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Avg: 4.0 (46 ratings)
- Date Released: August 1, 1972
- Genre: Rock/Pop
- Style: Classic Rock, British Invasion
- Label: KOCH Records
The Kinks reconcile road weariness and the will to rock on this '70s classic
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We Say...
Whether it was a reflection of actual dissipation or a theatrical affectation, the Kinks of the early '70s — an alcohol-fueled, broad-strokes Americanized party band — had little in common with the velvet-coated British Invasion dandies of their emergence. Everybody's in Show-Biz exploited the band's popularity as a concert attraction with an entertaining 11-track set, recorded (with a horn section!) at New York's Carnegie Hall, containing such boozy singalongs as "Alcohol," "Holiday" and "Lola." That pairs up with the studio half of the album, much of which concerns road weariness. Guitarist Dave Davies sings "You Don't Know My Name," which shows Rod Stewart and the Faces a thing or two; "Here Comes Another Day," "Look a Little on the Sunny Side" and "Motorways" are typically witty and charming observations by Ray Davies, whose emotional exhaustion and alienation peak on "Sitting in My Hotel," a gorgeous ode to loneliness that should have been on the soundtrack to Lost in Translation. Davies' desperate need to escape — in the Caribbean-styled "Supersonic Rocket Ship" and "Unreal Reality" — make for uncomfortable entertainment; he's more at ease leaving the here and now for the tender nostalgia of "Celluloid Heroes," a heartbreaking six-minute history of bygone Hollywood that has endured as one of this great band's hallmarks.
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They Say...
Everybody's in Show-Biz is a double album with one record devoted to stories from the road and another devoted to songs from the road. It could be labeled "the drunkest album ever made," without a trace of hyperbole, since this is a charmingly loose, rowdy, silly record. It comes through strongest on the live record, of course, as it's filled with Ray Davies' notoriously campy vaudevellian routine (dig the impromptu "Banana Boat Song" that leads into "Skin & Bone," or the rollicking "Baby Face"). Still, the live record is just a bonus, no matter how fun it is, since the travelogue of the first record is where the heart of Everybody's in Show-Biz lies. Davies views the road as monotony -- an endless stream of identical hotels, drunken sleep, anonymous towns, and really, really bad meals (at least three songs are about food, or have food metaphors). There's no sex on the album, at all, not even on Dave Davies' contribution, "You Don't Know My Name." Some of this is quite funny -- not just Ray's trademark wit, but musical jokes like the woozy beginning of "Unreal Reality" or the unbearably tongue-in-cheek "Look a Little on the Sunnyside" -- but there's a real sense of melancholy running throughout the record, most notably on the album's one unqualified masterpiece, "Celluloid Heroes." By the time it gets there, anyone that's not a hardcore fan may have turned it off. Why? Because this album is where Ray begins indulging his eccentricities, a move that only solidified the Kinks' status as a cult act. There are enough quirks to alienate even fans of their late-'60s masterpieces, but those very things make Everybody's in Show-Biz an easy album for those cultists to hold dear to their hearts.
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| 01. |  |
Here Comes Yet Another Day |
3:30 |
|
| 02. | |
Maximum Consumption |
4:06 |
|
| 03. | |
Unreal Reality |
3:34 |
|
| 04. | |
Hot Potatoes |
3:28 |
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| 05. | |
Sitting In My Hotel |
3:23 |
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| 06. | |
Motorway |
3:31 |
|
| 07. | |
You Don't Know My Name |
2:36 |
|
| 08. | |
Supersonic Rocket Ship |
3:32 |
|
| 09. | |
Look A Little On The Sunnyside |
2:51 |
|
| 10. | |
Celluloid Heroes |
6:21 |
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| 11. | |
Top Of The Pops |
4:07 |
|
| 12. | |
Brainwashed |
2:34 |
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| 13. |
Mr. Wonderful |
0:40 |
|
|
| 14. | |
Acute Schizophrenia |
4:02 |
|
| 15. | |
Holiday |
3:34 |
|
| 16. | |
Muswell Hillbilly |
3:03 |
|
| 17. | |
Alcohol |
5:12 |
|
| 18. | |
Banana Boat Song (Trad.) |
1:41 |
|
| 19. | |
Skin & Bone |
3:53 |
|
| 20. | |
Baby Face |
1:57 |
|
| 21. | |
Lola |
1:41 |
|
| 22. | |
Previously Unreleased Bonus Track: Till The End Of The Day |
1:59 |
|
| 23. | |
Previously Unreleased Bonus Track: She's Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina |
3:04 |
|
23 Total Tracks, 74:19 Total Length
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Credits
- The Kinks - Main Performer // Dave Davies - Guitar // Dave Davies - Harmonica // Dave Davies - Keyboards // Dave Davies - Vocals // Davy Jones - Clarinet // Davy Jones - Sax (Baritone) // Ray Davies - Guitar // Ray Davies - Vocals // Ray Davies - Producer // Mick Avory - Drums // John Beecham - Trombone // John Beecham - Tuba // John Beecham - Horn // Mike Bobak - Engineer // Michael Cotton - Trumpet // John Dalton - Bass // John Dalton - Guitar (Bass) // John Gosling - Keyboards // Doug Hinman - Artwork // Doug Hinman - Reissue Photography // Alan Holmes - Clarinet // Alan Holmes - Flute // Alan Holmes - Horn // Alan Holmes - Saxophone // Alan Holmes - Sax (Baritone) // David Jones - Wind // Bob Ludwig - Remastering // Dave Rowberry - Organ // Mycle Konopka - Compilation Engineer // K. Lee Hammond - Reissue Design // Klaus Schmalenbach - Artwork // Klaus Schmalenbach - Reissue Photography // Mike Cotton - Trumpet // Rodney Dugan - Package Design // Albert Pinheiro - Engineer // Albert Pinheiro - Assistant Engineer // Cristina Battani - Reissue Art Director // Ryan Tully - Engineer // Fred Schruers - Liner Notes // Shawn R. Britton - Mastering // Graham Hogg - Engineer // Rob Gillis - Liner Notes // Rob Gillis - Art Direction // Dave Jones - Clarinet // Dave Jones - Saxophone // The Russell Smith Orchestra - Artwork // The Russell Smith Orchestra - Reissue Photography // Larry Greenbaum - Assistant
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