Kinks Weeks – Apeman … onceuponatimeinthe70s.com

I’m very happy to have Colin Jackson from Once Upon A Time In The 70’s guest host my blog today. Colin Jackson and Paul Fitzpatrick who both run Once Upon A Time In The 70’s grew up in Bearsden, a northern suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. They were school friends from the age of five until in 1974, aged sixteen, Paul left school to start a career working with fashion and sportswear brands. Their paths would not cross again for forty-four years, during which time Colin pursued a career in Banking. Their site will take you back in time…just as well as a time machine!

THE KINKS: ‘Apeman’

Should Andy Murray have been born ten years either side of when he was, he’d have been the best tennis player of his generation. As it was, despite two Olympic gold medals and three Grand Slam titles amongst goodness knows how many other achievements, he will be forever mentioned almost as an afterthought in any conversation of the greatest players of the 2000s – possibly all time.

Damn those Federer, Nadal and Djokovic fellas!

A similar fate befell The Kinks, and Ray Davies in particular. Maybe they wouldn’t have gone down in history as the best band ever, but they certainly would have benefitted from a greater appreciation.

Damn those Lennon and McCartney and Jagger and Richards fellas!

Then again, I suppose it could be argued that without the Beatles and Stones, The Kinks wouldn’t have capitalised on The British Invasion of America.

Whatever, throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s The Kinks were always playing catch-up in the popularity stakes, despite their critical acclaim and string of hits. Sticking within those two decades, the band had nineteen Top 40 hits here in the UK, including three Number 1s. Not bad on any level.

I must confess, though, that I too am guilty of overlooking them in favour of (most definitely) The Rolling Stones and (yes, probably even) The Beatles. Which is a terrible admission to make, when I take a proper look at the prolificacy of Davies’s writing.

I’d not long turned twelve years old when this single was released. My musical bias had not yet been shaped. I just liked what I liked. I had no idea of what was ‘cool’ or otherwise. It would be a year further down the line before I decided I was a fan of The Sweet and John Kongos … but there was something about ‘Apeman’ I found so appealing.

Perhaps it was the catchy hook. Or maybe it was the (now cringeworthy) faux Caribbean accent during the short, spoken word passage. Or maybe, most likely it was, the silly video of some geezer dressed up like a gorilla and following the band around a most ‘un-jungle-like’ wet and miserable (London?) park.

It certainly wouldn’t have been the lyrics – not at that age. In fact, as I’ve alluded in the past, I’m still a bit of a philistine when it comes to song lyrics.  However, even a very young ‘me’ was aware of the Cold War at that time, and the line about not wanting to die in a nuclear war did hit home.

Ray Davies had of course by this time already shown a great deal of social conscience and disdain for the forsaking of tradition. I’m sure others will cover these, but think of ‘Dead End Street,’ ‘Autumn Almanac’ and ‘The Village Green Preservation Society’ for starters. So, for him to display the utopian spirit of peace and freedom would have come as no surprise who already appreciated his work.

Davies had (has) a knack of making serious comment from entertaining, upbeat and melodic songs. Almost fifty-four years on from ‘Apeman’ peaking at #5 in the UK charts, sadly nothing much appears to have changed. Indeed, the words are perhaps even more pertinent today:

… So I’m no better than the animals sitting

In the cages in the zoo man

‘Cause compared to the flowers and the birds and the trees

I am an apeman

I think I’m so educated and I’m so civilized

‘Cause I’m a strict vegetarian

But with the over-population and inflation and starvation

And the crazy politicians

I don’t feel safe in this world no more

I don’t want to die in a nuclear war

I want to sail away to a distant shore and make like an apeman

 

________

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

37 thoughts on “Kinks Weeks – Apeman … onceuponatimeinthe70s.com”

  1. You’re right about great music duos. Ray and Dave kinda get lost in the shuffle compared to Jagger/Richards, John/Paul but they left they’re mark on a ton of music that was put out which I’m learning about daily thats for sure. Same as Tyler/Perry being compared to Mick/Keith it goes all down the musical line… Great stuff..

