The Kinks "Sunny Afternoon" by Ray Davies & Joe Penhall at The Hampstead Theatre, London

Photo Copyright Dominic Clemence

A musical about The Kinks put me in a bit of a dilemma, I mean I love The Kinks yet I have a serious aversion to musicals, what to do? Well, I decided to go along once I heard that Ray Davies was involved in the initial story and in the end I am very glad that I did. In fact the only annoying thing about the whole experience was that the run at the excellent Hampstead Theatre is now completely sold out so I have no chance of going back to see it again. So, rest easy music fans, this stunning production by Director Edward Hall is no cheesy “Mamma Mia” song-and-dance show, it’s more like a gig with The Kinks own story weaving through it. Of course, as per all bands with a fanatical following, I am sure that "Sunny Afternoon" will be mulled over, holes picked and authenticity questioned. But this is Ray Davies’ own version of events turned into a sparkling, witty script by Joe Penhall. Settling in to my seat, I have to say that the set by Miriam Buether is absolutely stunning, the stage walls are adorned with hundreds of speaker cabinets all bathed in a warm orange glow, it’s visually very impressive. Hall has assembled a small but multi-talented cast of actors and musicians who swap effortlessly between various roles and instruments. 

Photo Copyright Shaun Webb

Ray is played brilliantly by John Dagleish who captures the slightly downbeat demeanour and vocal mannerisms of The Kinks front man very well, although his resemblance to Paul McCartney is a bit disconcerting at first! It would appear that Dave Davies hasn’t endorsed “Sunny Afternoon”; in fact it probably wouldn’t be in the grand Kinks “tradition” if he had, but it is rather a shame as George Maguire, who plays Dave, steals the show with his exuberant performance and superb musicianship. Somewhat ironically, the crowd seem to warm far more to Dave’s lovable rogue than they do to Ray’s cautious, serious nature. The Kinks are completed by Ned Derrington as Pete Quaife on bass and Adam Sopp as Mick Avory on drums. Adam in particular is a quite phenomenal drummer and together the four recreate The Kinks sound in spectacular fashion and there is a genuine buzz when in the opening scene the band kick in with a powerful version of “I Gotta Move”. 

Photo Copyright Dominic Clemence

The fast flowing action takes in most of the important scenes in Kinks history. We are taken to the lively Davies family home in Muswell Hill with name checks to Ray’s beloved Arsenal and local pub The Clissold Arms. The brothers are in their bedroom working on the riff to “You Really Got Me” but they can’t get the grungy sound they are after until they take a knitting needle to Dave’s amp and finally that famous fuzzed-up distorted sound is born. "What we want is raw sonic violence". Stockbroker Robert Wace, and his equally upper class friend Grenville Collins, played with comic perfection by Dominic Tighe and Tam Williams, become the band’s well respected joint managers and they tie up the band in a head-spinning contract and publishing deal. Then set about trying to create an image for the band, “with your looks you need a gimmick” and there follows an amusing scene as they rummage through a wardrobe of outlandish costumes. They finally settle on outfits with thigh-length boots, Dave grabs a whip, “You look like Kinks” says Grenville, “We look like perverts” dead pans Avory and they burst into a rousing version of "Dedicated Follower of Fashion". 

Photo Copyright Dominic Clemence

We see the different effects of fame and success on the two brothers, whilst Ray is shown to be uncomfortable with the trappings of stardom, prone to homesickness and depression. He meets Rasa, a confident girl with a broad Yorkshire accent and a love of the Blues and they fall in love. Rasa is played wonderfully by Lillie Flynn and her and Dagleish have a real chemistry, especially during a moving duet of "Strange Effect". Ray confides in Rasa that he is haunted by the  tragedy of Rene, his beloved sister who passed away on his thirteenth birthday from a heart condition, on the very day she bought him his first guitar. Meanwhile his younger brother takes to the Rock 'n' Roll lifestyle with gusto, living up to his nickname "Dave the Rave". This is where Maguire excels, whether he is swinging across the stage on a chandelier dressed in a pink nightdress clutching a bottle of bubbly or crashing an axe in a Hotel's reception desk.

