Tuesday 1/17/23 10pm ET: Feature LP: Kinks – Low Budget (1979)

Low Budget is the eighteenth studio album by English rock group the Kinks, released July 10, 1979. Following the minor success of their 1978 album Misfits, the band recorded the majority of the album in New York rather than London. Unlike the more nostalgic themes of many Kinks albums prior to Low Budget, many of the album’s songs allude to contemporaneous events. Musically, the album is a continuation of the band’s “arena rock” phase, resulting in a more rock-based sound and more modern production techniques.

Despite being a relative failure in the UK, Low Budget was a great success for the group in the US both critically and commercially, not only becoming their best-selling non-compilation album but also peaking at number 11 on the American album charts. The lead single, “(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman”, was also a minor hit in the US, reaching number 41.

1. “Attitude” 3:47
2. “Catch Me Now I’m Falling” 5:58
3. “Pressure” 2:27
4. “National Health” 4:02
5. “(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman” 3:36
6. “Low Budget” 3:50
7. “In a Space” 3:44
8. “Little Bit of Emotion” 4:51
9. “A Gallon of Gas” 3:48
10. “Misery” 2:57
11. “Moving Pictures” 3:47
12. “A Gallon of Gas” (Extra Verse) 3:52
13. “Catch Me Now I’m Falling” (Extended) 6:49
14. “(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman” (Disco Mix) 5:59

Ray Davies – guitar, keyboards, vocals
Dave Davies – guitar, background vocals
Jim Rodford – bass, background vocals
Mick Avory – drums
Nick Newall – saxophone
Gordon Edwards – piano on “Low Budget”

Wednesday 12/21/22 6pm ET: Feature LP: Kinks – Face To Face (1966)

Face to Face is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Kinks, released October 28, 1966. The album marked a shift from the hard-driving style of beat music that had catapulted the group to international acclaim in 1964, instead drawing heavily from baroque pop and music hall. It is their first album consisting entirely of Ray Davies compositions, and has also been regarded by critics as one of rock’s first concept albums. Davies’ blossoming songwriting style became increasingly observational and satirical, commenting on English culture, social class and the music industry.

Despite containing the hit single, “Sunny Afternoon”, the album’s initial reception was lukewarm in both the UK and United States compared to the Kinks’ previous LPs, charting at No. 12 and No. 135, respectively. Face to Face eventually earned retrospective critical acclaim, recognized as a pivotal record of the psychedelic era and an important milestone in the Kinks’ evolution. The album was included in Robert Christgau’s “Basic Record Library” of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in Christgau’s Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981). The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

“Party Line” 2:35
“Rosy Won’t You Please Come Home” 2:34
“Dandy” 2:12
“Too Much on My Mind” 2:28
“Session Man” 2:14
“Rainy Day in June” 3:10
“A House in the Country” 3:03
“Holiday in Waikiki” 2:52
“Most Exclusive Residence for Sale” 2:48
“Fancy” 2:30
“Little Miss Queen of Darkness” 3:16
“You’re Lookin’ Fine” 2:46
“Sunny Afternoon” 3:36
“I’ll Remember” 2:27

Ray Davies – lead and backing vocals, guitars; musical director, arrangements
Dave Davies – backing vocals, guitars; lead vocal (“Party Line”)
Pete Quaife – bass
Mick Avory – drums
John Dalton – bass (“Little Miss Queen of Darkness”)
Rasa Davies – backing vocal (“Sunny Afternoon”)
Nicky Hopkins – piano, harpsichord; melodica (“Sunny Afternoon”)

Thursday 3/31/22 9am ET: Feature LP: Kinks – Misfits (1978)

Misfits is the seventeenth studio album by the English rock band the Kinks. The album was released May 19, 1978. Following the minor success of Sleepwalker in the United States, Misfits featured a more rock-oriented style than many other Kinks records of the 1970s. Despite internal conflicts within the band, leading to both bassist Andy Pyle and pianist John Gosling quitting the band, the album made the Top 40 in America. The album also contained the minor hit single “A Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy”, as well as less successful releases “Live Life” and “Black Messiah”.

