Dillo/ Buttsteak '11, part 2: In which me and the Big Man head back to 1982 or so for some FM radio staples

True, Paul R. Cardillo and I go way back to the Silver Lake Day Camp/ St. Ant'ney's days, but the mind-meld really began with our time at the good ol' Iona Preparatory School.  Before we'd managed to acquire a guitar or drumset or a bass, and before we'd finagled Cunningham or Stack or Maff or anybody else into a band, we managed to squeeze in a whole lot of riding the bus to and from New Rochelle, watching TV, eating cold cuts and sitting around playing records.  To which end, this little two-fer posting could have just as well included something off of Ozzy's "Diary of a Madman" or the Stones "Tattoo You", The Who's "Face Dances", the Moody Blues "Long Distance Voyager", Blondie's "Parallel Lines", Blue Oyster Cult's "Extraterrestrial Live", the Cars' "Shake It Up", the Police's "Zenyatta Mondatta", or lord knows what.  But what you get here is one big fish in particular and one big little fish.

The Kinks' "Give the People What They Want" came out in 1981 and pretty much capped a late-career renaissance for them.  Little did we know that the real golden years for the Kinks were back through the late 60's and turn of the 70's (all the discs from "The Kinks Kontroversy" through "Muswell Hillbillies" are required for this course)---- There was too much crap to wade through, as the vinyl bins at the mall and everywhere else were choked with the band's confusing and generally cruddy Arista releases.  Lacking all those whippersnapper internets, our launch points for the Kinks were the double-live (huzzah!) "One for the Road" and their follow-up retort to the punks and new-wavers, the studio "GtPWTW" (the former of which still stands up pretty well, and the latter even better).  And, seriously, "Better Things" woulda/ shoulda been a hit record whenever it was put out.  As with the Stones' "Waiting on a Friend", it is just that good.

The Monroes, on the other hand, never really had a career from which they could manage a renaissance, nor much of a history to talk about.  It was pretty much the one hit single from 1982, and then back to obscurity in San Diego or wherever.  Oh, but what a single it is!  I'd totally forgotten about the song, which was a fairly sizeable national hit, until Dillo linked me to a YouTube vid of an appearance on the Mike Douglas Show.  It also is just that good!

jk

Better Things:     https://www.box.com/s/0wrathwnltg4pkfxa81u


What Do All the People Know?:   https://www.box.com/s/dphf67dipp68no93e0hw