Everybody's in Show-Biz

by

The Kinks

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Although most die-hard Kinks fans seem to regard "Everybody's in Showbiz" as an uncharacteristic weak effort from the boys, I personally believe that that assessment might be a bit harsh and premature. True, the album is twenty-eight years old, but unlike other contemporary Live/Studio sets of its day(1972), the disc holds up remarkably well considering the fact that Ray was usually sloshed out of his mind at most of the major 70's live venues....case in point, listen to his ode to Demon "Alchohol" at Carnegie Hall on this disc. It's CLASSIC! ONLY Ray Davies could pull that off.... I'm old enough to have seen them in concert in 1974 in Toronto, and let me tell you there was NOTHING like a Kinks show...! Even by the 1970's, they had a large repetoire and the stage charisma to back it up. "Showbiz" may have lacked the cohesive luster of their previous year's signature work "Muswell Hillbillies", but it has stood the test of time in the place where it counts most.... in the HEARTS of every true Kinks devotee the world over. WHY? What other LP can claim the ORIGINAL STUDIO version of "Celluloid Heroes" with its touching references to long-gone screen icons which graphically shows Davies' melancholic longing for a simpler time(a tendency he's always readily admitted to). Another gem, (my personal fave on the LP)is "Supersonic Rocketship". Musically this tune is irresistable,a definite sing-along but pay extra attention to the lyrics...it's Classic Ray in his hope for a more equal world. All in all, I love this disc... and not just for sentimental reasons...its because these beloved Brits, I believe, never handed us anything but their best...... WE LOVE YOU RAY.

`Everybody's in Showbiz' is a very hard album to like, even if you are a Kinks fan. Much of the music seems to rely on the music hall jazz of the band's accompanying brass section but the bottom line is that out of the studio side there is really only one song that I truly like. That this song is "Celluloid Heroes" and is one of my all time favorites (could be favorite Kinks track) was reason enough to by the album. Although "Celluloid" seems to fit the theme of the pitfalls of stardom, it has much more epic grandeur than the rest of the record. The live section is decent but why on earth is only a snippet of "Lola" heard? Was this done deliberately to sort of downplay the continued popularity of the song at the expense of `Muswell Hillbillies"? It would have helped the live side which as I have said is still pretty good. The music hall nonsense of "Baby Face" and such is probably more for the fans in attendance than for the record buyers but there you have it. I don't know if I can give `Everybody's' a true recommendation though many people like "Sitting in My Hotel" and maybe "Motorway". I really only like "Celluloid Heroes" and for that the record is worth owning.