Kinks Kinks/CA,USA 1981 Mike Millard Master Tapes

JEMS’s mirrored master was released in 1981 by the Kinks. This was the period when they were enjoying the height of their popularity in the United States, starting with the huge success of the album “LOW BUDGET”. In 1981, they embarked on a US tour in August to coincide with the release of the equally huge hit album “GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT”. Arenas were the norm for this tour, and they had already achieved the status of a big group, appearing at the LA Forum on August 14th (hopefully Millard recorded this as well!), but as the champions who had conquered the United States, they had several theater gigs planned for the beginning of the tour. Among these precious dates, Millard participated in the Hollywood Palladium on the 19th. Yes, it was a venue known as the venue for Keith Richards’ live performances, and he captured a precious theater gig that the Kinks performed at the height of their popularity. However, since it was a small venue, Millard avoided the floor, where he would have been pushed around and would have had difficulty recording, and instead recorded from the balcony. The sound image is slightly more distant than the released “LOS ANGELES 1978 MIKE MILLARD SECOND GENERATION TAPES”. However, this is still within the scope of Millerd recordings, and is undoubtedly the best audience recording from 1981. The intense excitement of a theater gig at the height of their popularity in the United States is perfectly captured. And yet there were no noisy audiences around, so Millard’s decision to record from the balcony was wise. What’s amazing about the 1981 Kinks in Millerd quality is the reaction to the songs on “LOW BUDGET” rather than the classic repertoire of the 1960s, and even to their new album “GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT”, which was just about to be released. For example, at the beginning of the live, when “Where Have All The Good Times Gone” was played as a medley with “Tired Waiting For You”, the reaction of the Hollywood audience was surprisingly indifferent, but as soon as “Catch Me Now I’m Falling” was played, the venue erupted into a tremendous call-and-response storm. Not only “LOW BUDGET” but also the live album “ONE FOR THE ROAD”, which also won a gold disc in the United States, had a tremendous effect. Regarding the new album, the release date is listed as August 15th on Wikipedia, but as Ray Davies said on the day, “It will be released in about 10 days,” it seems that the actual release date is August 26th, as listed on Discogs. That’s why the reaction of the audience to the songs on the album, which must have already been played on the radio, was tremendous, and the audience was excited about “Yo-Yo” and “Destroyer”, one of the Kinks’ representative songs in the 1980s. In this context, the inclusion of the 60’s minor classic “Come On Now” sung by Dave Davis at the end of the live show is a surprising choice in a good way. Of course, the killer classics such as “Lola” and “You Really Got Me” are very exciting, but this is a valuable record of Millard’s theater gig, where the standard repertoire is put together in the middle of the live show and the end is dedicated to the recent works of the time. This is the Kinks in 1981! Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, CA, USA 19th August 1981 PERFECT SOUND Disc 1 (49:58) 1. Intro 2. Around The Dial 3. The Hard Way 4. Where Have All The Good Times Gone 5. Bird Dog (Everly Brothers cover) 6. Catch Me Now I’m Falling 7. Yo-Yo 8. LA Blues / Lola 9. Too Serious (Dave Davies solo song) 10. Back To Front 11. Misfits 12. Band Introductions 13. You Really Got Me Disc 2 (38:46) 1. A Gallon Of Gas 2. Celluloid Heroes 3. All Day And All Of The Night 4. Give the People What They Want 5. Come On Now 6. Low Budget 7. Twist And Shout 8. Destroyer 9. Pressure Ray Davies – vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica Dave Davies – lead guitar, vocals Mick Avory – drums, percussion Jim Rodford – bass, backing vocals Ian Gibbons – keyboards, piano, backing vocals