The Kinks: Everybody's in
Show-Biz
Mobile Fidelity UDSACD 2010
Format: Hybrid Stereo SACD
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 You may have heard that
Mobile Fidelity is back, but if you're like me, you’ve been wondering what that
means. Has somebody simply purchased the rights to the name, intending to exploit it for
the recognition factor, or is it a sincere effort to revive what was once an audiophile
institution?
But wait a minute -- let's do a reality check: what
recognition factor? For all the reverence some of us old-school audiophiles have for the
label, it was never exactly a sales juggernaut. And even those of us who liked what
the label was trying to do seemed to spend an awful lot of time second-guessing its
decisions on what to release.
It's almost inconceivable that any rational businessman
could have illusions about the fiscal sanity of releasing higher-quality versions
of recordings -- after all, the spirit of the age is decidedly low-rez, from low-bit-rate
MP3s to compressed CDs with compromised dynamic range. Nah, only a true audiophile could
think that quality might count.
So welcome back, brother.
Especially if Everybody's in Show-Biz is indicative
of the label's direction.
First, it's a daring choice. EIS was The Kinks'
second release on RCA, following the band's phenomenal streak of Something Else,
Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur, Lola, and Muswell
Hillbillies -- an astonishing assemblage of recordings that should have placed the
group in the company of, say, the Rolling Stones and The Beatles. Yet, for all the
critical applause and fervor of its small but dedicated group of fans, mainstream success
-- at least big time mainstream success -- eluded the band.
Everybody's in Show-Biz showed that the band had
been well named. Rather than pander to the lowest common denominator, Ray Davies chose to
emphasize the group's alienation from the trappings of rock stardom -- EIS is
quirky, odd, and very personal.
The record was released as a two-disc LP, with one disc
consisting of a loosely thematic suite of songs delineating the trials of constant
touring, life on the road, and stardom; the other disc captured the band's March 2 and 3,
1972, performances at Carnegie Hall -- sets described by some critics as "the
drunkest ever captured on record."
Let's deal with that accusation first. It's true that the
live portion of EIS sounds booze-fueled and loose, but the band's timing is
perfect, and although Ray Davies sure sounds loose and expansive, he hits his marks and
launches into some entirely appropriate musical asides that would seemingly argue that he
was more in control than out of it. I've always suspected the alcohol-soaked appearance of
this set was simply performance art.
It's pretty irresistible though -- if you're a fan. If
you're not, it probably accentuates all the mannerisms that irritate you about the band in
the first place. Ray Davies falls pretty heavily upon his British Music Hall shtick,
and his reedy quaver and frequently warbly pitch control are all over the map.
However, the band delivers a set that is riotously
different from anything else you could have heard from a rock band in 1972 -- ranging from
"Mr. Wonderful," "Baby Face," and "Banana Boat Song" (or at
least the first few bars, delivered teasingly) to Kinks classics such as
"Holiday," "Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues," "Alcohol,"
and a rollicking "Skin and Bones."
The live portion of the disc is an unqualified winner --
especially delivered in this version's new, improved sound.
...Wes Phillips
wes@onhifi.com
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