1. “Misfits” 4:42
2. “Hay Fever” 3:33
3. “Black Messiah” 4:08
4. “A Rock & Roll Fantasy” 4:58
5. “In a Foreign Land” 3:02
6. “Permanent Waves” 3:48
7. “Live Life” 4:47
8. “Out of the Wardrobe” 3:37
9. “Trust Your Heart” 4:11
10. “Get Up” 3:22
11. “Black Messiah” (Single remix) 3:37
12. “Father Christmas” 3:42
13. “A Rock & Roll Fantasy” (US single edit) 4:01
14. “Live Life” (US single remix) 3:47

Ray Davies – vocals, guitar, piano, synthesizer
Dave Davies – lead guitar, vocals (lead vocals on “Trust Your Heart”)
Mick Avory – drums, percussion
John Gosling – piano, organ, synthesizer
Andy Pyle – bass guitar
Nick Trevisik – drums on “Trust Your Heart”, “A Rock & Roll Fantasy” and “Get Up”
John Dalton – bass guitar on “In A Foreign Land”[12]
Ron Lawrence – bass guitar on “Live Life,” “Rock and Roll Fantasy,” and “Get Up”
Zaine Griff – bass guitar overdubs
Clem Cattini – drum overdubs
John Beecham – trombone on “Black Messiah”
Nick Newall – clarinet on “Black Messiah”
Mike Cotton – trumpet on “Black Messiah”

Thursday 1/6/22 6pm ET: RadioMaxMusic Special: The Music of 1981 (by title) A to Z – Part 3 Extended Edition

This RadioMax special features our Library of music from 1981 A2Z.

We continue with letter B and go the start of Letter C. We feature music from: Eddy Grant, Tanya Tucker, Kim Wilde, Olivia Newton-john, Sammi Smith, Adam Ant, Elvis Costello, April Wine, Kim Carnes, Quarterflash, Ozzy Osbourne, Men At Work, Kiss, Falco, Kinks and many more. . .

6pm to 12am ET

Wednesday 1/5/22 8pm ET: RadioMaxMusic Special: The Music of 1981 (by title) A to Z – Part 2

This RadioMax special features our Library of music from 1981 A2Z.

We continue with letter A and move into B. We feature music from: Oak Ridge Boys, Iggy Pop, Jim Steinman, Kinks, Sugarhill Gang, Mitch Ryder, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Joe Jackson, Devo, Kenny Rogers, AC/DC, Smokey Robinson, Spider, April Wine and many more. . .

8pm to 12am ET

Sunday 10/10/21 1am ET: Feature LP: Kinks – Word of Mouth (1984)

Word of Mouth is the twenty-first studio album by the English rock group the Kinks released November 19, 1984. “Do It Again” was released as a single from the album in 1985. The album spent twenty weeks on the US Billboard album charts and reached its peak position of No. 57 in February 1985.

1. “Do It Again” 4:14
2. “Word of Mouth” 3:51
3. “Good Day” 4:35
4. “Living on a Thin Line” 4:16
5. “Sold Me Out” 3:44
6. “Massive Reductions” 3:15
7. “Guilty” 4:12
8. “Too Hot” 4:08
9. “Missing Persons” 2:53
10. “Summer’s Gone” 3:52
11. “Going Solo” 3:58
12. “Good Day” (extended edit) 5:31
13. “Summer’s Gone” (extended edit) 4:54

Ray Davies – guitar, keyboards, harmonica, vocals, drum machine on “Good Day”, “Do It Again” and “Living on a Thin Line”
Dave Davies – guitar, background vocals, lead vocals on “Guilty” and “Living on a Thin Line”
Jim Rodford – bass, background vocals
Bob Henrit – drums, percussion on “Word of Mouth”, “Massive Reductions”, “Guilty”, “Too Hot”, “Summer’s Gone”
Mick Avory – drums, percussion on “Missing Persons”, “Sold Me Out” and “Going Solo”
Ian Gibbons – keyboards, background vocals

Monday 6/21/21 2pm ET: Sounds of The 70’s (Actual start 2:07)

The best music from 1970 – 1979

Monday 6/21/21 12pm ET: Artist Countdown: The Kinks Top 30 Hits

The Kinks were active for over three decades between 1964 and 1997, releasing 24 studio and 4 live albums. The first 2 albums are differently released in UK and US partly due to the difference in popularity of the extended play format (the UK market liked it, the US market did not, so US albums had the EP releases bundled onto them), and partly due to the US albums including the hit singles, and the UK albums not; after The Kink Kontroversy in 1965 the albums were the same. There have been somewhere between 100 and 200 compilation albums released worldwide.

