The Kinks - Picture Book

[irock]

From 1968's 'The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society', one of the late 60's better albums. The song has been featured recently in a commercial for (I think) HP photographic equipment. I love it and I hope the TV ad might spark some interest in the Kinks' music from this period.

This was, of course, a period when rock was beginning to show a darker side. The Beatles and Stones were dabbling in various counter-cultures: anti-war politics, drugs, hinduism, satanic imagery (the Stones released an album called 'Her Satanic Majesty's Request'), etc. The Kinks kept a decidedly light-hearted and even nostalgic theme going with this album. Picture Book is a great sample track; it's about nothing more than finding an old photo album, quite a contrast to the brooding lyrics of that era's Jefferson Airplane, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac or Lou Reed.

By the way, if you've seen the ad, you should recognize the third and fourth lines.

-----------------------------------------

Picture Book - Ray Davies

Picture yourself when you’re getting old,
Sat by the fireside a-pondering on.
Picture book, pictures of your mama, taken by your papa a long time ago.
Picture book, of people with each other, to prove they love each other a long time ago.
Na, na, na, na, na na.
Na, na, na, na, na na.
Picture book.
Picture book.

A picture of you in your birthday suit,
You sat in the sun on a hot afternoon.
Picture book, your mama and your papa, and fat old uncle charlie out cruising with their friends.
Picture book, a holiday in august, outside a bed and breakfast in sunny southend.
Picture book, when you were just a baby, those days when you were happy, a long time ago.
Na, na, na, na, na na.
Na, na, na, na, na na.
Picture book.
Picture book.
Picture book.
Picture book.

Picture book,
Na, na, na, na na,
Na, na, na, na na,
A-scooby-dooby-doo.
Picture book,
Na, na, na, na na,
Na, na, na, na na,
A-scooby-dooby-doo.

Picture book, pictures of your mama, taken by your papa a long time ago.
Long time ago,
Long time ago,
Long time ago,
Long time ago,
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[mst3k]

Glad to see someone else reads Fred Bronson's "Chartbeat Chat". ;)

I'm pretty sure I've seen that commercial, but I don't remember the song. :(

[irock]

mst3k said:

Glad to see someone else reads Fred Bronson's "Chartbeat Chat".  ;)

Nope, sorry, never heard of it.  Sounds interesting, though.  Can ya gimme a link?

[mst3k]

It's his column at www.billboard.com ... there was a letter last week regarding that very Kinks album (which strangely never charted). I would link you to it, but he posts a new column every Friday so that one is gone now. Neat coincidence, though. :)

[irock]

Thanks!  From you clue, I found the column here.  Good to see that my memory was correct on the major points and I'm glad to know that this great old album has seen a spike in sales thanks to the HP ad.

[irock]

I didn't realize it until just now, but this ad can be seen online. If you haven't yet seen it I urge you to click the link and check it out. Not only is the song great, the ad is one of the best I've seen in quite some time. Very creative!

[mst3k]

I saw the commercial again over the weekend... I don't know why this song and album went unnoticed back when it was originally released.

[irock]

I predict this ad is going to win some awards.  It's getting noticed all over the place.  Next week's TV Guide has a write-up on it.  From that I learned that the guy who designed it is the one you see standing at his printer hanging picture frames round his neck.  Wish I were as creative as he is.

The ad was also mentioned on a year-end segment earlier today on MSNBC.

[reception]

Here's a full clip.