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    1. I suppose everyone wants to be ‘the best’ but then musical opinion is so subjective. But the mere fact Max has devoted two weeks to them, and we all readily offered our highlights, shows the Davies Boys ‘done good’ as we say here in Glasgow. 😃

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  2. Yes, I agree, they get lost in the shuffle, especially in light of the two juggernaut Big British Bands that ruled the ’60s, particularly in the UK and Commonwealth. And it sure didn’t help they were shut out of the US market at the peak of their popularity.

    If something as silly as them singing (and supposedly advertising) something as trivial as ‘Coca Cola’ and having that get censored, how the Hell did the moron- sorry, moral uptight guardians allow ‘a’fugging(!?!?) up my eyes” to slip past them and their blue pencils?

    (That Kongos song is a relentless stomper.)

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    1. 😂 Of all the lyrics to Lola, I’d have said ‘Coca Cola’s should have been the least if the censors’ concerns! 😂

      Yeah, both John Kongos hits were proper stompers. He did a lot of other great work that flew very much under the radar, both before and after the two hits he had. 😃

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  4. Great post! Feel good and catchy, but with biting lyrics. Perfect. And looking below, I’m glad I’m not the only one who does a double-take every time I hear that ‘fogging up my eyes line’ : )

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  7. Another one that’s brand new (and no wonder, with his accent & the lyrics I think any radio station here would fear having their broadcasting license pulled if they played it in today’s social environment). Quite a catchy tune though! As this series rolls along the Kinks are definitely catching up to the Stones for the ‘silver’ in the British Invasion battle, LOL. At least in quality of not quantity.
    One final note- about, maybe 45 seconds in I was thinking ‘what does this sound a bit like?’ Second listen, it clicked…anybody else hear a wee bit of ‘The Cover of the Rolling Stone’ in there, or vice versa since this came out earlier?

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    1. I heard this song back in the 80s..and loved it. It has a Lola feel to it. It’s in my top 10 of Kinks songs.
      Oh it was around 4 years before Cover of the Rolling Stone…

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      1. oh yeah, I know, I’m just wondering if Sawyer and Dr Hook had a wee bit of this melody and singing style in mind when putting together their song. As you say, it also has a wee bit of the jauntiness of ‘Lola’ in it, or vice versa

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  9. Colin, I make up for the gap in appreciation with the Knks.. Cant beat the production values on the video. I could have easily picked this tune. Ray would pull off these types of songs on a regular basis. Nothing wrong with a little humor in rocknroll Kinks style. CB is a bit of an ‘Apeman”. I do like songs about our primate cousins.

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    1. After Max’s series, I think the band will have good few more proper admirers- I’ll certainly be reposting in our Once 70s blog and helping spread the word .. ok, it’s about 45/ 50 years late, but hey .. I never was the most trendiest of kids. 😂

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  10. One of the reasons I love Ray’s (and Dave’s!) lyrics are because, “Davies had (has) a knack of making serious comment from entertaining, upbeat and melodic songs.” He voices what I’ve believed for a long time, that we are all animals and we will never escape that reality. The way it’s done in the video with the apeman shadowing them is so clever! I add Dave here with lyrics as I look at “Death of a Clown.” Wonderful write-up and am enjoying reading others’ appreciation for a FIRST CLASS BAND. They need to be right up there with the usual suspects and maybe will be regarded as such at some point.

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  11. They feel quintessential 1960s to me – like place them in another decade and they’d feel different. Davies is kind of subtle and not ultra charismatic, possibly veering more towards a cult act than the mainstream, especially outside the commonwealth.

    Always liked this song, good pick.

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  12. Another great Kinks song that’s new to me. Off “Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One”, I only knew L-O-L-A, Lola – shocker!

    While I pride myself of having listened to many different bands and artists, which isn’t inaccurate, it mostly comes down to specific songs. There are only few where I can claim to have gone through entire albums like The Beatles, The Stones and The Who, to stay with British groups.

    Sadly, I can’t make that claim about The Kinks. Which is part of the reason why I’ve been enjoying this series so much. Now, if I could only find the time (and, yes, I shall admit it, the patience!) to listen to at least some Kinks albums from the first to the last track…

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