ALL OF MY FRIENDS WERE THERE

In 1999 I was at a wedding in the Victorian country town of Avoca.

It was late, very late, and I was on DJ duty playing The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society when I was accosted by a hick. The hick looked me up and down as though I was some sort of pathetic simpleton, and shaking his head with utter disdain, said; "This is rat-shit. You have no taste in music."

Now THAT is a recommendation.

Is that how you spell Odessey?

The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society

It was one of those albums that did not really perform in commercial sales terms at the time but, with the benefit of hindsight, The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society is now seen as one of the major album releases of the 1960s. Pete Townshend of the Who described the album as Ray Davies' masterpiece, his Sergeant Pepper. Davies himself called the album "pop's best-kept secret." Like the Zombies' Odessey & Oracle, this is an album that is better appreciated now than when it was released. This was a golden age for British albums and this may have meant that The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society was released around the same time as Electric Ladyland, The White Album and Beggar's Banquet. Quite some competition!

AGB Rating - High Distinction

Comments

[James Russell]

Actually it's spelled "Odyssey". I think the misspelling was the work of the semi-literate cover artist...

[Tony.T]

Yeah, I thought it didn't look right, but it's one of those words I always manage to spell wrong.