| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| lemonade kid |
Posted - 02/08/2012 : 17:12:18
KINKS' DAVIES ADDED TO OLYMPICS CLOSING?
Britain's Telegraph is reporting that leaked documents of the London Olympics closing ceremony on Aug. 12 call for Ray Davies, legendary former leader of British Invasion icons The Kinks to appear, where he'll perform one of the most beloved songs in the history of British rock music, "Waterloo Sunset", the wistful, melancholy ode to London, the River Themes and Waterloo Station. The song first appeared on the 1967 album, "Something Else by The Kinks." It hit No. 2 on the British singles chart and is listed at No. 42 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
If true, Davies will join his fellow British Invaders, The Who, and George Michael, who recently recovered from a near-fatal bout of pneumonia that forced his doctors to perform an emergency tracheotomy and keep the singer in an induced coma for nearly a month.
A 22-song, 2-CD anthology import, "Waterloo Sunset: The Very Best of The Kinks and Ray Davies," that spans their nearly 50 years, will be released Aug. 21. Being an import, the collection contains a considerable number of mid and late-'60 s songs that were hits for The Kinks in the U.K. and elsewhere around the world, but not here (USA), including "Autumn Almanac," "Days" and "Plastic Man," as well as Davies' younger brother, Kinks guitarist Dave's hits with the band, "Death of a Clown" and "Strangers" and solo career songs such as "Fortis Green." Songs from Ray Davies' solo career include, "London Song" and "Next Door Neighbor." The title song from The Kinks final EP, "Did Ya," from 1991, is also included.
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HIGH ALL THE TIME...
-Mad River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0PCzH-K1hg
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| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Joe Morris |
Posted - 14/08/2012 : 02:36:26
did the Kinks play? I thought that the only way one of the Davies brothers knew the other was in the country was if he had sent him a fax!
Ray give John Dalton a call!
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| lemonade kid |
Posted - 13/08/2012 : 18:45:08
Thanks so much Harv & J9. I enjoyed your overviews probably more than if I had watched it. The American commentators a very boring and a bit annoying as they throw in their observations...shut up and watch!
I don't need someone to tell me what I'm seeing.
The opening ceremony was one I'm glad I watched...but not too upset I missed the closer. I'll check YouTube out so I can watch what I choose & "edit" those I don't wish to see. The Lennon bit sounds like a must see.
Thanks again, mates!
________________________________________________
HIGH ALL THE TIME...
-Mad River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0PCzH-K1hg
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| harvey |
Posted - 13/08/2012 : 17:29:10
The TV coverage was a bit jumbled up but I am sure L.K. can get an idea of what was going on by watching youtube . There are probably more bits I missed. I still think there are bits of Glastonbury that show us a bit more in our natural habitat ie. MUD. I am sorry that the Olympics did not really get me up and rushing to see everything but many many years ago I realised that I was not built for Athletic success and that a way to travel faster other than running was to get a metal/fibreglass box and put a massive V8 at the front. Unfortunately there is not an Olympic Motor race apart from the cycling Kirin in the Velodrome and they make the motorised bike pull off as soon as the cyclists want to overtake it.Lucky I am not riding the m/bike or it would be a different event, probably involving banging of wheels etc. Another thing I have against Athletics is that they ruined the best/only Motor Racing circuit in London at Crystal Palace by putting a big Athletics Stadium across the track when there were plenty of other places they could have put it. Very old motor circuit going back to 1930's,and only small bits of it left now where we can only just run short sprints. See youtube. I think Arthur liked cars hence the Porsche seen in videos, and stories of the alleged Mercedes Gullwing, he liked my Sunbeam Alpine which he saw a few times but it looked good and there was a Sunbeam Tiger, same body and big V8 but the insurance companies would not have let me drive one at my age. Stupid car though, to cram the V8 in it meant that to take the spark plugs out you had to remove front wheels and car was very heavy so 0-60mph time not brilliant. Should have bought an AC Cobra and kept it somewhere in a garage and started it up occasionally until insurance companies would stop laughing at me. £600 to buy in early 1970's now worth £200K minimum. In fact should have bought several but probably would not have had the heart to sell. V8 obsession ...what obsession??
Harvey the Roadie |
| John9 |
Posted - 13/08/2012 : 16:51:08
STOP PRESS
I've just heard that the Running Up That Hill sequence was not included in the edit that NBC screened in the US. More's the pity as it now transpires that this was a new version of the song specially recorded for the occasion. But no matter, it can be experienced here (although it is not quite the same as the complete sequence that was aired live in the UK):
http://gawker.com/5934102/heres-the-kate-bush-song-that-was-cut-from-the-us-broadcast-of-the-london-olympics-closing-ceremony
Such a beautiful and haunting air....ah, Kate - England's once and future queen.
