Dead End Street (song)
"Dead End Street" | ||||
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Pye, London | ||||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:20 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | Ray Davies | |||
Producer(s) | Shel Talmy | |||
The Kinks UK singles chronology | ||||
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The Kinks US singles chronology | ||||
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"Dead End Street" is a song by the British band
Background
According to Ray Davies, the lyrics are about a couple that want to emigrate to
Describing the song in his 1996 autobiography, Kink, Dave Davies said: "'Dead End Street' was the epitome, to me, of what the Kinks were all about. A song full of character, pathos, yet containing an underlying sense of hope. Reflecting a fondness for the past but at the same time expressing a determination and yearning for change. Anguished voices calling to a heartless world. A world where the plight of the ordinary person mattered little. It was interesting to note that more than ten years later, the Clash did a song called 'London Calling' that seemed to be inspired by 'Dead End Street'."[6]
Ray Davies said of the song: "It was written very quickly and it was written for the winter. It was that thing of living in England and having had a great summer and now the light was closing in and the mood just shifts. The music had that little jazz backbeat, but there were these dark edges. I thought I was writing a trad jazz vamp about hard times that were coming. My father had lived through the depression and he had talked about it, so the song had that 20s/30s feel to it – those stomping chords, the march of destiny coming to grab you. It was a very visual backdrop to the song."[5]
The band recorded two versions of the song. The first, recorded with their usual producer Shel Talmy, used an organ and a French horn. Considering this version to have "no warmth in it at all", the band recorded the final version after Talmy left for the day, replacing the organ with a piano and the French horn with a trombone.[5][7] The song incorporates two bass guitar parts.[5]
Reception
Upon release, the song was praised by
Promotional film
A mimed promotional film (precursor to the modern music video) was produced for the song in late 1966. It was filmed on Little Green Street, a diminutive eighteenth century lane in North London, located off Highgate Road in Kentish Town.
The film was shot in
The song was recorded at a time when bassist Pete Quaife had left the band after a scooter accident, and was replaced by John Dalton. Quaife had returned to the group by the time the promotional film was shot.
Personnel
According to band researcher Doug Hinman:[13]
The Kinks
- Ray Davies – lead vocal, piano
- Dave Davies – backing vocal, acoustic guitar, bass
- John Dalton[nb 1] – backing vocal, bass
- Mick Avory – drums
Additional musicians
- Stan Whitley – backing vocal
- John Matthews – trombone
Charts
Chart (1966–67) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report)[17] | 62 |
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[18] | 11 |
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[19] | 15 |
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[20] | 28 |
Canada (CHUM)[21] | 7 |
Denmark (Danmarks Radio)[22] | 9 |
Finland ( Suomen virallinen lista)[23]
|
23 |
France (IFOP)[24] | 28 |
Germany (Official German Charts)[25] | 5 |
Ireland (IRMA)[26] | 7 |
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[27] | 5 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[28] | 4 |
New Zealand (Listener)[29] | 4 |
Norway (VG-lista)[30] | 6 |
Sweden ( Kvällstoppen)[31]
|
12 |
Sweden (Tio i Topp)[32] | 4 |
5 | |
US Billboard Hot 100[34] | 73 |
US Cash Box Top 100[35] | 72 |
Covers and alternative versions
"Dead End Street" has been covered by the Jam. The song and its music video influenced Oasis's #1 hit "The Importance of Being Idle" from 2005.[36] An unreleased alternative recording of the song from October 1966 was issued in December 2008 on the Kinks 6-CD box set Picture Book. In 2010, Davies also recorded this as a duet with Amy Macdonald on the album See My Friends.
Notes
- ^ After Pete Quaife was injured in a 3 June 1966 car accident, Dalton served as a temporary replacement.[14] Dalton replaced Quaife as the Kinks' full-time bassist on 12 September 1966, making "Dead End Street" Dalton's first recording as an official member of the group.[15] Quaife returned to the band on 14 November 1966, replacing Dalton.[16]
References
- ^ Hinman 2004, pp. 91, 93.
- ^ Bennett 1997, p. 23.
- AllMusic. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
- ISBN 0-7868-6149-5.
- ^ a b c d Fielder, Hugh (27 January 2022). "The story behind Dead End Street by The Kinks". Classic Rock. Louder Sound. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
- ISBN 0-7868-6149-5.
- ^ a b "A touch of the kinky twenties" (PDF). Melody Maker: 11. 26 November 1966. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
- ^ "Spotlight Singles" (PDF). Billboard. 17 December 1966. p. 16. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
- ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 17 December 1966. p. 22. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ "U.S. Chart Positions". Kinks.it.rit.edu. Archived from the original on 6 February 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
- ^ "Rocklist.net NME Greatest Singles Lists". Rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
- ^ "Dave Davies Returns to Little Green Street and talks about Dead End Street". Youtube.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
- ^ Hinman 2004, p. 93.
- ^ Hinman 2004, p. 84.
- ^ Hinman 2004, pp. 89, 91.
- ^ Hinman 2004, p. 91.
- ^ "Every AMR Top 100 Single in 1967". www.top100singles.net.
- ^ "The Kinks – Dead End Street" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
- ^ "The Kinks – Dead End Street" (in French). Ultratop 50.
- ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 10037." RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
- ^ "CHUM Hit Parade, week of January 16, 1967". 16 January 1967. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
- ^ "Top 20 – Uge 2". danskehitlister.dk. 14 January 1967. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
- ^ "Sisältää hitin: Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1960: Artistit KET - KIR". Sisältää hitin. 13 August 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
- ^ "InfoDisc : Les Tubes de chaque Artiste commençant par K" (in French). InfoDisc. Select "Kinks" from the artist drop-down menu. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
- ^ "The Kinks – Dead End Street" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
- ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Dead End Street". Irish Singles Chart.
- ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – The Kinks" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
- ^ "The Kinks – Dead End Street" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
- ^ "flavour of new zealand - search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
- ^ "The Kinks – Dead End Street". VG-lista.
- ISBN 9163021404.
- ISBN 919727125X.
- ^ "Kinks: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
- ^ "The Kinks Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
- ^ "Cash Box Top 100 1/21/67". cashboxmagazine.com. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
- ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine (31 May 2005). "Don't Believe the Truth – Oasis | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
Sources
- Bennett, Andy (December 1997). "'Village greens and terraced streets': Britpop and representations of 'Britishness'". YOUNG. 5 (4): 20–33. S2CID 142998506.
- Hinman, Doug (2004). The Kinks: All Day and All of the Night: Day by Day Concerts, Recordings, and Broadcasts, 1961–1996. San Francisco, California: Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-765-3.
External links
- Music video for Dead End Street on YouTube