Photo Copyright Dominic Clemence

Despite the success, tensions surface within the band, and at a gig in Cardiff they play “Where Have All the Times Gone" which is sizzling with barely controlled aggression, the lyrics seem to perfectly sum up the mood in the camp. Mick snaps and attacks Dave with his hi-hat stand knocking him out. Suddenly there's chaos with Dave lying unconscious on the stage, flashing lights and sirens going off all round and Mick being chased around the auditorium by the police. Ray is left alone on the stage bewildered. “Only a mad man would tour America with this lot". But off to America they go, only to be met by a wall of red tape and raised eyebrows over the band's name and appearance "you guys make the Rolling Stones look like US Marines" quips a Policeman. There’s pressure from all angles as the band refuse to pay their dues, “Are you communists?” one journalist asks, "No, we're working class socialists from Muswell Hill" says Dave and they launch into a sinister "I'm Not like Anybody Else". This stand-off with the unions sees The Kinks refused work permits and they are banned from performing in America for the next four years. They return home to Ray's dad telling them "sod's law, the most working class band in the business get brought down by the unions!"

Photo Copyright Dominic Clemence

Allen Klein replaces Grenville and Robert as the band's new manager and "the couple of old Tories having the time of their lives" bid farewell with a lovely acapella version of "Days". As the song draws to a close grown men clap that little bit louder to drown out the sound of lumps in throats being cleared. There's a lightening of the mood and we're in the studio with the band as they work on a new song and a familiar descending bass line rings out. "The songs were always about us" says Ray and they launch into a stunning version of "Waterloo Sunset" with Dagleish capturing Ray's voice with it's slight lisp perfectly. Then we switch to Madison Square Garden, and with their huge hit "Lola" The Kinks have finally cracked America, revenge is sweet. We are treated to a medley of "All Day and All of The Night” and "You Really Got Me" and the crowd really get into it, leaping to their feet and singing along at the top of their voices. "Lola" raises the roof and ends with the cast basking in a  huge round of rapturous and well-deserved applause.  

The Pete Quaife Foundation has been set up in memory of The Kinks bassist and co-founder to give children on dialysis some means of enjoyment, interest or entertainment while undergoing treatment. For more information on how to make donations please visit the site here.

Denmark Street, London's iconic Tin Pan Alley and home of Regent Sounds Studio where The Kinks, Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix once recorded, is under threat from developers. Lets fight the "Powerman" and ensure this historic street is not bulldozed into another soulless shopping mall. There is a fast growing campaign centered around Denmark Street's legendary 12 Bar Club, so please join in, sign the petition and spread the word! Check out more details here.

You can still see our very own photographic walking tour of some of The Kinks' north London landmarks including The Clissold Arms, the Davies family home, Konk Studio, Fortismere School, Les Aldrich Music shop, Lane Cafe, The Archway Tavern and more in our Blog archive here.

Photos by used by kind permission, with many thanks to Becky and Jess at the Hampstead Theatre.

London: The Modern Babylon a film by Julien Temple

Julien Temple's remarkable portrait of London takes his now trademark documentary approach of juxtaposing witty and surprising historical archive footage against contemporary film of his subject. He has already successfully used this technique in his supreme portraits of the Sex Pistols in the "Filth & The Fury", along with Dr. Feelgood and Canvey Island, in "Oil City Confidential". This time round, the subject is not a band though, but the City of London. He creates a wonderful aural and visual assault on the senses with a kaleidoscope of images and music. Exciting and chaotic, but most of all uplifting and positive, just like London itself. The movie starts with a colourful montage soundtracked by the slashing chords of The Clash's "London Calling", and then flashes back to amazing flickering black and white footage of late Victorian London with horse drawn carriages and trams packing the dirty streets. The main premise of the movie is based on how London has dealt with the influx of immigrants into it's communities following the collapse of the British Empire. It's that multicultural London that Temple loves so dearly, and we meet various residents of all ages, faiths, colours and creeds, talking about their experiences of life in the Capital. 

