So, here is my version of the ‘Ultimate’ Kinks collection, a 4-CD+ compilation of the very best Kinks music, spanning their entire career. Divided into 4 CD-length sections (although I cheated a bit on the last disc, as it contains more than will fit on a single disc). These are what I consider to be the essential tracks that every serious listener of Kinks music wouldn’t want to be without. Unlike other collections, these are fairly evenly dispersed throughout the Kinks illustrious career. I tried to adequately represent each album and time period, however, of course, the best albums have many more worthwhile tracks that all could not be included here, while for some of the lesser albums, this collection contains all the highlights. Of course, these are my personal selections, but as far as I’m concerned, there is not a skippable track in the whole set. These are the Kinks songs on my mp3 player. Unfortunately, this collection is not easy to obtain, short of acquiring the entire Kinks catalogs, since none of the compilations or collections contain all of these gems. For more info and advice on starting your own collection of Kinks Classics, see the related blog entry on ‘Starting your Kinks Collection’.
Disc One (1964-1967)
01. You Really Got Me (from The Kinks, 1964)
02. All Day And All Of The Night (bonus track (b/t) on The Kinks reissue)
03. I Gotta Move (b/t on The Kinks reissue)
04. Stop Your Sobbing (from The Kinks)
05. Tired Of Waiting For You (from Kinda Kinks, 1965)
06. Ev'rybody's Gonna Be Happy (b/t on Kinda Kinks reissue)
07. Come On Now (from Kinda Kinks)
08. Who'll Be The Next In Line (b/t on Kinda Kinks reissue)
09. Set Me Free (b/t on Kinda Kinks reissue)
10. I Need You (b/t on Kinda Kinks reissue)
11. A Well Respected Man (b/t on Kinda Kinks reissue)
12. Till The End Of The Day (from The Kink Kontroversy, 1965)
13. Where Have All The Good Times Gone (from The Kink Kontroversy)
14. Milk Cow Blues (from The Kink Kontroversy)
15. Dedicated Follower Of Fashion (b/t on The Kink Kontroversy reissue)
16. Sittin' On My Sofa (b/t on The Kink Kontroversy reissue)
17. She's Got Everything (1966, B-side 1968, from The Ultimate Collection)
18. I'm Not Like Everybody Else (b/t on Face to Face reissue)
19. Sunny Afternoon (from Face To Face, 1966)
20. Dandy (from Face To Face)
21. Holiday In Waikiki (from Face To Face)
22. Dead End Street (b/t on Face to Face reissue)
23. Big Black Smoke (b/t on Face to Face reissue)
24. Mr. Pleasant (b/t on Face to Face reissue)
25. David Watts (from Something Else, 1967)
26. Death Of A Clown (from Something Else)
27. Love Me Till The Sun Shines (from Something Else)
28. Waterloo Sunset (from Something Else)
Disc Two (1967-1971)
01. Autumn Almanac (b/t on Something Else reissue)
02. Susannah's Still Alive (b/t on Something Else reissue)
03. Wonderboy (b/t on Something Else reissue)
04. The Village Green Preservation Society (from The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, 1968)
05. Last of the Steam-Powered Trans (from The Village Green Preservation Society)
06. Picture Book (from The Village Green Preservation Society)
07. Starstruck (from The Village Green Preservation Society)
08. Mr. Songbird (b/t/ on The Village Green Preservation Society reissue)
09. Days (b/t on The Village Green Preservation Society reissue)
10. Victoria (from Arthur [Or The Decline & Fall Of The British Empire], 1969)
11. Brainwashed (from Arthur)
12. Shangri-La (from Arthur)
13. Arthur (from Arthur)
14. Plastic Man (b/t on Arthur reissue)
15. King Kong (b/t on Arthur reissue)
16. Lola (from Lola Vs. Powerman & The Moneygoround Pt. 1, 1970)
17. Apeman (from Lola Vs. Powerman & The Moneygoround, Pt. 1)
18. This Time Tomorrow (from Lola Vs. Powerman & The Moneygoround, Pt. 1)
19. God's Children (from the Percy soundtrack, 1971)
20. 20th Century Man (from Muswell Hillbillies, 1971)
21. Holiday (from Muswell Hillbillies, 1971)
22. Skin and Bones (from Muswell Hillbillies, 1971)
23. Muswell Hillbillies (from Muswell Hillbillies, 1971)
Disc 3 (1972-1977)
01. Here Comes Yet Another Day (from Everybody's In Show-Biz, 1972)
02. Supersonic Rocket Ship (from Everybody's In Show-Biz)
03. Sitting in My Hotel (from Everybody's In Show-Biz)
04. Celluloid Heroes (from Everybody's In Show-Biz)
05. One Of The Survivors (from Preservation Act 1, 1973)
06. Sweet Lady Genevieve (from Preservation Act 1)
07. Sitting in the Midday Sun (from Preservation Act 1)
08. Slum Kids (b/t on Preservation Act 2 reissue)
09. Everybody's A Star (Starmaker) (from A Soap Opera, 1975)
10. (A) Face In The Crowd (from A Soap Opera)
11. You Can't Stop The Music (from A Soap Opera)
12. Schooldays (from Schoolboys in Disgrace, 1976)
13. I'm In Disgrace (from Schoolboys in Disgrace)
14. The Hard Way (from Schoolboys in Disgrace)
15. No More Looking Back (from Schoolboys in Disgrace)
16. Life on the Road (from Sleepwalker, 1977)
17. Sleepwalker (from Sleepwalker)
18. Juke Box Music (from Sleepwalker)
19. Life Goes On (from Sleepwalker)
20. Father Christmas (single 1977, b/t on Misfits Reissue)
Disc 4 (1978-1996)
01. Misfits (from Misfits, 1978)
02. Rock n Roll Fantasy (from Misfits)
03. Live Life (from Misfits)
04. Get Up (from Misfits)
05. Catch Me Now I’m Falling (Low Budget, 1979)
06. Low Budget (from Low Budget)
07. A Gallon of Gas (from Low Budget)
08. Moving Pictures (from Low Budget)