Their hit singles included three UK number-one singles, starting in 1964 with “You Really Got Me”; plus 18 Top 40 singles in the 1960s alone and further Top 40 hits in the 1970s and 1980s. The Kinks had five Top 10 singles on the US Billboard chart. Nine of their albums charted in the Top 40.[6] In the UK, the group had seventeen Top 20 singles along with five Top 10 albums. The RIAA has certified four of the Kinks’ albums as gold records. Greatest Hits!, released in 1965, was certified gold for sales of 1,000,000 on 28 November 1968—six days after the release of The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, which failed to chart worldwide. The group would not receive another gold record award until 1979’s Low Budget. The 1980 live album One For The Road was certified gold on 8 December 1980. Give The People What They Want, released in 1981, received its certification on 25 January 1982, for sales of 500,000 copies. ASCAP, the performing-rights group, presented the Kinks with an award for “One of the Most Played Songs of 1983” for the hit single “Come Dancing”.

1	Lola	1970
2	Sunny Afternoon	1966
3	You Really Got Me	1964
4	Dedicated Follower of Fashion	1966
5	Apeman	1970
6	Dead End Street	1966
7	All Day and All of the Night	1964
8	Tired of Waiting for You	1965
9	Come Dancing	1982
10	Autumn Almanac	1967
11	Waterloo Sunset	1967
12	Set Me Free	1965
13	Days	1968
14	Till the End of the Day	1965
15	Death of a Clown	1967
16	Mister Pleasant	1967
17	A Well Respected Man	1965
18	Supersonic Rocket Ship	1972
19	Susannah’s Still Alive	1967
20	Plastic Man	1969
21	Victoria	1969
22	Wonderboy	1968
23	See My Friends	1965
24	Ev’rybody’s Gonna Be Happy	1965
25	Destroyer	1981
26	Dandy	1966
27	Do It Again	1984
28	Better Things	1981
29	(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman	1979
30	Sleepwalker	1977

Monday 6/14/21 2pm ET: Sounds of The 70’s

The best music from 1970 – 1979 featuring tunes from: Raspberries, Elton John, Cheap Trick, Dave Mason, Van Halen, Billy Joel, Jackson 5, Jefferson Airplane, Kinks, Joe Hinton and more . . .

Sunday 4/11/21 12am ET: Feature LP: Kinks – Give The People What They Want (1981)

Give the People What They Want is the nineteenth studio album by the English rock group the Kinks. It was released in August 1981 in the US but not until January 1982 in Europe. It was delayed because Ray Davies wanted to produce a full-length video for the album but financing fell through. Also scrapped were plans to remix the album for the European market. It was initially aimed to be a statement on the media.

1. “Around the Dial” 4:45
2. “Give the People What They Want” 3:45
3. “Killer’s Eyes” 4:40
4. “Predictable” 3:31
5. “Add It Up” 3:14
6. “Destroyer” 3:47
7. “Yo-Yo” 4:10
8. “Back to Front” 3:15
9. “Art Lover” 3:22
10. “A Little Bit of Abuse” 3:45
11. “Better Things” 2:59

Ray Davies – guitar, keyboards, vocals
Dave Davies – guitar, vocals
Jim Rodford – bass
Mick Avory – drums
Ian Gibbons – keyboards
Chrissie Hynde – vocals on “Predictable”, “Add It Up”, “Art Lover” and “A Little Bit of Abuse” (uncredited)

Tuesday 6/23/2020 4pm ET: Feature Artist – Kinks

The Kinks are an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1964 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm and blues and Merseybeat, and were briefly part of the British Invasion of the United States until their touring ban in 1965 (as a result of constant fighting between the brothers). Their third single, the Ray Davies-penned “You Really Got Me”, became an international hit, topping the charts in the United Kingdom and reaching the Top 10 in the United States. Their music was influenced by a wide range of genres, including American R&B and rock and roll initially, and later adopting British music hall, folk, and country. They gained a reputation for reflecting English culture and lifestyle, fueled by Ray Davies’ wittily observational writing style, and are considered one of the most influential groups of the period.

