good bit without searching it out.
What about "Come Dancing"? I left it off. I did listen to it a couple of times in the past few days before leaving it off. My top 10 is 60s dominated, so you'd think "Come Dancing" would have a place here as the last thing they did that hearkened to their 60s sound. It's similar to the 60s stuff, but absolutely not nearly as good. If it's not their actual 60s stuff, I prefer the early 80s arena rock Kinks sound, which was just an altogether different thing. Their 1979 flirtation with disco on "Superman", which I included at #19, also stands apart.
Only 2 Kinks songs made the Rolling Stones Top 500 Greatest Songs list, but they both made the top 100. They put Waterloo Sunset in at #42 and You Really Got Me at #82. I was surprised that the other lists were less 60s-heavy, but probably not as surprised as I was about the same phenomenon with the various Stones lists I found and commented upon.
I'm seriously considering doing away with my one-song-per-record rule when I make my 1960s decade list. I'm considering calling the rule violation the Stop Your Sobbing Rule because I don't see how I can leave out You Really Got Me, but I like Stop Your Sobbing better from the first Kinks record.
Where's "Livin' on a thin line". Are you serious!?
ReplyDeleteWhere is Catch Me Now I'm Falling? I'm amazed that you don't have it on here.
ReplyDeleteRe: Catch Me Now I'm Falling, I think the Low Budget record had quite a few very good songs, but none that I'd call truly excellent. I have a soft spot for I Wish I Could Fly Like Superman because I find rock bands flirting with disco entertaining. It's second to only Kiss's "I Was Made for Loving You" in that category.
ReplyDeleteRe: Livin' on a Thin Line, I'm put off my the production values of mid 80s AOR, much as I feel nostalgic about the production values of late 70s AOR. It's strictly an age thing. If you thought Livin' on a Thin Line was really great, I have a hunch you're younger than me, and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if I would have like it more if I was younger when I heard it first myself.