Come Dancing with the Kinks

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
After Ray Davies exorcised his theatrical demons on the Preservation, Soap Opera, and contract-closing Schoolboys in Disgrace albums, the Kinks left RCA for Arista and what would be their most successful string of stateside albums. Under Clive Davis's direction, Ray returned to writing tighter pop songs, while brother Dave rediscovered the joy of simple power chords. This compilation of tracks from the band's Arista years gathers some of the decade's most contagious works, including "Catch Me Now I'm Falling," "Sleepwalker," "Superman," "Destroyer," Dave's "Living on a Thin Line," and the title track, whose roller-rink organ and music-hall nostalgia made the Kinks MTV heroes. Sure, "A Gallon of Gas" and the tub-thumping "Low Budget" slip into novelty terrain, but they're offset by a selection of revved-up live tracks ("Lola," "You Really Got Me"), wistful masterpieces ("A Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy," "Misfits," "Don't Forget to Dance," "Good Day"), and the best working-class Xmas anthem ever ("Father Christmas"). All in all, a fine sampling of the Kinks' second coming. --Bill Forman

Tracks:

Come Dancing
Low Budget
Catch Me Now I'm Falling
A Gallon Of Gas
(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman (Disco Edit)
Sleepwalker
Full Moon
Misfits
A Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy
Do It Again
Better Things
Lola (Live)
You Really Got Me (Live)
Good Day
Living On A Thin Line
Destroyer
Don't Forget To Dance
Father Christmas

Customer Reviews:

Dollars and (common) cents........2007-06-12

I'm going to rate this CD based on a $1 per song cost to total cost for the entire CD (Apple and Rhapsody charge $1 per song).
The Kink's CDs really put a person in a 'State of Confusion'. I have yet to find a CD collection with all of the Kink-essential songs on it. This CD is bad because it doesn't have all of the essential songs, AND to top it off two of the songs are LIVE versions. What a rip off!
The essential songs are: Come Dancing, Catch Me Now I'm Falling, Lola, You Really Got Me, All Day and All of the Night, Destroyer, and Around the Dial (if I'm missing any, please let me know).
So, you have to pay $14 to buy the CD on Amazon, but you are only getting $3 worth of original, great songs (Come Dancing, Catch Me Now I'm Falling and Destroyer). You can buy the songs Destroyer, Around the Dial and Catch Me Now I'm Falling for $1 each on iTunes. (Unfortunately, iTunes and Rhapsody don't currently sell the other essential songs I've listed.)
Ray Davies is really making it hard for us to get all of his best songs in one place, but by doing so, I'm sure he's making a heap of money from us all.
Hope this helps.
Darium
June 2007

Don't Forget to Dance.......2007-03-16

When I was in high school, I loved the hard-edged sound of the Kinks, the Who, etc. Much later, the Don't Forget to Dance video really touched me for some reason.

I noticed that most Kinks collection lack this masterpiece. Now, it is my all-time favorite Kinks song. Although I still love the more hard-edged songs by them and Lola which defies description, I plan to buy this collection to have Don't Forget to Dance along with many other fine songs.

My high school students gave up rap for this!.......2006-11-05

I had forgotten just how much fun the Kinks were, then I purchased the CD for the song Come Dancing and had no idea that I would know all the other songs on the CD. My 14-18 year old art students pick this CD over rap and current artists to listen to whiile creating art works. It is just plain old fun!

they always delivered the goods.......2006-08-22

The 70's-80's Kink era was considered the weaker material but when you listen to this compilation, they still put out lots of quality material.

Their sound and approach changed a bit, they obviously went more commercial, and they lacked some of their original identity yet these are still great songs. 30 years later, this was not a weak era and they put out a lot more good stuff then most other bands.

Rock and Roll fantasy, Detroyer, Celluloid Heroes, Don't forger to dance, Superman are all killer songs.

I would like to see one day when they get a boxed set w/You Really Got me era, Lola era and their hard rocking Destroyer era.

THE BEST.......2006-03-16

I REMEMBER LISTENING AND SINGING TO THE KINKS AS A 10 YEAR OLD CHILD. GREAT CD. RECOMMEND IT HIGHLY.