Early works included albums such as Face to Face (1966), Something Else (1967), The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968), Arthur (1969), Lola Versus Powerman (1970), and Muswell Hillbillies (1971), along with their accompanying singles. After a fallow period in the mid-1970s, the band experienced a revival during the late 1970s and early 1980s with their albums Sleepwalker (1977), Misfits (1978), Low Budget (1979), Give the People What They Want (1981) and State of Confusion (1983). In addition, groups such as Van Halen, the Jam, the Knack, the Pretenders and the Fall covered their songs, helping to boost the Kinks’ record sales. In the 1990s, Britpop acts such as Blur and Oasis cited the band as a major influence.

Ray Davies (rhythm guitar, lead vocals, keyboards) and Dave Davies (lead guitar, vocals) remained members throughout the band’s 32-year run. Longest-serving member Mick Avory (drums and percussion) was replaced by Bob Henrit, formerly of Argent, in 1984. Original bass guitarist Pete Quaife was replaced by John Dalton in 1969. After Dalton’s 1976 departure, Andy Pyle briefly served as the band’s bassist before being replaced by Argent bassist Jim Rodford in 1978. Session keyboardist Nicky Hopkins accompanied the band in the studio for many of their recordings in the mid-to-late 1960s. The band became an official five-piece in 1970, when keyboardist John Gosling joined them. Gosling quit in 1978; he was first replaced by ex-Pretty Things member Gordon Edwards, then more permanently by Ian Gibbons in 1979. The band gave its last public performance in 1996 and broke up in 1997 as a result of creative tension between the Davies brothers.

The Kinks have had five Top 10 singles on the US Billboard chart. Nine of their albums charted in the Top 40. In the UK, they have had seventeen Top 20 singles and five Top 10 albums. Four Kinks albums have been certified gold by the RIAA and the band have sold over 50 million records worldwide. Among numerous honors, they received the Ivor Novello Award for “Outstanding Service to British Music”. In 1990, the original four members of The Kinks were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as well as the UK Music Hall of Fame in November 2005. In 2018, after years of ruling out a reunion, Ray Davies and Dave Davies announced they were working to reform the Kinks.

Tuesday 12am ET: Feature LP: Waterloo Sunset: The Very Best of The Kinks & Ray Davies (2012)

Waterloo Sunset: The Very Best of The Kinks & Ray Davies is a compilation album containing recordings by The Kinks and Ray Davies, released August 13, 2012.

Waterloo Sunset
You Really Got Me
Tired of Waiting for You
Sunny Afternoon
All Day and All of the Night
Till the End of the Day
Autumn Almanac
Days
Lola
Set Me Free
See My Friends
Death of a Clown
Apeman
Dead End Street
This Time Tomorrow
Strangers
You Don’t Know My Name
Wonderboy
Plastic Man
Supersonic Rocket Ship
Better Things
Don’t Forget to Dance
David Watts [live in New York, 1980]
Dedicated Follower of Fashion
Come Dancing
Where Have All the Good Times Gone [live in Massachusetts, 1979]
Victoria [live in Switzerland, 1979]
Big Black Smoke
Yours Truly, Confused N10
Working Man’s Cafe
London Song
Fortis Green
Postcard from London
Muswell Hillbilly
Denmark Street
Berkeley Mews
Holloway Jail
Lavender Hill
Willesden Green
Life On the Road
End of the Season
Next Door Neighbour
Did Ya
Most Exclusive Residence for Sale
Waterloo Sunset Choral

Tuesday 6pm: Sounds of The 60’s

This week on Sounds of The 60’s:  Rascals. Three Dog Night, Chicago, Chubby Checker, Otis Redding, Beatles, Isley Brothers, Kinks, Mary Wells, Johnny Cash, Richard Harris, Nancy Sinatra, Four Seasons, Dion, Elton John, Koko Taylor, Edwin Starr and many many more . . . 

Tuesday 6pm: Sounds of The 60s

This week we feature:  Yardbirds, Jimmy Ruffin, Ray Charles, Lesley Gore, Supremes, Bee Gees, Frank Sinatra, Ides of March, Duane Eddy, Dion, Kinks, Del Shannon, Cream, Rolling Stones, Cowsills and more . .  .

Wednesday 10pm: Rock Talk with Dominic Forbes

Sir Raymond Douglas Davies, CBE (born 21 June 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer, rhythm guitarist and main songwriter for the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother, Dave. He has also acted, directed and produced shows for theatre and television. He is often referred to as “the godfather of Britpop”. After the dissolution of the Kinks in 1996, Davies embarked on a solo career. – Wikipedia

More music from Ray Davies and The Kinks following the program.