"Apeman" is a 1970 song by the English rock band
the Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...
. It was written by
Ray Davies
Sir Raymond Douglas Davies ( ; born 21 June 1944) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main songwriter for the rock band the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother Dave on lead guitar and backing voca ...
and appears on the album ''
Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One
''Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One'', commonly abbreviated to ''Lola Versus Powerman'', or simply ''Lola'', is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Kinks, recorded and released in 1970. A concept album, it is a ...
''.
Background
"Apeman", alongside many other songs from the ''Lola vs. Powerman'' album, was written by Ray Davies during a family trip to
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
in July 1970.
In the song, Davies is fed up with the modern world and declares that he wants to "sail away to a distant shore and make like an apeman". He also expresses how man created our problems and, given half a chance, he would leave the cities and traffic to live in the jungle. It reflects the nostalgia expressed on the albums ''Lola vs. Powerman'' and ''
The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society''.
It is performed in the
calypso genre, a style Davies first explored with "
I'm on an Island" (1965).
Single release
"Apeman" was released as a single in the fall of 1970, with a B-side of the
Dave Davies
David Russell Gordon Davies (born 3 February 1947) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the English rock band the Kinks, which also featured his elder brother Ray Davies. He was ind ...
composition "
Rats
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' (pack rats), ''Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...
". While it did not do as well on the US
Pop Singles chart
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming in ...
as its predecessor "
Lola
Lola may refer to:
Places
* Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama
* Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States
* Lola Prefecture, Guinea
* Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture
* Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands
People
* Lola (fo ...
" did, only reaching number 45, it was a major hit in the UK, peaking at number five in the
singles chart, their last Top 10 entry in their home country. It was also the band's Top 10 hit in Australia, where it reached number nine.
Due to publishing issues the band was experiencing at the time, the British edition of the single was published under "Copyright Control", a term used when no publisher is assigned.
Controversy and re-dubbing
The Kinks provoked some controversy, because in the line "...the air pollution is a-foggin' up my eyes...", the word "a-foggin'" sounded too much like "a-fucking". Like the band's previous single "Lola", where Ray Davies had to change "
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...
" to "cherry cola", he again had to fly back to London to re-record this line, dubbing over with a more clear "a-foggin'" prior to its single release, in turn causing a delay in the US single release of the tune.
The original lyric remains intact on the album, and is heard at 2:20. On their performance on ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...
'', filmed later in November, the changed lyric can be heard on the backing tape.
Promo video
A colour promo video made for the song was filmed at Hampstead Heath, the same location used for the cover picture of the album ''
The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society''.
The video featured the band's newly recruited pianist John Gosling dressed up as an ape. The Kinks guitarist
Dave Davies
David Russell Gordon Davies (born 3 February 1947) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the English rock band the Kinks, which also featured his elder brother Ray Davies. He was ind ...
said of this, "It was
anagerGrenville
ollinswho thought we should use a piano and keyboards. So John Gosling joined thinking that, 'Hey man, I've hit it big!' We very quickly brought him down to earth. He was Lola for
that song and then an ape
or 'Apeman'"
Reception
Upon release in Britain, the ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' called the song "a very commercial disc with an irresistible hook chorus". ''
Record Mirror
''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...
'' said: "As ever, Ray
avies
Avies AS was an airline and is now a travel company based in Tallinn, Estonia. Its main base was Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport.Flight International 27 March 2007 Avies operated flights from Tallinn to Kärdla and Kuressaare in Estonia.
History
A ...
has something to say. As ever The Kinks do a thoroughly professional, style-changing job." After its US release, ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' praised the song as "an easy-beat calypso rocker with a clever lyric." ''
Record World
''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...
'' said that "Ray Davies and co. have a natural with this
calypso-flavored cut from their new album complete with bird noises and other interesting effects." ''
Cash Box
''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...
'' called it "a satirical pop venture whose sound and lyrics should reap the benefits of AM and FM exposure to thrust it toward the charts."
In 2018, ''
The Telegraph
''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include:
Australia
* ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
'' named "Apeman" as the second-greatest song by Ray Davies and the Kinks, calling it "Ostensibly a satire on
hippy culture
A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...
..Although the reggae-infused piano on the track is still delicious more than 40 years later, the combination of Ray Davies's faux-Caribbean accent and his 'apeman' references are not exactly
politically correct
''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...
these days."