Photo by Steve Worrall

One of those residents turns out to be the star of the film, 106 year old Hetty Bower, a Hackney resident, recalls some vivid scenes from her long life. Her childhood treat consisted of a trip to the River Thames to watch the drawbridges of Tower Bridge being raised and lowered. She also poignantly remembers waving off the troops as they left for the First World War and later, resisting Oswald Mosley's Nazi Black-shirts in the Battle of Cable Street, "...they did not pass", she proudly exclaims. Hetty also provides a note of common sense when, somewhat unexpectedly, instead of admonishing the recent Anti-Capitalist protesters, she praises them for their courage in questioning our society. It's another main theme of the film, that cyclical nature of London's history. As Madness singer, Suggs, announces as he walks through his home turf of Camden Town, "...there never were any 'good old days'". After all, there has always been that divide between rich and poor, always been traffic congestion, pollution and civil unrest. We see footage of the Suffragettes, neatly soundtracked by X-Ray Spex's "Oh Bondage, Up Yours!", and there is Winston Churchill in the midst of the Sidney Street siege in 1911. Of course London is also no stranger to riots, from Notting Hill in 1958, Brixton in 1981 right up to the looting and arson of last year's riots. London has had to deal with some terrible acts of devastation, from the Blitz, to the terrorism of the IRA and the sinister threat of the suicide bomber. Temple expertly brings all these situations sharply into focus and we realise that every generation has to deal with such issues.

Photo by Steve Worrall

Music of course, is key to the movie and Temple's beloved Kinks play a large part in the soundtrack, most effectively with the beautiful "Waterloo Sunset" playing over stunning images of the River Thames. Ray Davies is featured in footage from Temple's documentary "Imaginary Man", the programme that inspired my own little Kinks Walking Tour, which you can read about here. Then of course there's the Sex Pistols, the band with which he made his name as a film-maker. He cleverly puts images of old Music Hall against the scenes of Punk Rock, showing the historic lineage of London's knack of producing rebellious, bawdy and irreverent music. The Q & A session after the screening was very interesting as Temple talks about the Olympics and how the movie probably would not have happened without it. He also pays tribute to his late father who passed away this year, and who was once attacked and injured by one of the right wing Nazis featured in the film. 

I bumped into JC Carroll of The Members after the screening, which was a nice surprise. We had recently interviewed JC for a special Edition of our Retrosonic Podcast, in which he talked about his involvement with the soundtrack music of "London: The Modern Babylon". JC has also worked on previous Julien Temple films and you can hear him talking about this, along with a fascinating trip through his career with The Members and as a solo artist, in the Retrosonic Podcast Episode below: 

 

"London: The Modern Babylon" will be shown on BBC2 on Saturday August 11th at 9:20pm.

The Kinks North London Excursion - Text and Photos by Steve Worrall

Inspired by the recent showing of Julien Temple’s “Imaginary Man” documentary about Ray Davies on BBC4, I decided on a DIY excursion of Kinks related landmarks in North London. The film followed Ray strolling through locations from his life and being interviewed in venues that had played some part in The Kinks story. The fact that most of these venues seemed to be pubs made it a quick and easy decision to try and re-trace his steps! So a little band of trusty Kinks (and pub) appreciating friends and family joined me and my meticulously planned itinerary on a lovely sunny afternoon, no time for lazing though…

We started off at East Finchley underground station, which is in itself a wonderful Art Deco design. In the film you can see Ray walking underneath the stunning sculpture of a kneeling archer on the station’s roof. Just up on the opposite side of the road, Ray is interviewed in front of another 1930’s Art Deco masterpiece, The Phoenix cinema. This was one of the first in the country to be built specifically to show films, as opposed to the usual concert halls or ballrooms.

It’s then a walk up the High Road and a right turn onto Fortis Green and after a short stroll we come to the first and probably most important landmark, Number 6 Denmark Terrace, the Davies old family home. What strikes me first is that the house is tiny, and considering Ray and Dave had six older sisters, it’s hard to imagine how they all squeezed in. The documentary features some great old home-movie footage shot in the house showing a happy, boozy family gathering around the piano on which Ray would later write the riff to “You Really Got Me”.

