Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One: You Think That Money Buys Everything?
By Thomas Fraki.
The Kinks are hardly an unknown band, and Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One isn’t an obscure release. In fact, the album has some of the most popular songs in the group’s catalog. However, aside from its hits, most of the tracks are fairly uncelebrated. And this is the real shame of Lola Versus Powerman because it is from front to back a wondrous album. It also represented a reaffirming point for The Kinks, who had faced a couple of unsuccessful years leading up to the release.
Lola Versus Powerman is The Kinks reflecting on the reality of the music business and their place in it. It is a concept album that focuses on the harsh truths of a world that welcomed them warmly in popularity and dismissed them when the winds of pop music changed. The Kinks are no strangers to conceptual work, and Lola shows the band’s willingness and ability to take on ideas that most pop acts would not. Some critics of the album argue that the songs are too thematically disjointed for considering it a concept piece. While this album does attempt to pack a lot both in music and lyrics into 40 minutes, it still manages to create a wondrously endearing set of ruminations.
Facing the World Ain’t Easy When There Isn’t Anything Going
From their inception in the early 1960s, The Kinks rode the crest of the British Invasion to envious levels of popularity. The band’s hits during the middle of the decade, such as “All Day and All of the Night” and “Sunny Afternoon,” received a great deal of attention and radio play. By 1967, their single “Waterloo Sunset” demonstrated that there was a perception rift growing across the Atlantic for the group. The song did exceptionally well critically and on English pop rankings, but didn’t manage to chart in America. By the time Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire), the run-up album to Lola, released in 1969, The Kinks were only garnering moderate commercial attention. However, they were well on their way in terms of producing conceptual albums and thematic writing.
The period leading up to Lola Versus Powerman was filled with uncertainty. In 1969, The Kinks were coming off a four-year ban from touring in the U.S. by the American Federation of Musicians that had arisen from some unfortunate confrontations during their last tour. However, plans for a return to American touring fell apart due to several members of the band falling ill. The end result was a handful of shows, many cancelled dates, and not nearly the turnaround they were hoping for.
Life Is So Easy When Your Record’s Hot
The “Lola” single was released several months before the rest of Lola Versus Powerman. It exploded on the music scene, making top 10 charts globally. Robert Christgau for the Village Voice said that the track was “astounding,” and Rolling Stone claimed “Lola” along with the rest of the songs were “the best Kink’s album yet.” Despite its controversial nature, the BBC banned airplay of “Lola” not because of the theme, but because of its reference to Coca-Cola in the lyrics. This forced the group into using an alternate take of the track, swapping out the allusion for “cherry-cola.” Some radio stations did take exception to the lyrics, and faded out or edited portions of the track involving the titular character.
Lyrically, the song follows the speaker’s clueless romantic encounter with a transvestite. Regarding the writing, Ray Davies left the matter intentionally ambiguous, stating that “it really doesn’t matter what sex Lola is.” In terms of music, the track is very catchy and upbeat with sharp guitar strumming. The uniquely jangly guitar sound for the song is managed by combining a Martin guitar and a Dobro resonating guitar. Davies randomly happened upon the National Steel resonator at a London music shop while looking for instruments for the “Lola” sessions.
It’s a Mixed Up, Muddled Up, Shook Up World
Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround Part One released officially in late November 1970. Generally speaking, the album was received very positively. While it might be tough to nail down a theme for the work as a whole, each part of the track list serves a vehicle to examine the worlds and characters the Kinks have come to encounter as a pop act. “Denmark Street” (song publishers), “Get Back in Line” (unions), “Top of the Pops” (music press and broadcast companies), “The Moneygoround” (managers and accountants), and “This Time Tomorrow” (tour life). In classic Kinks fashion, this is all taken in a satiric, lighthearted spin.
The music of the album is equally as varied as the lyrical themes. There are softer piano ballads juxtaposed against hard rock tracks. “A Long Way from Home” comes in at just under two and a half minutes, but is one of the most touching and emotionally memorable songs of the album. Some of the pieces like “The Moneygoround” and “Denmark Street” pay homage to the English music hall style, a Victorian-era theatrical entertainment akin to vaudevillian piano. All in all, there is a lot to take in when listening from start to finish.
I Hope You Find What You Are Looking For
If there is one reason to argue why Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One might not have succeeded as a whole, it is simply that it attempts to do too much. There is a lot going on in terms of varying styles and ideas. But at the same time, the whole point of the album is to convey the whirl and sense of disorientation that comes with being thrown into fame. What the album succeeds in doing is to create a set of moments, something like recalling distinct memories from a point in life. Whether this is intentional is hard to say. But whether you like it or not, the memories stick. They will stay with you, making you think about where you’ve been, what you’ve seen, and where you might be this time tomorrow.
- Side One
- “The Contenders”
- “Strangers”
- “Denmark Street”
- “Get Back in Line”
- “Lola”
- “Top of the Pops”
- “The Moneygoround”
- Side Two
- “This Time Tomorrow”
- “A Long Way from Home”
- “Rats”
- “Apeman”
- “Powerman”
- “Got to Be Free”
Thomas Fraki is a Minneapolis-based journalism grad, music aficionado, book nerd, hiker, amateur photographer, and beer drinker with an overgrown wall of records.