Personnel
According to band researcher Doug Hinman:
*
Ray Davies
Sir Raymond Douglas Davies ( ; born 21 June 1944) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main songwriter for the rock band the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother Dave on lead guitar and backing voca ...
lead vocal, guitar
*
Dave Davies
David Russell Gordon Davies (born 3 February 1947) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the English rock band the Kinks, which also featured his elder brother Ray Davies. He was ind ...
backing vocal; acoustic and electric guitars
*
John Dalton
John Dalton (; 5 or 6 September 1766 – 27 July 1844) was an English chemist, physicist and meteorologist. He is best known for introducing the atomic theory into chemistry, and for his research into colour blindness, which he had. Colour b ...
bass guitar
*
Mick Avory
Michael Charles Avory (born 15 February 1944) is an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer and percussionist for the English rock band the Kinks. He joined them shortly after their formation in 1964 and remained with them until 1984, ...
drums
*John Goslingbaby grand piano, electric piano
Chart performance
Cover versions and usage in popular culture
"Apeman" is featured in the 2004 film ''
Mondovino
''Mondovino'' ( it, World of Wine) is a 2004 documentary film on the impact of globalization on the world's different wine regions written and directed by American film maker Jonathan Nossiter. It was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2004 Cann ...
'', the 1986 films ''
Club Paradise
''Club Paradise'' is a 1986 American comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and starring Robin Williams, Twiggy, Peter O'Toole, and Jimmy Cliff. Set in a fictional Caribbean banana republic, it follows a group of vacationers' attempts to create a ...
'' starring
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...
(although it's a different mix than the album, more Caribbean to fit the movie), and ''
Link'' starring
Terence Stamp
Terence Henry Stamp (born 22 July 1938) is an English actor. Stamp is known for his sophisticated villain roles. He was named by ''Empire Magazine'' as one of the 100 Sexiest Film Stars of All Time in 1995. He has received various accolades inc ...
. It was used in the first episode of the comedy television series ''
The Last Man on Earth'' to show the lead character's descent into a primitive style of living once civilization has ended.
"Apeman" was covered by British singer and teenage heartthrob
Jack Wild
Jack Wild (30 September 1952 – 1 March 2006) was an English actor and singer. He is best known for his role as the Artful Dodger in the film ''Oliver!'' (1968), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at t ...
on his 1971 album ''Everything's Coming Up Roses'', by the
Esso Trinidad Steel Band in 1971 on their self-titled album, by
Fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...
for his 1993 album ''
Songs from the Mirror
''Songs from the Mirror'' is the third solo album by Scottish singer-songwriter Fish, released in 1993 as his final album for Polydor. It does not contain any original material; instead it is a cover album featuring Fish's versions of songs by ...
'' and by
the Format
The Format is an American indie rock band formed by Nate Ruess and Sam Means. Their style can be considered a mixture of indie, alternative, punk and folk music, with elements of 1960s and 1970s pop music. Though Means and Ruess are the foremost ...
, who included it on their 2007 album ''
B-Sides & Rarities''.
In 1989, "Apeman" appeared in a UK television advertisement for Ski yoghurts, with re-written lyrics announcing "I Like A Ski, Man".
In keeping with the theme, drawings have also been made of an ape-man, as by the
artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...
Marc Engelhard in 2019. In addition, there are films from
Hollywood, Los Angeles
Hollywood is a neighborhood in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a metonymy, shorthand reference for the Cinema of the United States, U.S. film industry and the people associated with i ...
like
The Ape Man
''The Ape Man'' is a 1943 American horror film directed by William Beaudine. The film is based on "They Creep in the Dark" by Karl Brown, which was published in ''The Saturday Evening Post''. It stars Bela Lugosi as Dr. James Brewster who is ai ...
or
Return of the Ape Man
''Return of the Ape Man'' is a 1944 American film distributed by Monogram Pictures. It was directed by Philip Rosen with top-billed star Bela Lugosi and supporting actors John Carradine, George Zucco (see note in the Production section), Frank Mo ...
about this form of a species.
Notes
References
Sources
*
*
{{authority control
The Kinks songs
1970 singles
Songs written by Ray Davies
Song recordings produced by Ray Davies
2006 singles
Pye Records singles
1970 songs
Reprise Records singles
Satirical songs
Songs about primates
Calypso songs