I remember back in 2015 when I was studying abroad, the original West End production of Sunny Afternoon was out. At the time I was living in Ireland and wasn’t able to see it, but I really wanted to as a big fan of The Kinks. It toured Ireland while I was living there, but I was busy with university so I didn’t get around to it. There was supposed to be another tour of Ireland in 2020, but thanks to the pandemic that was cancelled too.

However, this year I saw that the production just made its North American premiere in my hometown of Chicago, which I have not visited since I left back in 2016. I saw people from the Kinks fandom posting about it and I was hoping it would come back to England and well, my dream has come true because months later, it would be touring the UK and I was like that’s it, this is my chance to go, plus the tickets were only £15 for the cheapest seats (which were actually quite good at the Alexandra in Birmingham, can’t complain). Honestly, that’s not much more than going to see a movie.

Watching the trailer of the musical, I was like okay I gotta see this not just because of the music of The Kinks, but also because of the angle it takes, very political and it happens to align with my socialist politics.

One thing I’ve noticed about The Kinks is that most people will only know a couple of songs and it’s the usual suspects: “You Really Got Me”, “All Day and All of the Night”, and “Lola”. Especially if they’re American. British people will usually know the masterpieces “Sunny Afternoon” and “Waterloo Sunset”, but Americans won’t because the songs aren’t so relatable, but there’s a lot of Americans who love British media, and I mean a lot. If you’re one of those Americans who loves BBC shows like Doctor Who, Downton Abbey, and Peaky Blinders, why aren’t you listening to The Kinks? You’re missing out, especially if you’re only listening to the greatest hits. Give their 1964-1972 discography a listen and you’ll be rewarded.

Review: The Kinks: Sunny Afternoon

With most biopics taking creative liberties with the story, one might be concerned about this being the case with Sunny Afternoon. I can confidently say this musical is made for Kinks fans, not normies, and I’m glad! From its inclusion of deeper cuts to incorporating all the crazy but true stories in Kinks lore (the dentist story, the Cardiff cymbal incident that delayed the start of the tour, Ray’s wife being called a commie for being Lithuanian, and the driver in Illinois having a gun and talking about how he knew Elvis). There’s also some winks and nods to other Kinks lore. Kinks fans are not easy to impress and it’s clear that the musical understood the assignment. If you want to read the manga, I’d recommend reading both Ray’s book X-Ray (this one gets better with every read, I swear) and Dave’s book Kink. I used these books to research for the two Kinks chapters in my book Crime of the Century: Classic Rock & True Crime. I did smile a lot at the portrayal of Dave Davies being a ladies’ man and crossdresser (he did say on Twitter that he had crossdressed on multiple occasions). He also said that when he was asked if he was a man or a woman, he said I’m both. There’s not a lot of photos of Dave crossdressing, but you can see him dressed up as a woman in the “Dead End Street” music video:

I think the musical also did a good job of costuming and I’m so happy Dave had a dandy look in one of the scenes and I’m glad they didn’t forget about the Flying V, but where’s Pete’s Rickenbacker bass? He was the first bassist in Britain to have one!

I think they did a great job narrowing down what to focus the story on and it’s a no-brainer, The Kinks’ rise to fame in the 60s and the setbacks along the way like exploitative contracts with managers and publishers and getting banned from touring the US (the irony being that the unions punished a socialist band). It’s written in a class conscious way, showing that The Kinks were not posh, they grew up working class and that’s what makes their songs resonate for generations of new fans, they’re just so relatable and real. When you listen to the lyrics of “The Moneygoround”, you might be confused about how many ways the money is split (this is a feature, not a bug) and in the musical you see in the choreography how the money is passed between all the corrupt managers and business stakeholders with very little left for the musicians, without whom none of these people would have a job. No one’s here to see the promoters, managers, and publishers, they’re here to see the band! I also appreciate how in multiple parts of the musical like when they’re recording the groundbreaking “You Really Got Me”, the old grey suit fogey producers were out of touch with what the youth like and were like there’s no way such a raw, dirty song would be popular and get radio airplay. I also like that it echoes George Carlin’s sentiments of “it’s a big club and you’re not in it” when socialist Ray and the Tory managers part ways and they go back to their own crowds and don’t mix and mingle, which really does erode understanding, rapport, and camaraderie. It’s a comment on the class system for sure, old vs new money.

It’s tough to pick favourite songs because The Kinks are among my all-time favourite bands, but If I had to narrow it down to a top five:

• “You Really Got Me” – I love seeing history being made here and if you want this but turned up to 11, listen to The Sonics (Grant and I talk about them on his YouTube podcast, check it out)!
• “I’m Not Like Everybody Else” – Easily one of my favourite Kinks songs ever and it’s the anthem for us misfits and outcasts.
• “Sunny Afternoon” – Kind of like the “Espresso” of 1966, the song of the summer and the soundtrack to England winning the World Cup. Funny thing is they were waving British flags and not English flags for this.
• “Waterloo Sunset” – So good that the crowd gave it a standing ovation.
• “Lola” and the reprise of YRGM and “All Day And All Of The Night” – End the show with a bang (even though Pete Quaife left the band before Arthur and Lola

Of course, I have a few little criticisms. Main one is the pacing was a bit uneven with the first act flying by but the second act being a bit slower because of dialogue and the making of the songs. I think dialogue is important and I love hearing the behind the scenes stories of the development of the songs, but I wish some of it had been cut out so I could hear some tracks from Village Green and Arthur. The timing was a little off for Dave since by the age of 23 (so, 1970) he already was married and had kids. Heck, he even fathered a child before The Kinks got famous. Also The Who came after The Kinks so people wouldn’t have known who they were in early 1964. I also wish they could have portrayed the story of Mick joining the band and Ray, Dave, and Pete all acting gay when they first meet him, but I understand that time was limited.

Simply put, music is great, the business side of things, not so much! It’s a musical with a message that was relevant back when it came out in 2014, when there was a lot of social change (particularly with LGBT rights) and even today when we need progressive messages to counter the right wing propaganda all over the media. It’s a thought provoking and fun musical. Even if you’re not already a Kinks fan, you will be by the end of Sunny Afternoon. The Kinks were Noel & Liam before Noel & Liam!

If you’re gonna make a Kinks biopic, just base it off Sunny Afternoon and make it like Rocketman! I love the musical approach of Rocketman and I think Sunny Afternoon would make a great movie too.

Bonus: Ozzy Osbourne: Working Class Hero

Because of the show being at night, I decided to make a day out of it so I went to the Ozzy Osbourne Working Class Hero exhibit at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. While the exhibit itself is small, it’s full of cool Ozzy memorabilia, awards, and pictures and there’s other stuff to see in the museum. A while back I went to the Victorian Radicals exhibition of Pre-Raphaelite art. Here are some Black Sabbath related photos, in case you can’t make your way to Birmingham before the exhibit closes on 18 January:

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