Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

If you think Ray had his difficulties, he is a rock compared to his brother. Dave has always been troubled.

An interesting read is Ray's, Waterloo Sunset, when he dabbled in a little fiction....fiction with overtones of his own world thrown in.

Interesting and often underrated band IMO.

Has anybody seen the "Waterloo Sunset" short film that they made in the '70s? I've got it on DVD. A must for Kinks fans.

Paul, I think you mean 'Return To Waterloo'. I've got it on DVD as a double feature with their 'Come Dancing' video collection. The soundtrack to that movie is credited to Ray Davies alone, because Brother Dave threatened to sue if it came out as a Kinks record. Just more signs of trouble between those brothers.

Dat's it, Randy. I got the same thingie. The other DVD has a lot of record vids including the "Come Dancin'" one with Ray as a slicked back MC.

Ray does a subway busker bit in the Return to Waterloo film. I'm going to watch it tonight, get that vibe going again!

The thing I found weird/interesting about the Kinks was how they were promoted and booked from roughly '75-'81. If I recall correctly (an increasingly iffy proposition with me), they could play larger theaters or even the odd arena show (the old Capital Center outside D.C.), yet 18 months later they'd be back playing a club. This was completely independent of season, because the same thing would happen in the summer: one year it would be a decent-size shed, the next year a club.

Anyone else remember it this way? Or was I just, er, "dreaming" in those days?

You weren't dreaming. They were booked into At My Place ( a club with maybe 300 capacity) in Santa Monica ( I recall) in early '80 and when I saw them in Sept. '81 in Vancouver, it was at the Sports Arena and the place was quite full.

I would have loved to have seen them live. Great opportunity you had Paul, one of the lucky ones.

I have seen them seperately, Ray and Dave. Ray at a decent Austin club and Dave played at this joint (and I mean, joint) called the Boars Head Tavern near Oklahoma City. Not sure how many that place seated, not many, including the regulars who were epoxied to the bar stools.

Stan, I see you're in Texas too. I saw the Kinks in 1979 at McFarlin Auditorium on the SMU campus. Blondie was the opening band. Then In 1980, I saw them at the Agora Ballroom (Northwest Hwy and Abrams) in Dallas. If I recall correctly, the opener was Hermann Brood and His Wild Romance. Gosh, my memory has no business being this good...

Both of you and Paul are lucky blokes. My real interest in the Kinks came fatefully late, like a decade or so ago, so I missed out....but I did see the Fabs in '64 there in Dallas.
So, you wanna talk old?

If you want to see the same show I saw in 1980, check out the 'One For The Road' DVD. It was filmed during the US part of the tour. I must admit it looks pretty lame when I view it now, but it was fun at the time. I guess you had to be there!

Randy, I think my friend has the DVD (he pretty much has everything, Kinks). I will check it out. Thanks for the tip.