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| John9 |
Posted - 13/08/2012 : 16:12:46
And thanks to you too Harvey for the bits that I forgot. I reckon that between us we have it all...enough for Lemonade Kid to feel that he was actually there!  |
| harvey |
Posted - 13/08/2012 : 16:09:42
Thanks J9 for refreshing my ageing memory, not Kasabian, Kaiser Chiefs, and forgot the Lennon bit which was very moving.Some was a bit jingoistic, Winston Churchill bit, and there was a bit with some German style marching/strutting but I think we got away with it but I am sure we offended the French, we always do. Long memories and very p.d we got it and Paris didn't
Harvey the Roadie
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| harvey |
Posted - 13/08/2012 : 16:02:05
Ray Davies was there and only did a singalong version to a backing tape with a guitarist for lead bits one of the first acts on. Other bits were Nick Mason, Mike Rutherford and a couple of others doing a small Floyd medley but no Gilmour. The Who did a good short set, Kate Bush on audio only not visible, Take That with no Robbie Williams, Madness did a couple of numbers but audio glitch meant that winching the sax player up into the air was pointless as we could not hear him. George Michael did a few numbers to backing tapes. Remnants of Oasis but called something else did a short set. Kasabian did a couple of numbers and Spice Girls sang to backing tracks, both acts on vehicles lorries and taxis (who have been on strike a few times due to loss of earnings due to traffic reorganisation) Some other more modern acts did a few dirgy songs but could not see who they were. There must be lots more info on i/net.No Love covers. Most acts obviously told to limit time and cut off and wheeled off to keep to timings.Strange bit,after start of show the athletes were allowed in and while they were coming in they played audio of the beginning of the show again, looked a bit amateurish and could have been filled with another couple of acts. All news items saying greatest ending ever but I could not see it, some bits worked but representation of a traffic jam with a few cars nose to tail wrapped in large newsprint sheets did not really work. Few classic cars in a mini parade, Austin Healey, MG. All looked a bit of a jumble sometimes. Fireworks good but not as many as in other previous closing ceremonies and camera shots kept switching back from helicopter shots of stadium and fireworks to athletes in stadium. Surprisingly Tower Bridge not involved in closing ceremony. One event of the Olympics happened here on Friday 3rd Aug. in South West London in the afternoon. Tornado Jet went overhead going full pelt and not attempting to keep noise down. Looking on internet it said that an airliner had lost radio contact with London Heathrow control tower so the Tornado was scrambled. Luckily for the airliner they made contact eventually or they could have been shot down. Tornado had done test runs over here before event began but much quieter.Much more fun than some of the events. Some of the Olympic coverage a bit weak as BBC claim that not their broadcasting feed but supplied by Olympic Broadcasting System. This meant that commentary on long distance events such as Mens/Womens cycling road racing was done from a London Studio and 2 commentators who had no information on timings/ competitors etc. as some techno bright spark had not spotted that if you fit GPS devices in all bikes that will show you where bikes are but if all the spectators alongside are tweeting/phoning at the same time that will jam the GPS signals so all information regarding position etc will be jammed. Coverage from following motorbikes all OK for me as I live in the middle of the course and knew exactly where they were throughout the race. I was shouting at the TV that the road narrows and the cyclists did not know and quite a few crashed where I predicted and one girl did a nice double somersault off the bike into a stream with a load of stinging nettles in alongside a narrow bit of road. Could not be ars....d to go and watch a few hundred yards from my home to watch them go past and better coverage on TV. One big benefit a steep local hill road that was used for cycling race had been allowed to get into bad state of repair and had speed humps put in a few years ago. Has now been resurfaced and humps removed for the event and has a couple of hairpins so great for taking my 5 litre 340 BHP sportscar up and down a few times. Would make a great place to race motor bikes and cars but will not be allowed as too many people will hurt themselves if done unsupervised. M/Bike races held there many years ago but too many accidents so scrapped and humps put in. Expect humps will be put back soon. It is in a nature reserve as well so very protected. Better get back there with car and a stopwatch.