Come Dancing with the Kinks: The Best of the Kinks 1977-1986

Average customer rating:

Come Dancing with the Kinks: The Best of the Kinks 1977-1986
The Kinks
Manufacturer: Arista
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

British Invasion | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Arena Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B000008HCD
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

You Really Got Me [Live]
Destroyer
(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman
Juke Box Music
Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy
Come Dancing
Do It Again
Better Things
Lola [Live]
Low Budget
Long Distance
Heart of Gold
Don't Forget to Dance
Living on a Thin Line
Father Christmas
Celluloid Heroes [Live]

Average customer rating:

2nd rate Kinks
Excellent Job at Covering the Band's Later Material
If you enjoy Klassic Kinks, This album's not for you!
Almost perfect....
It's The Only Thing That Gets Him By

Come Dancing With the Kinks: The Best of the Kinks 1977-1986
The Kinks
Manufacturer: Velvel Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

British Invasion | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Arena Rock | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Classic Rock | Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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Come Dancing with the Kinks: The Best of the Kinks 1977-1986

ASIN: B00004YLBN
Release Date: 2000-10-24

Tracks:

Come Dancing
Low Budget
Catch Me Now I'm Falling
A Gallon Of Gas
(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman
Sleepwalker
Full Moon
Misfits
A Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy
Do It Again
Better Things
Lola (Live)
You Really Got Me (Live)
Good Day
Living On A Thin Line
Destroyer
Don't Forget To Dance
Father Christmas

Amazon.com

After Ray Davies exorcised his theatrical demons on the Preservation, Soap Opera, and contract-closing Schoolboys in Disgrace albums, the Kinks left RCA for Arista and what would be their most successful string of stateside albums. Under Clive Davis's direction, Ray returned to writing tighter pop songs, while brother Dave rediscovered the joy of simple power chords. This compilation of tracks from the band's Arista years gathers some of the decade's most contagious works, including "Catch Me Now I'm Falling," "Sleepwalker," "Superman," "Destroyer," Dave's "Living on a Thin Line," and the title track, whose roller-rink organ and music-hall nostalgia made the Kinks MTV heroes. Sure, "A Gallon of Gas" and the tub-thumping "Low Budget" slip into novelty terrain, but they're offset by a selection of revved-up live tracks ("Lola," "You Really Got Me"), wistful masterpieces ("A Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy," "Misfits," "Don't Forget to Dance," "Good Day"), and the best working-class Xmas anthem ever ("Father Christmas"). All in all, a fine sampling of the Kinks' second coming. --Bill Forman

Customer Reviews:

2nd rate Kinks.......2005-12-10

I love the Kinks, make no mistake. If you've seen my other reviews, you can tell. But, this collection focuses too much on times in their career when they weren't producing their best stuff. I've never been a particular fan of their recorded output during what I think of as their "arena rock era", though I can tell, from footage I've seen (wasn't that lucky to have seen them in person), that they really must have kicked tail live...

An aside: anyone ever notice how similar the chord structures to "Misfits" and "Don't Forget to Dance" are? Doesn't really matter though - they both deserve to exist and are two of the better tunes here...

Excellent Job at Covering the Band's Later Material.......2005-05-04

One thing that I greatly admire about Ray Davies - lead singer of The Kinks is that when it comes the music business, he isn't afraid to deviate from the formula. As a result of this, The Kinks became one of the most innovative bands of the Rock Era. In 1977, The Kinks made a widely known switch from RCA to Arista records. It was during this phase that the Kinks would make a comeback in the Rock business - suddenly becoming bigger than they were in the 1960s.. It is this phase of The Kinks that is captured on the compilation, "Come Dancing with The Kinks". This collection features 16 tracks, mostly from the "Arista Years" of the Kinks. While not the deepest compilation by The Kinks, it does focus on a particular period - and does an excellent job at that.

There are really three phases to The Kinks. The Kinks started out in the 1960s as a "rebellious" group of rockers as part of the first British Invasion that would soon have a series of hits. I call this phase - "1960s Kinks". This phase goes from 1964-1971. "1960s Kinks" was a commercially successful period. Although this wasn't Punk Rock, many credit the style of the Kinks for becoming the strawman for the Punk Rock movement that would happen in the 1970s. It was during this period The Kinks were mysteriously banned from playing in the U.S.. The second phase is the "Rock Opera Phase" from 1972 to 1976. This was not a commercially successful phase for the Kinks. These concept/Rock Opera albums were not well received by the public, but eventually would be accepted by The Kinks fans. When the group made the switch to Arista Records, The Kinks went toward more of a Hard Rock/Rock Pop direction. This would start the third phase called "The Later Years" covering 1977 onward. There is a bunch of irony in this switch. The Kinks lost much of their popularity in the UK because this new style wasn't considered "in-step" with the UK's Punk Rock craze. However, The Kinks would suddenly become a major band in the U.S. - the very country where they were once banned from. During this phase, much of their style sounds a lot like an American Band as opposed to a band that came up through the Early British Invasion ranks. In a way, even though The Kinks went in the Hard Rock direction, they showed that they could continue to ignore the "rulebook" for the music business by not going with the trends of that time (and basically doing things their own way).

