Cult of Ray

BRO brings a Kinks klassic to life

by Brett Milano

You might think it would be a perfect idea for someone to write a rock opera based on the Clinton/Starr investigation. One problem, however: Ray Davies has already done it. True, he did it 25 years ago, when Gerald Ford was president. But in terms of modern-day relevance, the Kinks' Preservation has everything but a stained dress: there's a flawed leader who gets done in by his various appetites, a sexy girlfriend who blows the whistle on him, and a troupe of scary moralists who stage a coup and seize power.

Unlike the Starr investigation, however, Preservation also had jokes, catchy tunes, and a good beat. And it boasted a comedic number, "Shepherds of the Nation," with a sing-along chorus that's right in tune with the spirit of the times ("We are the national guard against filth and depravity, perversion and vulgarity, homosexuality/Keep it clean, keep it clean"). Sounds like a year-2000 campaign song waiting to happen. So it's no wonder that the folks at Boston Rock Opera, who first tackled Preservation at the Middle East five years ago, are putting together a new, souped-up version that debuts this Friday at the Tower Auditorium of the Massachusetts College of Art (performances are on Fridays and Saturdays over the next three weekends).

This time they're expanding the production to include both acts -- the opera originally covered two Kinks albums (a single and a double) in 1973 and 1974. And they've rethought the plot, running a little harder with the topical parallels. "Five years ago it was more about telling a fun rock-and-roll story and having a good time with the characters," notes director Eleanor Ramsay. "But now it's more of a political satire, and you can see that it was way ahead of its time -- which may be one reason it wasn't received that well when it was released.

"We started thinking about putting Preservation on again back in January, just when the Monica story was starting to break out. I thought it was ironic that Clinton was about to be brought down by his arch-conservative nemesis -- and considering that Mr. Flash [the Kinks' anti-hero] is a real-estate baron, there's another parallel there. But Preservation is also set up in its own alternate universe, as though the rest of the world didn't exist, so we're resisting the temptation to play the connections up. But yeah, we've put in some sight gags and a few subtle references."

And if the idea of a totalitarian takeover doesn't sound especially funny, keep in mind that Davies wrote the opera during the Kinks' campiest period. Even in its 1984-ish finale, Preservation comes off with more humor and humanism than David Bowie's similarly themed Diamond Dogs, which came out at the same time.

Preservation was originally released in the middle of a long string of Kinks koncept albums, and it was seen at the time as one of the band's odder and least commercial efforts. But Davies and the Kinks kult have championed it over the years. In fact both Preservation albums were just reissued by Velvel. "I think Ray Davies also appreciates the fact that we're not the Kinks and can do it without carrying that baggage," Ramsay points out.

Davies has actually been spotted in Cambridge of late. He's based in New York, writing a choral piece that will make its UK premiere next month. There's a possibility he'll be present at one of the BRO performances -- he's already turned up at a rehearsal.

Ramsay and her partner, Mick Maldonado (who stars as Flash in the current production), have a serious jones for the theatrical, campy side of '70s rock (Maldonado's regular band, Mick Mondo, even did Wings' "Rock Show" at a recent gig). They were also behind the popular BRO productions of the Rocky Horror Picture Show and Jesus Christ Superstar. But Preservation remains the most ambitious thing they've taken on: the loose-knit concept albums had not been staged since a Kinks tour in 1974. And the plot has its share of holes, especially act one, which has the better tunes -- "Sweet Lady Genevieve," "One of the Survivors" -- but less of a narrative thread. To help untangle it, BRO went straight to the source: they got an official go-ahead from Davies before doing the original show, which they sent him on a videotape, and they met with him when he was in town two years ago for his solo shows at Mama Kin.

"You're always a little nervous meeting one of your heroes," recalls Maldonado. "I'd heard tales about him flying off the handle, but he's a very gentle and nice man, and very supportive of us. He was talking about bringing us over to do it at the Edinburgh festival, and I'm thinking, `Great -- you want to pay for it, Ray?' Some of his takes on the characters are different from ours -- he thinks of the Tramp [the play's narrator, played by Count Zero's Peter Moore] as a little malevolent, like Clint Eastwood's High Plains Drifter -- someone with no name who comes into town and causes trouble. For us he represents more of an Everyman-type character."

The character of Flash's "favorite floozy" Belle, who was barely fleshed out (so to speak) in the original version, has likewise been given more depth, by Letters to Cleo's Kay Hanley. "She's Flash's strength and he can't be anything without her, so she plays a pivotal role in his undoing," Ramsay notes.