Harvey the Roadie
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| John9 |
Posted - 13/08/2012 : 15:58:11
LK - it was alas, but rumour. I suppose that it would have been expecting a bit much........Kate has been very reclusive for a good while now. However Running Up That Hill was played in its entirety...to the backdrop of a beautifully choreographed sequence in which building blocks were gradually assembled into a pyramid.
Ray arrived in style by taxi and then launched into Waterloo Sunset...as hundreds of London schoolchildren simulated the waves and currents of the Thames brilliantly. He managed to hit the high notes and got the 80,000 spectators to provide the sha-la-las. Just off the top of my head, other acts I enjoyed were:
Madness Our House
The Pet Shop Boys West End Girls
The Kaiser Chiefs Pinball Wizard
The Spice Girls (reformed for one night only) hits medley
The Who See Me, Feel Me/ My Generation
There was more Shakespeare......with Timothy Spall delivering the same lines from The Tempest - but this time in the style of Sir Winston Churchill during the dark days of 1940.
The Beatles once again featured prominently. Yoko Ono had specially remastered Imagine - which was alternately played between live verses from a choir. There were also beautiful choral versions of Because and Here Comes The Sun. And Russell Brand performed a version of I Am The Walrus whilst attended by a raunchy dance troup. Prince Harry represented Her Majesty. Which reminds me...there was a Queen medley featuring Brian May, and a startling fashion spectacular danced along to David Bowie's Fashion. And of course there was a Monty Python extravaganza...affectionate and completely barmy! |
| lemonade kid |
Posted - 13/08/2012 : 15:19:07
From what I've read it was a real let down as far as musical stars appearances...read "finale cold water on the Queen".
Disappointing, it sounded, but no one there was anyone I cared for ever...Spice Girls...really?!!
________________________________________________
HIGH ALL THE TIME...
-Mad River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0PCzH-K1hg
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| lemonade kid |
Posted - 13/08/2012 : 13:54:23
So any standouts? Did Ray show? The rumors flew before..who really appeared? Anyone!?
________________________________________________
HIGH ALL THE TIME...
-Mad River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0PCzH-K1hg
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| John9 |
Posted - 12/08/2012 : 20:38:48
Rumours abound with regard to tonight's closing ceremony. I've heard that Kate Bush may perform live for the first time since......well it must be nearly thirty years ago - Running Up That Hill possibly? But whatever happens, we've been promised something pretty special.
Waterloo Sunset though would be a wonderful finale - I don't believe that there is any other song from the whole of popular music that portrays the much loved city quite so well. I heard that Ray Davies as a child spent quite a long time in Charing Cross Hospital.....which overlooks Waterloo Bridge...and that his memories from that time provided some of the inspiration for the song. And I think I've posted before about the short film starring Terence Stamp and Julie Christie....hence "Terry meets Julie" that appeared shortly after the song's original release.
I've often wondered what happened to Terry and Julie. Did they stay together? Are they now permanently over the river safe and sound and enjoying a well earned and happy retirement...thus having little occasion to go to Waterloo Undergound Station anymore? I would like to think so...and where would we be without dreams. |
| Joe Morris |
Posted - 05/08/2012 : 01:47:48
Thats right
Has to be the silliest cartoon I've ever seen - isn't there a British flag covering up the animals private parts?
Still haven't caved and gotten the 2CD deluxe edition of Arthur. The 2CD of Something Else, sure! gotta hear the alternate version of Afternoon Tea
and of course getting the 3CD of the Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society is essential, especially with all the Great Lost Kinks Album tracks !! |
| SignedRW |
Posted - 04/08/2012 : 18:23:55
The inner sleeve of my copy of "Arthur" depicts a cartoon rendering of a kangaroo, complete with boxing gloves; a not all that difficult to grasp reference to the song "Australia" (the location where one might well be most likely to actually spot kangaroos). A few more listens may eventually reveal that the album deals thematically with it's subtitle, "The Decline and Fall of the British Empire," of which Australia, with all of it's kangaroos, was certainly a part. |
| Joe Morris |
Posted - 04/08/2012 : 03:37:49
AND the first Kinks album not produced by Shel Talmy
John Mendelsohn had a great line in his Kinks book about how the Kinks recorded great songs IN SPITE OF Shel!
I prefer Arthur, but thats just a personal thing (perhaps cos I spent a fortune on the gatefold vinyl so I could have the lyrics behind the queen insert
Ridiculous ridiculous inner artwork - with that giant bear! |
| rocker |
Posted - 02/08/2012 : 19:40:11
The song first appeared on the 1967 album, "Something Else by The Kinks."
One of their best! A must have for Kinkos... |
