| "Low Budget" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by The Kinks | ||||
| A-side | "(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman" | |||
| Released | January 1979 | |||
| Recorded | January 1979 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 3:36 | |||
| Label | Arista | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Ray Davies | |||
| Producer(s) | Ray Davies | |||
| The Kinks UKsingles chronology | ||||
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| The Kinks USsingles chronology | ||||
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| Low Budget track listing | ||||
11 tracks
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"Low Budget" is the sixth track from The Kinks' album of the same name. It was written, produced and sung by Ray Davies.
"Low Budget" was recorded in January 1979. [1] It describes a man giving up his "expensive tastes" in order to save money. Like many of the tracks on Low Budget , it applies to the economic troubles occurring during the time that the album was released, such as strikes in Great Britain. [1] [2] However, AllMusic's Richard Gilliam claimed that the track's theme could "easily apply to just about any modern recession". [3]
Although "Low Budget" refers to economic problems of the times in general, it also refers to some of Ray Davies' own personal concerns. [4] In the song, Davies mocks his own fear of not having money and his frugality. [2] [4] [5] The song also references Davies' vanity. [4] The singer describes himself as once being well dressed and able to afford cigars, but now has to buy discount clothes and chew mints. [4] He describes himself as "a cut-price person in a low-budget land." [5] But despite being reduced to poverty, the singer expresses pride in his hair and his teeth. [4] Author Thomas Kitts notes that even the title, used in the refrain "I'm on a low budget" could refer to Davies keeping himself on a tight budget. [4]
When asked which guitar performance he was most proud of, The Kinks' guitarist Dave Davies noted "Low Budget," as well as "You Really Got Me," as a favorite. He said of this:
I like “Low Budget” [1979]. It’s wild. I like that kind of, almost country-style playing. It’s like a shape; I don’t even worry about what notes I play as I’m doing it. And if you catch a few open strings, you might get lucky with a weird clunk or a harmonic or something. I think all the best stuff is the stuff that happens before you’ve even realized what you’ve done. So “Low Budget” and, obviously, “You Really Got Me.”
— Dave Davies, Guitar World, 2014 [6]
When it was released as the B-side of "(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman," Trouser Press described "Low Budget" as being "raunchier" than its A-side, going on to comment on the rawness of Ray Davies' vocal and stating that "Ray's never been funnier nor Dave's guitar tougher sounding." [1] Music critic Robert Christgau describes the song as a "sloppy burlesque." [7] Critic Johnny Rogan praises its self-deprecating humor, calling the line "Don't think I'm tight if I don't buy a round" one of the best of Davies' career. [2] According to Davies, hearing the song on the radio in early 1979 helped inspire him to finish writing the rest of the songs for the Low Budget album. [5] The song also appeared on the compilation albums Come Dancing with The Kinks and Picture Book .
"Low Budget" became a popular song for the Kinks to play live in concert. [4] Of a performance in Binghamton, New York on February 18, 1979, the Binghamton University newspaper Pipe Dream noted that "'Low Budget' became an audience effort when Davies ceded his microphone to members of the front row during the chorus." [1] In 1980, a live version of "Low Budget" (recorded at Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island, on 23 September 1979) was released on the album One for the Road .
"You Really Got Me" is a song written by Ray Davies for English rock band the Kinks. The song, originally performed in a more blues-oriented style, was inspired by artists such as Lead Belly and Big Bill Broonzy. Two versions of the song were recorded, with the second performance being used for the final single. Although it was rumoured that future Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page had performed the song's guitar solo, the myth has since been proven false.
Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One, commonly abbreviated to Lola Versus Powerman, is the eighth studio album by British rock band the Kinks, recorded and released in 1970. A concept album, it is a satirical appraisal of the music industry, including song publishers, unions, the press, accountants, business managers, and life on the road. Musically Lola Versus Powerman is varied, described by Stephen Thomas Erlewine as "a wildly unfocused but nonetheless dazzling tour de force", containing some of Ray Davies' strongest songs.
"Lola" is a song written by Ray Davies and performed by English rock band the Kinks on their album Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One. The song details a romantic encounter between a young man and a possible cross-dresser, whom he meets in a club in Soho, London. In the song, the narrator describes his confusion towards Lola, who "walked like a woman but talked like a man".
The Kinks are an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1964 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm and blues and Merseybeat, and were briefly part of the British Invasion of the United States until their touring ban in 1965. Their third single, the Ray Davies-penned "You Really Got Me", became an international hit, topping the charts in the United Kingdom and reaching the Top 10 in the United States. Their music was influenced by a wide range of genres, including American R&B and rock and roll initially, and later adopting British music hall, folk, and country. They gained a reputation for reflecting English culture and lifestyle, fuelled by Ray Davies' wittily observational writing style.