During this "Later Years" phase, The Kinks would release six studio albums. "Come Dancing with The Kinks" takes 12 songs from the six albums that were released during this period. These albums are: "Sleepwalker" ("Juke Box Music"); "Misfits" ("A Rock and Roll Fantasy"); "Low Budget"("(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman", "Low Budget"); "Give the People What They Want" ("Destroyer", "Better Things"); "State of Confusion" ("Come Dancing", "Don't Forget to Dance", "Heart of Gold", "Long Distance"); "Word of Mouth ("Do It Again", "Living a Thin Line"). The Kinks also manage to include three songs from their earlier phases. Even though these songs weren't recorded for Arista, they are able to do it by including three tracks from their 1980 Arista live release, "One For the Road". These songs include the classic works: "You Really Got Me", "Lola", and "Celluloid Heroes". Finally included is their dark song about the Christmas Season - "Father Christmas". This appears to be one of the few places on CD where you can get this song.

While Ray Davies may be the voice of The Kinks, they are a full band effort. Ray's brother Dave happens to be an outstanding guitarist. Jim Rodford provided Bass from 1979 onward - and his Bass proves to be a key element in the band. Also worth mentioning are Ian Gibbons on Keyboard and Mick Avory on Drums - both solid musicians as well.

One may want to take note that while there are several other compilations available by The Kinks, the main one that rivals "Come Dancing" is the 2-disc set, "Ultimate Collection". This particular collection go back to include material from the first two phases of the Kinks career (although it is light on the 'Rock Opera' material). Although this is a much more comprehensive collection, I do feel that "Come Dancing" is complimentary to this collection. "Ultimate Collection" does not include the following songs that are on "Come Dancing": "Destroyer", "Juke Box Music", "Low Budget", "Long Distance", "Heart of Gold", and "Father Christmas". In addition, "Come Dancing" provides the three live versions of "Lola", "You Really Got Me", and "Celluloid Heroes".

While the casual fan may be familiar with the songs "You Really Got Me", "Lola", "Come Dancing", "Destroyer", and "Do It Again", this collection will also introduce the casual fan to material that hasn't been heard before. Tracks 10 through 12 - "Low Budget", "Long Distance", and "Heart of Gold" are going to be three tracks that have a distinctive American sound. "Heart of Gold" proves to be an excellent song. To some extent, you may even hear a Southern Rock touch in these songs. Another good song is "Living on a Thin Line". This song is from "Word of Mouth" - an album more famous for the song "Do It Again", however I think "Thin Line" is a better song. This song has almost a mantra-like sound as you listen to it.

The liner notes feature an outstanding write-up by Mitchell Cohen - who writes about The Kinks during this "Later Years" phase. Cohen makes a great point by saying "The Kinks have not always been of their time, but at the juncture covered by this set....they reached more people...than any other previous span". I think that really sums things up. This is a terrific compilation - one worth getting.

If you enjoy Klassic Kinks, This album's not for you!.......2004-01-19

This album may have live versions of kinks klassics, but in no way is that worth purchasing this. I dont know what happened to the kinks in '77, they lost sight of the original sound and tried to get on MTV. This album is garbage. For a great kinks record, grab "Everybody's in showbiz", this has a whole album (probably their last great work) and a nice live show consiting off classics, mostly off of "Lola vs. Powerman and the Moneygoround" and "Muswell Hillbillies". Your money would be better spent on any of those afformentioned albums. Rock on with your bad selves....

Almost perfect...........2004-01-04

This cd is great but it is missing one of my favorite songs. How can they leave out "Dedicated Follower of Fashion"? That song is great and definately deserves to be on this cd. Otherwise I have no complaints about this cd. I never get tired of hearing "Lola" (I still laugh everytime I hear "She walks like a woman and talks like a man...". Overall this is a great collection of the Kinks and you should definately pick up this cd if you're a Kinks fan.

It's The Only Thing That Gets Him By.......2003-05-30

I love Ray Davies.

I know Dave Davies has always been the critic's darling--all that talk about Dave being the godfather of punk guitar isn't so far off the mark--but Ray Davies has the best heart in Rock & Roll.

But all that matters not a nit to much of the American public, who always left the Kinks sitting in second place behind the troika of Stones, Beatles and Who--maybe even behind Led Zeppelin and the over-ranked Animals--when it comes to discussions of British Rock. That's a shame, because the Kinks songwriting is as good or better than all of the above sans Beatles; Ray Davies lyrics are, at times, Dickensian.