Directly opposite is the Clissold Arms, the pub where Ray and Dave made their first public appearance as musicians. I’d heard that this had been turned into a gastro pub and was expecting the worse, but it was excellent. 

There’s no hiding away a couple of old snap-shots of the band in a back room to avoid upsetting the rather well-heeled clientele, no way! The first thing you see when you walk in is the Kinks Room, a whole room dedicated to and decorated with all things Kinks, it was fantastic, more of a gallery or museum than a bar in a pub.

The room is decorated with loads of old posters, record sleeves, vinyl and memorabilia – there’s even a marvellous Kinks sofa that you can sit on to enjoy a pint. Yes, the pub is pricey and more geared towards the food, but it was very well done and I was impressed with the way they had embraced the Kinks links and provided an excellent destination for fans of the band.

It would have been very easy to have stayed there all afternoon enjoying the great food and yet another pint in the sunshine, but there was no time for rest, onto the next location. Straight down Fortis Green and a left turn onto Spring Lane is Fortismere School, or the William Grimshaw as it was known at the time. This is where Ray and Dave first met Pete Quaife and started their first band together named The Ravens. Actually, Rod Stewart also attended the same school and was once considered as a singer for the new band before Ray had the confidence to take the lead vocals.

Then we reach a fork in the road and take the right turn onto Fortis Green Road where you will soon come across Les Aldrich Music at number 98. In the documentary Ray is seen going into the store and explaining that he came in here and bought a copy of his own single “You Really Got Me” on its’ release.

Then follow Ray’s route past the church and left onto Muswell Hill Broadway, stopping at the top of Hillfield Park with the HSBC bank on the corner. Here you will get a spectacular view down onto East London. You can see the new Olympic Stadium and Canary Wharf and understand how, living in this elevated position, the views of London from Muswell Hill, Hampstead and Primrose Hill must have had such an effect on Ray’s song writing.

Then at the end of Muswell Hill Broadway go right down Muswell Hill, cross over and take the 144 bus past Alexandra Palace to Tottenham Lane. Get off before the railway bridge and walk down to the bottom where you will come across Konk Studios. It’s a very unassuming building and there’s a big For Sale sign outside, although I understand that that there might yet be a reprieve. Opened in the early 70’s as the band’s own private studio, Konk later opened its doors to other acts as diverse as The Bee-Gees and Thin Lizzy to Stone Roses, Suede and Arctic Monkeys amongst many others.

Here we had a bit of a dilemma as we had to make a choice between going on further down to the Hornsey Town Hall, main focal point of the documentary where Ray is interviewed on stage playing guitar and piano, or having a breather and another beer. We settled on the latter and at the Lane Café, which could have been an inspiration for “Working Man’s Café”, we got on the 41 bus to Archway.

The Archway Tavern, famous location for the Muswell Hillbillies album cover is a bit of a disappointment, the interior has changed a lot from the well known photo on the record’s sleeve and you might want to move on to the next destination quickly. Cross the busy road and catch the number 210 bus from the stop opposite the Tavern towards Highgate. 

We pass Dick Whittington’s cat monument and, as if by magic, the bus stop is perfectly located right outside the Prince of Wales at 53 Highgate High Street. Ray is interviewed in the back bar of this excellent pub recounting tales of drunkenness and affairs with the Landlord’s wife. It’s a great boozer, with some wonderful ales, friendly staff and a nice little terrace outside at the rear. 

So, that’s where we ended the North London leg of our little Kinks excursion, just a shame that we had to miss a few places out. However, it does mean that we have a reason to go back and fill in the few gaps left – or just stay and enjoy the beers at the Clissold Arms and Prince of Wales! 

Ray Davies and a Waterloo Sunset

Ray Davies introduces The Sonics at the Festival Hall June 18th - Photo by Steve Worrall

I took a photo of a beautiful Waterloo Sunset just before The Sonics gig at Ray Davies' Meltdown Festival on Saturday. Then to top it all, Ray came out on stage and introduced The Sonics. I was just preparing the camera but managed to get a couple of shots, a marvellous moment! "Dirty old river, must you keep rolling..."