"Shangri-La" is a song written by Ray Davies of the Kinks. The song appeared on the 1969 concept album, Arthur. The song's inspiration can be traced back to when the band visited the Davies brothers' sister, Rose, and her family in Australia, the "designed community" that the family lived in serving as the initial lyrical inspiration. The song's highly ironic lyrics comment on British class society while portraying Arthur, the album's ill-fated protagonist, and his empty life in the suburbs. The musical aspects of the song both reflect and comment on the mood of the lyrics.
One for the Road is a 1980 live album and video by the Kinks.
"Got to Be Free" is a song written by Ray Davies and performed by British rock band the Kinks. It was released on their 1970 LP Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One, which included the Top 10 hit song "Lola". "Got to Be Free" plays a key role in the concept album, as the album borrows its first verse as an introduction, and closes with the full song. The song was also used in the first of the BBC's Play for Today series The Long Distance Piano Player (1970), which featured the song's own writer, Ray Davies, in the lead role.
"Wonderboy" is a pop song, written by Ray Davies and recorded by the Kinks in 1968. "Wonderboy" stalled at number 36 in the UK charts, becoming the band's first single not to make the UK Top Twenty since their early covers. Despite this, it became a favourite of John Lennon of The Beatles, and, according to Ray Davies in his autobiography, X-Ray, "someone had seen John Lennon in a club and he kept on asking the disc jockey to play 'Wonder Boy' [sic] over and over again." Kinks guitarist Dave Davies praised the song, saying, "'Wonderboy' was a big one for us although it wasn't a hit. That was one song we really felt something for." However, bassist Peter Quaife's opinion towards the track was low, later stating that "[I] hated it ... it was horrible."
"You Still Want Me" is a single by the Kinks released in 1964. It was their second record, and failed to chart upon release, threatening the band's deal with Pye Records. However, the massive success of the band's next single, "You Really Got Me", ensured their tenure with Pye would continue until 1971, when they shifted to RCA.
"Come Dancing" is a 1982 song written by Ray Davies and performed by British rock group the Kinks on their 1983 album State of Confusion. The song was inspired by Davies' memories of his older sister, Rene, who died of a heart attack while dancing at a dance hall. The lyrics, sung from the perspective of an "East End barrow boy," are about the boy's sister going on dates at a local Palais dance hall.
Live at Kelvin Hall is a 1967/68 live album by British rock group the Kinks. It was recorded at Kelvin Hall in Glasgow, Scotland, in early 1967. The album was released in August 1967 in the US, and January 1968 in the UK. Live at Kelvin Hall received mixed reviews upon release, and sold poorly.
God's Children is a song written by Ray Davies and performed by The Kinks. It was released as a single in 1971 and also on the soundtrack album of the film Percy.
"The Hard Way" is a song written by Ray Davies and first released by The Kinks on their 1975 album Schoolboys in Disgrace. It was also released on The Kinks live album One for the Road and on several greatest hits collections. The Knack covered the song on their 1980 album ...But the Little Girls Understand.
"(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman" is a song written by Ray Davies that was first released on the Kinks' 1979 album, Low Budget. The song, inspired by Superman: The Movie, employs a disco beat and lyrics that describe the singer's wish to be like the fictional character Superman. The song's disco style was created as a response to Arista Records founder Clive Davis's request for "a club-friendly record," despite Ray Davies' hatred of disco.
"Catch Me Now I'm Falling" is a song written by Ray Davies and first released by The Kinks as the second track on their 1979 album Low Budget. Written as a criticism of America's allies, the song depicts the fall of Captain America as a symbol of the United States' dire circumstances at the time. The song features multiple solos on different instruments as well as a riff similar to "Jumpin' Jack Flash".
"State of Confusion" is a song written by Ray Davies and first released by The Kinks as the title track of their 1983 album State of Confusion. Although it was not released as a single in the United States, it reached #26 on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It was released as a single in Continental Europe.
"Sitting in My Hotel" is a song written by Ray Davies that was first released on The Kinks' 1972 album Everybody's in Show-Biz. It was also released on several compilation albums and as the B-side of the "Sweet Lady Genevieve" single. It is one of Davies' more introspective songs, musing about the cost of fame and stardom, and thus contributes to the album's theme of the difficulties of life on the road.
"Drivin'" is a song written by Ray Davies of the Kinks which appeared on that group's 1969 concept album Arthur . It was released in the UK as the first single from the album, but failed to chart.
"A Gallon of Gas" is the ninth track from The Kinks' album, Low Budget. It was written by Ray Davies.
"Stop Your Sobbing" is a song written by Ray Davies for the Kinks' debut album, Kinks. It was later covered by the Pretenders as their first single.