COME DANCING WITH THE KINKS mines the Kinks most successful commercial period (In the USA, at least) from '77 to '86. The band seemed to be more intent on conquering the USA than they had been in the mid/late 1960s, and their problems with American unions, which had given the Kinks a lot of trouble a decade earlier, seemed to ease. They became known as a touring band in the States, a reputation which crumbled after a very well publicized onstage battle between the Davies brothers right here in Washington DC.

Though there is one minor bow to the then-omnipresent Disco--"Wish I Could Fly Like Superman," COME DANCING WITH THE KINKS is mostly full of nostalgia for the old ballrooms, desperate pleas for the band to stay together, and Rays infatuation with psychological oddities. Included are some of my favorite Kinks tunes, including "Do It Again," "Destroyer," "Come Dancing," "Don't Forget to Dance," and my All Time Favorite Kinks Record, "Sleepwalker." There's never been a better melding of Rays lyrics, Daves guitar, a great Ray vocal, and hot Kinks backing vocals. "Father Christmas" is perfect, the exact Christmas tune you'd expect from Ray Davies, and is played to perfection. The live renditions of "Lola" and "You Really Got Me" don't match up to the studio versions, I think, but they were hits, so somebody liked them.

"Misfits" and "Rock & Roll Fantasy" are classic Davies. The first looks at a fading eccentric--it's easy enough to imagine the tune as autobiographical--and gives a McCartneyesque pat on the head, with a real Ray Davies twist: "You've been a misfit all your life; why don't you join the crowd and come on inside?" he says, even while pointing out that the world is filled with misfits: "They've given up living cause they just don't care. So take a good look around, the misfits are everywhere."

I completely missed the point of "Rock n Roll Fantasy" when it was released; now I consider it one of the Kinks very best. Ray sings of his brother wanting to quit the band, sings about desperate music fans who spend every night locked in their flats spinning records. On first listen I thought this was glorification of the fans, mythologizing loners worshipping wax. Now I hear the pleading in Ray's voice at the end of the song and understand that he wanted to keep the band going so he wouldn't become one of those solitary people: "You and me keep thinking our life has passed us by? I Don't want to live my life in a Rock n Roll fantasy," he sings--Ray Davies wants the Real Deal.

"Don't want to waste my life hiding away anymore--don't want to waste my life living in a Rock n Roll fantasy."

I love Ray Davies: Hero of the awkward, the lonely, the depressed, the introverted.

There is another Kinks Greatest Hits/Best Of package you should hunt down, which will fill the gaps between the British Invasion "You Really Got Me" phase of the Kinks and this album: KINKS KRONIKLES, a two-CD set, covers my favorite phase of this great band's career--the Arthur & Victoria phase.

But if you really want to 'get' the Kinks, hunt down all of their LPs released prior to '77: they were a lot more English during that phase, and their stuff really deserves to be heard in the fleshed out form of an LP, rather than on a Greatest Hits/Best Of package.

Sounds of the Eightes - 1983
Average customer rating:
Sounds of the Eightes - 1983
Various Artists Cum On Feel the Noize-Quiet Riot~~2. One Thing Leads to Another-The Fixx~~3. (She's) Sexy + 17-Stray Cats~~4. Come On Eileen-Dexys Midnight Runners~~5. Say It Isn't So-Daryl Hall & John Oates She Blinded Me with Science-Thomas Dolby , China Girl-David Bowie~~8. Time (Clock of the Heart)-Culture Club~~9. Sexual Healing-Marvin Gaye~~10. Maniac-Michael Sembello , Always Something There to Remind Me-Naked Eyes~~12. Our House-Madness~~13. Africa-Toto~~14. Stand Back-Stevie Nicks , and Jeopardy-Greg Kihn Band~~16. Come Dancing-The Kinks~~17. Too Shy-Kajagoogoo~~18. True-Spandau Ballet.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000NPLCT0

Product Description

1. Cum On Feel the Noize-Quiet Riot~~2. One Thing Leads to Another-The Fixx~~3. (She's) Sexy + 17-Stray Cats~~4. Come On Eileen-Dexys Midnight Runners~~5. Say It Isn't So-Daryl Hall & John Oates~~6. She Blinded Me with Science-Thomas Dolby~~7. China Girl-David Bowie~~8. Time (Clock of the Heart)-Culture Club~~9. Sexual Healing-Marvin Gaye~~10. Maniac-Michael Sembello~~11. Always Something There to Remind Me-Naked Eyes~~12. Our House-Madness~~13. Africa-Toto~~14. Stand Back-Stevie Nicks~~15. Jeopardy-Greg Kihn Band~~16. Come Dancing-The Kinks~~17. Too Shy-Kajagoogoo~~18. True-Spandau Ballet.

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