Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Kinks - Lola

(Pye, 1970)

German issue… same music, better sleeve (for whatever reason, the Germans typically had FANTASTIC ones through the ’70s). What interests me here is that both this and the French pressing, reviewed below, have the “cherry cola” lyric as opposed to the original “Coca Cola.” My understanding is that the Kinks made this change in order to satisfy the BBC’s policies regarding commercial placement, but was the re-recording in fact used across the board for the 7” release worldwide? Hardly a scandal, but I’m at least mildly surprised that the seemingly stubborn Ray Davies would let the international radio version of his comeback hit be the semi-compromised take, even outside of territories where such concessions would have been required for broadcast. Did any countries get the “Coca Cola” line on their 7”s? The good ol’ United States, perhaps? Lemme know!

1 comment:

Donald Brown said...

Yeah, my bro had the 45 in 1970, it said "Coca-Cola" and I was always surprised when I heard "cherry cola" on the radio. The B side was "Mindless Child of Motherhood."

"Lola" was the first Kinks song I ever heard; I was 11. It didn't occur to me that Lola was a man; I just saw her as, like, a strong woman who made a "little boy" into a man. Which, when you're 11, is kinda what you're thinking about. Also, though I was a pretty big guy, I certainly wasn't "the most physical guy," and there were girls in my class, I'm sure, both stronger and tougher than I.

What I like about this song, in musical historical terms is that it got The Kinks a contract with RCA, thinking (I guess) Davies would join their glam gender bender David, and instead he hits 'em, first time w/ Muswell Hillbillies. No eyeliner on that one!