Meanwhile, Maldonado is taking care not to make his portrayal of Mr. Flash too Clintonesque. "We did put in a joke about Flash's approval ratings going up. But I think he just represents the darker aspects of myself and the rest of our species. And fortunately I have a cynical view of humanity to draw from."

VEHICLE BIRTH

Of all the bands I've ever seen play the Rumble, the Vehicle Birth (who made it to the semifinals two years ago) prompted one of the more extreme love/hate reactions -- some thought their guitar sound was riveting, others thought the singer was a tad self-absorbed. To these ears the former outweighed the latter. No question the band's 1996 Tragedy could have been an influential set if anyone had heard it -- instead, it was a limited, vinyl-only release on their own label. Fortunately, a copy made its way to the Los Angeles-based Crank! label, which has reissued the album on CD in time for the band's appearance at the Middle East this Saturday, when they'll open for the Archers of Loaf downstairs.

The Vehicle Birth's textural, ebb-and-flow guitars explore the kind of territory lately inhabited hereabouts by Wheat and Vic Firecracker. But this band are more prone to extremes. Their disc's centerpiece, "Lifehighschool," has a pulsing bass line, a near-whispered vocal, and no drums, building tension for six minutes before dropping away altogether. (On the original vinyl it ended side one and left you hanging: here it resolves by leading into a more upbeat tune.) Since the band's songs hinge as much on sonic details as they do on riffs and melodies, the CD transfer makes it more effective: the chord crashing and string slicing on "Crack Farm" are intensified by the vivid sound, and you can catch your breath when they lock into a major chord.

On the other hand, singer Tim Schmeider never varies his approach much -- he always sounds extremely pissed off -- so the poppish vulnerability of the above-mentioned bands isn't evident here. It's no surprise that the best moments are outbursts like "Yankeedom," an anti-capitalist rant where pissed-off is the called-for approach.

REDUCERS' 20TH

Earlier this year, Reducers singer/guitarist Peter Detmold realized one of the all-time rock-and-roll dreams: he became the owner of a bar. "It's really as far from a rock club as you can get," he says of his recent purchase, the Dutch Tavern, in the band's home of New London, Connecticut. "It's the kind of place where guys sit around, drink beer, and watch baseball all day. We've spent a lot of time there over the past 10 years, just hanging out whenever the band wasn't on the road."

The Reducers are just the kind of outfit you'd expect to find on the jukebox in such a place, dealing in hard-working, hard-drinking, and decidedly un-fancy rock and roll. But they've displayed enough songwriting savvy over the years to become a cult favorite, particularly among those with a taste for Replacements-like wise-assery. (Personal fave: "Nothin' for Christmas," a seasonal single on their Reducers Redux CD, about a guy who's gotten on the nerves of everybody he knows and sounds rather pleased about it.) The band's reference points haven't changed much over the years, but that's not a bad thing -- one recently learned cover tune, the Inmates' "Thought I Heard a Heartbeat," should bring a smile to anyone who was near a radio in 1980.

Although they've released only one new album this decade (1994's Shinola, on their own Rave On label), the original group are still around to celebrate their 20th anniversary (with the Johnny Black Trio and Frigate) at the Middle East upstairs this Saturday. "We haven't been a full-time band since the late '80s, but we still get together every week and play," Detmold says. "The club scene got tougher, a lot of our friends like the Dogmatics and the Del Fuegos split up, we all got jobs and a couple of us got families. But I think we're as good as we've ever been -- we've gotten older, but I don't think we've lost many miles per hour on the fastball."

Coming soon from the band is a series of CDs culled from live tapes over the years, starting with a 1981 gig from Baba O'Reilly's in New Haven -- one of the many clubs the Reducers have outlasted.

COMING UP

Tonight (Thursday), it's Quintaine Americana and Vic Firecracker at the Middle East (Thursday), the Lune at the Plough and Stars, Pete Weiss and Charlie Chesterman at the Lizard Lounge, and Euphonic at T.T. the Bear's Place . . . Friday the Red Telephone are at T.T.'s, Raging Teens and Bourbonaires at the Linwood, the eternal Outlets at Bill's Bar, Rustic Overtones at Karma Club, and Roomful of Blues at the Regattabar . . . Saturday it's popsters Pooka Stew at Mama Kin, former P-Funk/Talking Heads keyboardist Bernie Worrell at Johnny D's, New Orleans's mighty Radiators at Harpers Ferry, Seventeen with the Gravy at T.T.'s, the reunited Tom Tom Club at the Paradise, and Johnny Dowd at the Lizard . . . On Monday, Jules Verdone plays Green Street, Rick Berlin is at Jacque's, and Elliott Smith is at the Paradise with Quasi . . . The reunited Church come to Mama Kin on Wednesday, and Knapsack headline at the Middle East.