One of the more underrated bands from the 1960's, 1970's and even 1980's were The Kinks.  More known for the intense fighting between brothers Ray and Dave Davies, the band's music is something you've likely heard, even if you don't associate it with the name.  They were often overshadowed by both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

The Kinks: You Really Got Me is a three-disc series that is hit an miss.  On one had, it has a lot of interviews and terrific archival footage.  At other times, it seems to be another one of those fan documentaries that’s lacking in many ways.

The first disc has a lot of the history of The Kinks, who rose to fame with their first hit, You Really Got Me, in 1964.  The old footage on this disc is fairly nicely restored.  This was a delightful surprise as well.  Most of the quality is excellent, with the exception of some footage of them playing Set Me Free for the television.

Surprisingly, there are actual interviews and reflections with members of the band.  Mick Avory, who was a drummer for the band, John Dalton who played bass, as well as founding brother Dave Davies.  Listening to Dave Davies, he claims he channeled the anger at his brother into his guitar playing.  Well, whatever he did it worked, so if the animosity led the legendary skill he had as a guitarist, then sibling rivalry is good for something.

Some of their more famous songs are talked about, but the interviews are hardly comprehensive in this regard.  Lola is talked about, having apparently been inspired by actual events.

The second disc is really the best of the three.  It’s titled "The Live Broadcasts" and is exactly that.  This is a collection of The Kinks performances that were shown on television at various times in the U.K.
 
Song List:

You Really Got Me
All Day and All of the Night
Waterloo Sunset
Lola
Celluloid Heroes
No More Looking Back
Life on the Road
Sleepwalker
Misfits
Live Life
Lost and Found

Of the three discs, this was the one I liked the most, although none of the broadcasts were remastered.  The footage is fuzzy at times and the sound could definitely be better.  But this is a decent collection of footage.  Fortunately, if you’d like to get your hands on just the disc, you can without having to buy the other two.  It’s available under The Kinks: The Live Broadcasts from a variety of sources.

Disc Three is another one of those critical reviews.  It's divided into two sections: 1964-1970 and 1971-1978.  Actual live footage of The Kinks is cut with the usual music industry professionals and journalists.  Those commenting in this section include: Record producer Nick Tauber, Mark Jeeves, Journalist Hugh Fielder, Musician & Producer Les Davidson, Martin Turner, Jerry Bloom, John McKenzie, Michael Heatley.  Ever heard of most of them?  Neither have I.

The footage here has been cleaned up and is actually pretty good when we don't have the copyright information spread across their faces while The Kinks are performing.

Those analyzing the band take the earlier songs and go through a number of them one by one and talk about what made them different from what else was being played at the time.  In the end, they rate the song.  Why do I care?  I can listen to the song and decide if I like it or not without these no-names giving it a star rating.

A perfect case of this is their criticism of Celluloid Heroes, which happens to be one of my favorite Kinks songs.  The commentators here seem to dismiss the song and don’t like it in general.  Well, I do.  Why am I going to let someone else’s assessment of the music change what I like?

The other problem is that none of the discs feel like they are complete.  Instead, it feels like the material has been deliberately stretched out to fit on three discs so the producers could charge more.  Either that, or the sources they got their material from gave it to them basically intact and they just packaged it together as is.  I thought of that when I found out that the second disc was available elsewhere and I wondered if the other two were as well.

Of the three discs, the second has the best content.  The first one is fairly interesting but could have been restored better.  The last one would make a better Frisbee than anything else.  Fortunately the second is available separately. If you’re a die-hard Kinks fan, I’d rent this for the content on the first two and just skip the final disc.  I certainly wouldn’t pay list price to own this set.




© 2009 Patti Aliventi

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD