Ray Davies - Return To Waterloo (1985)

'Return To Waterloo' is the only album ever credited solely to Kinks singer/songwriter/guitarist Ray Davies, and it contains "music from the motion picture" of the same name. The film was written and directed by Davies, and depicts the daydreams and nightmares of a commuter taking a one-hour train trip from the London suburbs to Waterloo train station. The format allows Davies to write a series of story-songs, including 'Going Solo' and 'Missing Persons', both of which refer to the commuter's daughter who had left home, while 'Sold Me Out' and 'Not Far Away' are punk rock rave-ups expressing the anger of the young people on the train, and 'Expectations' is a Davies reflection on one of his favourite subjects, the decline and fall of the British Empire. This would have been an excellent Kinks album, and in fact three of the songs had appeared on the last Kinks album, 1984's 'Word Of Mouth', but 'Return To Waterloo' is credited as a solo Davies record, possible because his brother Dave reputedly refused to play on it, and so despite the fact that the rest of the The Kinks did contribute, it would be pushing it to call it a Kinks album. The hour long feature film was a unique approach to the synthesis of music, video and cinema, and instead of dialogue, the story is told through music and lyrics. The haunting songs take renowned actor Ken Colley on a suspenseful journey through his imagination, as he confronts reality and fantasy, love and violence, and it also features Valerie Holliman, Dominique Barnes, Tim Roth and (briefly) Ray Davies himself as a busker. It was broadcast just the once by Channel 4 on a Sunday evening on 04 November 1984, and has become something of a cult classic, particularly among Kinks fans, and so this expanded edition of the "soundtrack" album is a god-send. It includes songs which were not on the original album, and the tracks which were on there are either remixed or alternate versions. It's been put together with a lot of attention to detail, and includes sound-bites of dialogue, sound effects, and ambient segues which all enhance the listening experience, whether you've seen the film or not.  

Track listing

01 Intro (Unreleased Extended Version)
02 Return To Waterloo (Edited Mix)
03 Ladder Of Success (Unreleased Recording)
04 Going Solo (Alternate Mix)
05 Missing Person (Alternate Mix)
06 Sold Me Out (Alternate Mix)
07 Lonely Hearts (Extended Alternate Mix)
08 Good Times Are Gone (Unreleased Recording)
09 Not Far Away (Alternate Mix)
10 Expectations (Alternate Mix)
11 Return To Waterloo (Reprise) (Unreleased Recording)
12 Voices In The Dark (Alternate Mix)
13 Outro (Unreleased Recording)

Ray Davies - 80 Days (1988)

In 1988, Ray Davies was commissioned to write the music for a stage production of a musical version of 'Around The World In 80 Days'. He came up with a great selection of songs, but in the end it only ran for about six weeks in San Diego, received mixed reviews, and so never made it to Broadway as the producers had hoped it would. A cast recording was never made, and so this album consists of the demos that were recorded for the production team to listen to, with everything on here being played by Davies. 

Track Listing

01 Let It Be Written
02 Our World
03 Well-Bred Englishman
04 Against the Tide
05 Ladies of the Night
06 On the Map
07 a) It Could Have Been Him
     b) Mongolia Song
     c) No Surprises
08 Welcome to India
09 Just Passing Through
10 Who Do You Think You Are?
11 80 Days
12 Members of the Club
13 Conspiracy
14 Tell Him, Tell Her
15 Be Rational