Kinks Weeks – Where Have All The Good Times Gone? …superdekes.wordpress.com

I met deKE when I published a Georgia Satellites song and fellow blogger Graham told me about him after he posted a Satellites song a little earlier. Since then he has me listening to all sorts of music. I’m forever indebted to him for the introduction to the Canadian Power Pop band Sloan. Go visit his WordPress site. and he also has a youtube channel to visit. It’s worth subscribing to the YouTube channel. He has interviewed musicians, producers, and all sorts in the know. Ok, deKE…take it away…

Thanks to Mad Max for letting me be a part of this series. I’ve been reading everyone’s posts about The Kinks and I can honestly say I know the least about them and their history. Sure I know about Ray and Dave’s onstage/offstage antics as I read about some of it back in the day when I would pick up the monthly issue of Creem magazine.

The first time I ever heard of the band name ‘The Kinks’ was via ‘Van Halen’. Believe it or not it wasn’t VHs killer version of ‘You Really Got Me’ but Dave and Eddie’s muscled up version of ‘Where Have All The Good Times Gone’.

Now you’re probably thinking “say what?!” but it’s true. I discovered VH back in April 81 but I didn’t get the VH debut with ‘You Really Got Me’ on it until 1984.(if you’re a fan of VH, see what I did there). There was so much hard rock coming out between 1980 and 1985 (my teenage years) I had a hard time keeping up. My first two VH purchases were ‘Women & Children First’ and ‘Fair Warning’ in 1981 as previously mentioned. My third VH purchase was in 1982 when they dropped the half originals/half covers release ‘Diver Down’. One of the cover tunes featured was ‘Where Have All The Good Times Gone’.

If VH wanted to kick off their latest release with a loosey jam like vibe then this was the track to do just that with. Once you hear Alex Van Halen’s drums kick in, next thing you know Eddie Van Halen and Micheal Anthony are joining the party. Ringleader/vocalist David Lee Roth pulls down a good vocal on the song.

As a young rock fan and even as the years passed by and the decades started rolling by, I liked the fact that VH could take a cover tune and make it their own! Eddie’s guitar solo on the song is what air guitar is all about.

The great thing about YouTube is I pulled up The Kinks original of this song and holy moly Van Halen definitely rocked it up but you have to consider back when Ray and Dave cooked up this track that many years later VH took that cue and partied it up and put it out for the masses to devour.

By the way I’m sure Ray and Dave are still enjoying the royalty pay cheques thanks to Halen!

Thanks Max for letting me bend the rules here…

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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.

34 thoughts on “Kinks Weeks – Where Have All The Good Times Gone? …superdekes.wordpress.com”

  4. Funny, that. I’ve never been much into Van Halen or that general style of music, but I recognised this track – ironically not knowing it was a Kinks song! So for sure – VH definitely owned it. Well, borrowed, at least. (And like you said, paid back Ray Davies with interest.) 🙂

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      1. And it was (is) awesome! Despite my preference for “Alternative” music, I’ve been a fan of Van Halen since their first record. I didn’t care too much for the ‘hits’ from the 1984 album (though I give them credit for great music vids for those songs) but ‘Girl Gone Bad’ and ‘House of Pain’ are absolutely amazing! And the song ‘I’ll Wait’ has one of the most spectacular guitar solos Eddie ever recorded AND the absolute BEST snare drum tone I’ve ever heard on an album!! Fair Warning is my favorite album of theirs, but 1984 is an outstanding record, despite the inclusion of ‘Jump’.

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  12. Of course, yet another Kinks song I hadn’t known. I only was aware of the A-side of that single, “Till the End of the Day” – great song, as is “Where Have All the Good Times Gone”!

    Also, kudos to Van Halen. Their pop metal version sounds pretty good. I actually prefer it over their rendition of “You Really Got Me,” which never impressed me that much. I guess I simply love the original too much!

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  13. deKE throws a curve ball and it’s a strike. Good one. Yes the royalties would have been good in the Kinks band account. That live cut is so good Max. Old clips of the original band with Peter Quaife. The song is a Kinks classic, another one. Both songs VH covered were perfect for them. They put their spin on them and they worked.

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