70s Cup Round 3 Match 8 *Osgood 13- Darkness_Fish 23*

[never/ever]

A

The Kinks – Holloway Jail





B

Dinosaur - Kiss Me Again

[Diamond Dog]

The Kinks have (mostly) been a bit of a blindspot for me - I like tracks here and there but have never quite got the adulation. This is an ordinary slice of 'rock/pop' that really - had it not been by The Kinks- wouldn't have registered anywhere with anyone.

I love the Arthur Russell track.... the cello interlude at around five minutes in was fabulous.... of course it's too long at 13 minutes, but it's still way way better than its rival.

B

[Purgatory Brite]

My decision to adopt a no abstention stance is being tested by this tie.

B 70s disco, and why not? Didn't get further than 5 minutes into the track though

[naughty boy]

A

[The Modernist]

Arthur Russell was certainly the most innovative disco producer and all sorts of marvellous things can be heard in this record. It manages to be both earthy and sexual, and light and transcendent. It does go on too long though.
One of Ray Davies' strongest songs from the period. I'm not keen though on the rootsy rock treatment they give it which doesn't give the song much room to breathe. It lacks the lightness of touch of their 60s productions.

B

[naughty boy]

One of Ray Davies' strongest songs from the period. I'm not keen though on the rootsy rock treatment they give it which doesn't give the song much room to breathe. It lacks the lightness of touch of their 60s productions.

I agree completely. I just love Ray's voice, which always adds something to even the most by-numbers Kinks' track (this is a little better than 'by numbers' tho')

[harvey k-tel]

I do like the organic sound of the Arthur Russell track, but it's about 8 or 9 minutes too long and it tired me out about halfway through. Muswell Hillbillies is my least favourite of the "classic" Kinks albums, but 'Holloway Jail' is a nice enough tune. I dunno - bit of a coin toss, this one...

I'lll go with A

[sloopjohnc]

B

[Polishgirl]

Not usually a Kinks lover, but A is aces!

A

[Belle Lettre]

B is great, but

A

[Goat Boy]

B is up my street

[Darkness_Fish]

I always had a soft-spot for The Kinks, compared to the other 60s/70s behemoths, Ray Davies always had an ear for a creative lyric, and could transform the mundane into something sincerely poetic. Unfortunately, this is a horrible pub knees up that's closer to Ian Hunter than anyone should ever hope to get. As G said, it's just not as light as their best work, the guitar bogs it right down.

I'm a huge Arthur Russell fan, whether it be disco, classical, country rock, or ambient cello fuzz, he remained distinctive and remarkably listenable. I prefer this to some of his later disco works (I'm a sucker for his cello fuzz though), the more organic instrumentation works better than on the later (perhaps more forward-thinking) Dinosaur L tracks. You have to wonder how he managed to get David Byrne to provide uncredited guitar on this single, too. Yeah, it might go on a bit too long, but it never loses its impetus, or runs out of ideas. Just a poor choice for a cup where people are hoping for classy three-minute pop smarts.

B

[Penk!]

We're only three rounds in but I'm already starting to tire of the usual rock suspects being trotted out, when I had hoped the Cup would see a lot more exploration of the deeper and stranger sides of '70s music. I'm a big Kinks fan, for example, but they are well past their sell-by date here and all their worst music hall tweeness and rinky-dink corniness is on show here.

Arthur Russell was a remarkable talent and I'm glad to see him popping up here. It's ostensibly a disco song, but with that bass pulse and the cello interlude he really makes something new of it.

B

[T. Willy Rye]

A

[Loki]

There aren't very many Disco songs I like.

[Dayodead]

A vote for B, due to better production...

[fange]

Fucking fantastic match; THIS stuff was part of my '70s big time. I don't like voting against 'HJ', because it has a lovely riffy catchiness and that inimitable wry Davies humour, but stuff like 'KMA' with its enormous mix of so much inventiveness, style and groove is the dog's whatsits. One of the picks of the comp so far.


B

[fange]

You have to wonder how he managed to get David Byrne to provide uncredited guitar on this single, too.

Is that true? Didn't know that; the fact they were both on Sire Records and living in NY means they probably knew each other to at least some extent.

[kath]

i hafta give credit to B for managing to suck me in, even though it is not my kinda thing.

that being said, i am all over the kinks. love it as a track, love it as a pick.

[toomanyhatz]

Now's as good a time as any to confess that I really don't get the appeal of Russell. I mean, he was obviously very talented, and I like the incongruity of cello on a disco track, for example, but I'm not sure what it all adds up to. This, for example. In the end, does it offer anything beguiling, emotionally involving, or even an irrepressible groove? My answer to all those questions is no, I'm afraid. And stretched out to 13 minutes it's even more obvious. And it's a really unimpressive song to boot, however well it's tarted up.

A is the opposite - a great Davies song that is all those things, but with a less impressive arrangement. Roughly a million times better, and maybe the 40th best Kinks song of the decade, if that.