I first heard this song at Tower Records in 1986 while shopping for a Van Morrison album.
The song was on their twenty second studio album Think Visual released in 1986. The album peaked #81 in the Billboard Album Charts in 1986.
In America, the song “How Are You” was released and the B side was Working at the Factory. In the U.S., AOR disc jockeys flipped the single over and played Working At The Factory as though it was the second single. The song ended up peaking at #16 in the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart. The song got a lot of airplay in Nashville at the time.
The Kinks never was as popular as some of their peers as The Beatles, Stones, and The Who. One of the reasons is because during the sixties the Kinks were banned from touring the US for 4 years due to their on stage antics. Promoters complained to the American Federation of Musicians. The union had the power to withhold work permits for British musicians if they misbehaved on stage or refused to perform without good reason. That’s exactly what happened.
The Kinks have sold over 50 million records worldwide and have been cited as a big influence on a number of bands and a key reference point for many Britpop bands. The Kinks were awarded an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Service to British Music, and singer Ray Davies received a CBE in 2004, and was knighted in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to the arts.
Working At The Factory
All my life, I’ve been a workin’ man
When I was at school they said that’s all you’ll ever understand
No profession, I didn’t figure in their plans
So they sent me down the factory to be a workin’ man
All I lived for, all I lived for
All I lived for was to get out of the factory
Now I’m here seemingly free, but working at the factory
Then music came along and gave new life to me
And gave me hope back in 1963
The music came and set me free
From working at the factory
All I lived for, all I lived for
Was to get out of the factory
All I lived for, all I lived for
Was to get out of the factory
Never wanted to be like everybody else
But now there are so many like me sitting on the shelf
They sold us a dream but in reality
It was just another factory
I made the music, thought that it was mine
It made me free, but that was in another time
But then the corporations and the big combines
Turned musicians into factory workers on assembly lines
All we live for, all we live for
All we live for is to get out of the factory
We made the music to set ourselves free
From working at the factory
All my life I’ve put in a working day
Now it’s sign the contract, get production on the way
Take the money, make the music pay
Working at the factory
All I lived for was to get out of the factory
Never wanted to be like everybody else
But now there are so many like me sitting on the shelf
They sold us a dream that in reality
Was just another factory
Working at the factory
PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture 
What were the Kinks’ antics that that kept them out of the U.S. but not Zeppelin or any other band?
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One thing…the fighting…Mick Avory put Dave in a hospital for a short stay, refusing to do shows (because of bad promoters), fighting backstage at tv shows…from what I read promoters turned them in… Ray Davies said he heard a lot of anti British things from stagehands etc and the pushing and shoving would ensue.
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another good one from the underrated band. Weird though, I seem to remember having that LP in the 80s but don’t remember the song. Still hoping they patch things up and put out some long-rumored new material.
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What’s weird is this one was a B side and DJ’s made it a hit.
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‘… shopping at Tower Records …’ (stops reading and breaks down in tears)
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I know.
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When I think about Nashville, I think about country music and a lot of these songs are about trucks, a cheating wife, a dog running away, or troubles at work. Thus it makes sense that this was big in Nashville.
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This is one of those songs they could have done at practically anytime in their history.
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I agree
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I’m still mostly used to the 1960s stuff like Something Else and Village Green Preservation Society – his singing style is quite different on this later stuff.
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The song…maybe not singing style but the song I think would fit in other Kinks eras. I’m just so accustomed to the singing now.
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Great song I don’t recall hearing before. In Germany the song they played on the radio from that album all the time was “Lost and Found.”
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Haven’t heard this in quite a while…listening now reminds me just how effortlessly RD crafts songs.
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Are you getting my posts now or are you having to hunt for them?
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All sorted now…when I went to re-follow… Follow had been turned off for some reason. So I just turned it back on. Strange. But easy fix.
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Cool…I’ve done that before…I must have accidentally clicked it. Thanks and welcome back!
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I see the screw came loose, again. *sigh*
I remember this. I’ve heard it before…at some point. Good revisit!
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LOL
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Strong indictment of the music industry! No wonder they were banned lol Very cool song and I hope they are proud of this one. Do you think The Clash was inspired by them?
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Oh yes the Clash has mentioned The Who and the Kinks…those two together.
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Man are you on a roll with the great tunes.
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I loved this song when it came out…it didn’t get much airplay but hey…it’s the Kinks.
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