9. “Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues” (1971)
Muswell Hillbillies was the last great album the Kinks would put out in their initial run of success. There would be other great moments throughout the ‘70s, but Ray was going deeper and deeper into theatrically conceived concept albums and they were yielding diminishing returns. But Muswell Hillbillies is a gem, overlooked at the time and still undervalued today.
Like Village Green…, there really aren’t one or two singles that stand out. But this track, a positively Dylanesque drunken ditty with the support of a brass band to give it that old-timey blues, is a marvelous representative of the entire album. “Well the milkman’s a spy, and the grocer keeps following me – And the woman next door is undercover for the KGB – And the man from the Social Security – Keeps on invading my privacy – Oh there ain’t no cure for acute schizophrenia disease.”
This is the flip side of Village Green, where the ordinary things that once offered comfort have turned dark and foreboding.
8. “Juke Box Music” (1977)
After some lean years in the middle of the 1970s, the Kinks began a career resurgence with the release of Sleepwalker in 1977. The title track veered toward power pop with a touch of glam and was a minor hit. “Juke Box Music” was the follow-up single, and though it didn’t score big commercially, it indicated the newer style of nostalgia that Ray Davies would build on for much of the rest of his songwriting career.
It also has the power pop vibe of “Sleepwalker” but lyrically describes a music-obsessed fan with extraordinary poignance. Dave Davies’ guitar and desperate paired vocals on the bridge add a toughness that elevates the song.
7. “Holiday in Waikiki” (1966)
Dave’s garage blues guitar drives the song atop Mick Avory’s drum shuffle. Ray tells the story of an “English boy who won a Holiday in Waikiki.” It is one more sharp portrait of a waif overwhelmed by the bigger world.
He doesn’t overtly state his desire to return to the safety of home, but it remains implicit beneath the adventures the boy is having. “I didn’t realize it was commercialized when I unpacked my cases – Because a genuine Hawaii ukulele cost me thirty guineas – And even when I’m swimming I have to pay.” I have heard this particular song referred to as sounding like virtually every great pop-rock band from the 1960s which to me is one of the things that makes it uniquely Kinks.