09. Destroyer (from Give the People What They Want, 1982)
10. Better Things (from Give the People What They Want)
11. Come Dancing (from State of Confusion, 1983)
12. Heart of Gold (from State of Confusion)
13. Don’t Forget to Dance (from State of Confusion)
14. Do It Again (from Word of Mouth, 1984)
15. Good Day (from Word of Mouth)
16. Livin’ on a Thin Line (from Word of Mouth)
17. Going Solo (from Word of Mouth)
18. Working at the Factory (from Think Visual, 1986)
19. Lost and Found (from Think Visual)
20. Think Visual ((from Think Visual)
21. UK Jive? (from UK Jive, 1989)
22. Scattered (from Phobia, 1993)
23. To the Bone (from To the Bone, 1996)
That’s a total of 94 songs. The first three ‘discs’ each fit on a single CD (76-79 minutes), but I cheated a bit on the last ‘disc’, as it does not all fit on a CD (clocking in at about 94 minutes). I just didn’t want to cut out anything else, just to make it fit (the CD format isn’t really relevant anyway, since this is primarily a ‘playlist’ for mp3 players, rather than a real 4-CD compilation). If you really want it to fit on 4 CDs, the final 4 songs could be removed, as these are from the final albums and not considered ‘Classics’. I, however, think they do belong, and are worthy additions to the collection. One other note, is that I did not include any ‘Live’ tracks on this collection (other than ‘Slum Kids’, of which no studio version exists), it is entirely their ‘studio’ output. Although The Kinks have many great live albums and concerts available, I prefer to keep the ‘live’ stuff separate from the studio versions, and generally don’t like collections that mix the two (especially when they substitute some live version of your favorite song in place of the ‘original’ classic. Also, Live concerts should be heard in their entirety, and not divided up into song collections. For some great Live Kinks, check out the bootleg offerings available elsewhere on this blog, and also the official Live releases.
After making this compilation, it was clear that there were still a lot of very good songs that didn’t make the cut. So, since I am already at 94 songs total, let’s add a few more to make it a Top 100 all-time Kinks songs. Here are the additional 6 songs I would add in to bring the total to 100 great Kinks songs:
1. Party Line (from Face To Face)
2. Do You Remember Walter? (From The Village Green Preservation Society)
3. Australia (From Arthur)
4. Motorway (From Everybody’s In Showbiz)
5. Full Moon (From Sleepwalker)
6. Summer’s Gone (from Word of Mouth)
If I’ve left out any of your particular favorites, let me know. What are your favorite Kinks songs?
To purchase albums by The Kinks, or just to get more information on titles available for purchase, click here for Amazon.com, or some other authorized sales site.
For more information on The Kinks discography, songs, lyrics, and all Kinds of other things about The Kinks, visit the excellent unofficial Kinks Web site at http://kinks.it.rit.edu/ , run by Dave Emlen.
Just for some additional Fun, Here’s some Fun Kinks ‘Theme’ compilations:
The ‘Sitting’ EP:
1. Sittin’ On My Sofa (b/t on The Kink Kontroversy)
2. Sitting by the Riverside (from VGPS)
3. Sitting In My Hotel (Everybody’s in Showbiz)
4. Sitting in the Midday Sun (from Preservation Act 1)
The ‘Hey Man/Hey Mister!’ Album:
1. A Well Respected Man
2. Plastic Man
3. Apeman
4. Powernan
5. 20th Century Man
6. Tin Soldier Man
7. Session Man
8. Artificial Man
9. Mr. Big Man
10. Mr. Pleasant
11. Mr. Songbird
12. Mr. Wonderful
13. Mr. Reporter
14. Mr. Churchill Says
15. Mr. Shoemaker’s Daughter
Comments, discussion welcome
I'm not fond of the post-Muswell albums with the exception of a few songs but would have included "Superman" from that period if anything (and of course "Celluloid Heroes" as you did).
ReplyDeleteGreat re: the first two discs though. As for the earlier songs that jump out without really thinking about it:
"Get Back In Line"
"See My Friends"
"Mindless Child of Motherhood"
"Some Mother's Son"
The Kinks were so great, I could think of dozens more but as an intro, well chosen!
BB Kron
ReplyDeleteGreat read and excellent choices for your comps. Very big KINKS fan here, all eras but especially the mid 60s thru the early 70s, Face To Face thru and including Muswell Hills. I never grow tired of the Kinks they're one of the bet ever. Right up there with the Beatles and The Who.
Your Friend
Knewman
That should read 'best ever'
ReplyDeleteA very strong list. I would have liked to have seen space made for "Get Back in Line" and "Mindless Child of Motherhood". While I think they were better live, both "Alcohol" and "Demolition" were very fun, raucous numbers. "Rock and Roll Fantasy" feels like an important omission from Misfits. I've always liked "Education" and "The Last Assembly" from Schoolboys in Disgrace, but I can understand why they are missing. There are only so many slots available!
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I was disappointed that only one track from Preservation Act 2 made it, and a bonus track at that. While Act 2 is way over the top in its theatricality, I think it's a phase of the Kinks that deserves some representation, however weird it is. That album does feature some very interesting, dynamic music. I think "Money Talks" at the least should have made it.