A half-century on from The Kinks' 1970 album Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One, the boxed set arrives with heaps of archival extras. William Dart checks out just what lies beyond its megapopular single, 'Lola'.
The Kinks c.1970 Photo: BMG, Lola Versus Powerman release cover art
I’ve never had my taste dictated by the vagaries of Top Tens and Hot Hundreds. Even if, as a child, the 1ZB Hit Parade offered weekly sustenance for my young soul and, in later student days, the racing rundowns of Casey Kasem kept me in touch and entertained.
It’s only later that many of us realised the mysterious and often Machiavellian manipulations foisted on would-be, might-have-been, and once-were pop stars.
Music about the whole business of music has always fascinated me and back in 1970, Ray Davies and the Kinks decided it was time to take a satirical swipe at the industry in an LP titled Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One (Part Two never eventuated).
Now there's new boxed set of Lola Versus Powerman, celebrating its half-century.
I’ve been living with this set for a month or so now and, initially, it occasioned more than a few world-weary sighs. I mean, surely the clutch of mono singles and such, completing the first of its three CDs, must be for completists only. And, back in its day, Lola Versus Powerman was never the most ear-friendly of the Kinks’ albums. When it appeared, it made the band’s older and more reflective numbers such as 'Waterloo Sunse't and the almost elegiac Village Green Preservation Society album seem as if they came from somewhere back in the mists of time.
In Lola Versus Powerman Ray Davies takes us on a runaway ride through the treacherous rapids of the talent-devouring gorge otherwise known as the music industry. It’s an album that he now describes as a celebration of artistic freedom, and taking note of the current times and the perennial popularity of the single 'Lola', he adds that it also celebrates the right of anyone to be gender-free if they wish.
Rediscovering The Kinks’ Lola Versus Powerman after some decades, I’m fascinated by the way that these musicians work with sound. And remember, this band didn’t have a genial George Martin in the producer’s chair, seconding string quartets and symphony orchestras for fancy wrapping. A number of tracks reveal just how inventively the band worked within the limitation of its five instruments.
Music Details
ARTIST: The Kinks
TITLE: Top of the Pops
ALBUM: Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One, 50th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set
COMPOSER: Davies
LABEL: BMG
ARTIST: The Kinks
TITLE: Top of the Pops (2020 Mix)
ALBUM: Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One, 50th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set
COMPOSER: Davies
LABEL: BMG
ARTIST: The Kinks
TITLE: She's Bought a Hat like Princess Marina
ALBUM: Arthur (or The Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
COMPOSER: Davies
LABEL: BMG
ARTIST: The Kinks
TITLE: Young and Innocent Days
ALBUM: Arthur (or The Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
COMPOSER: Davies
LABEL: BMG
ARTIST: The Kinks
TITLE: Denmark Street
ALBUM: Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One, 50th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set
COMPOSER: Davies
LABEL: BMG
ARTIST: The Kinks
TITLE: The Moneygoround
ALBUM: Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One, 50th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set
COMPOSER: Davies
LABEL: BMG
ARTIST: The Kinks
TITLE: A Long Way from Home
ALBUM: Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One, 50th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set
COMPOSER: Davies
LABEL: BMG
ARTIST: Ray Davies
TITLE: A Long Way from Home (Live, Austin City Limits, 2006)
ALBUM: Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One, 50th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set
COMPOSER: Davies
LABEL: BMG
ARTIST: Ray Davies, Danish National Chamber Orchestra
TITLE: Lola
ALBUM: Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One, 50th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set
COMPOSER: Davies
LABEL: BMG
ARTIST: The Kinks
TITLE: Lola, Radio Spot, Edit (Ray's Kitchen Sink)
ALBUM: Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One, 50th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set
COMPOSER: Davies
LABEL: BMG
ARTIST: The Kinks
TITLE: Apeman (Morgan Studios Run-through)
ALBUM: Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One, 50th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set
COMPOSER: Davies
LABEL: BMG
ARTIST: The Kinks
TITLE: Lola (Instrumental)
ALBUM: Percy
COMPOSER: Davies
LABEL: Pye
ARTIST: The Kinks
TITLE: Moments (2020 Mix)
ALBUM: Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One, 50th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set
COMPOSER: Davies
LABEL: BMG
ARTIST: The Kinks
TITLE: Got to Be Free (from The Long Distance Piano Player)
ALBUM: Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One, 50th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set
COMPOSER: Davies
LABEL: BMG
