'Give the People What They Want' was the nineteenth studio album by The Kinks, released in August 1981 in the US, and in January 1982 in Europe. It was delayed because Ray Davies wanted to produce a full-length video for the album, but financing fell through and this didn't happen. While working on the sessions, drastically different versions of the songs were taped and cut to acetate, showing what Davies thought the next album could/should be, but the people at Arista thought differently, and insisted that some of the tracks be edited down, and ended up seconds or even minutes shorter on the finished album. One of the most notable casualties was 'Around The Dial', with the released version running at 4:48, while the acetate version runs to nearly eight minutes, although a lot of those extra minutes are the intro of someone turning the radio dial. The title track is approximately a minute longer than the officially released version, and while a few are suspiciously close to the original versions ('Killer's Eyes', 'Back To Front', 'Add It Up'), a closer listen reveals that these are slightly different mixes. The acetate version of 'Entertainment' is the original 1981 mix and not the glossy version that was ultimately released on 'UK Jive' in 1989, and 'Bernadette' is not the version we know from 1982's 'State Of Confusion', but a much rawer version with Dave Davies on the lead vocals. There are two extra bonus tracks, with the version of 'Massive Reduction', the b-side of 1981's 'Better Things' single, being a completely different version to the one released in 1984 on 'Word Of Mouth', while 'Noise' was probably recorded some time in 1981 and canned, but ultimately released as a b-side to 'Come Dancing' in 1982.
Track listing
01 Back To Front (Acetate Version)
02 Entertainment (Outtake; Original 1981 Mix)
03 Add It Up (Acetate Version)
04 Killer's Eyes (Acetate Version)
05 Give The People What They Want (Acetate Version)
06 Around The Dial (Acetate Version)
07 Yo Yo (Acetate Version)
08 Little Bit Of Abuse (Acetate Version)
09 Art Lover (Acetate Version)
10 Predictable (Acetate Version)
11 Bernadette (Acetate Version - lead vocal Dave Davies)
12 Destroyer (Acetate Version)
13 Massive Reductions (Original 1981 Version)
14 Noise (Outtake Recorded 1981)
02 Entertainment (Outtake; Original 1981 Mix)
03 Add It Up (Acetate Version)
04 Killer's Eyes (Acetate Version)
05 Give The People What They Want (Acetate Version)
06 Around The Dial (Acetate Version)
07 Yo Yo (Acetate Version)
08 Little Bit Of Abuse (Acetate Version)
09 Art Lover (Acetate Version)
10 Predictable (Acetate Version)
11 Bernadette (Acetate Version - lead vocal Dave Davies)
12 Destroyer (Acetate Version)
13 Massive Reductions (Original 1981 Version)
14 Noise (Outtake Recorded 1981)
Many thanks to Michael for letting me hear this one.