''Schoolboys in Disgrace'', or ''The Kinks Present Schoolboys in Disgrace'', is a 1975 concept album by
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 ...
. Their 15th studio album, it was considered by critics to be the last album in what they dubbed the group's "theatrical" period, and their final release for
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
. The album is rooted in 1950s
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
, and also includes elements of
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
, ‘50s
pop and
doo-wop
Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...
, and
arena rock
Arena rock (also known as AOR, melodic rock, stadium rock, anthem rock, pomp rock, corporate rock and dad rock; ; ) is a style of rock music that originated in the mid-1970s. As hard rock bands and those playing a softer yet strident kind of po ...
.
The front cover was illustrated by London artist and illustrator, Colin 'Mickey' Finn (not of T Rex), who also created the two removal men characters used in the
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums and percuss ...
video "
Money for Nothing". It later appeared on ''
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 ...
''s list of the '50 worst covers of all time'.
In 1978 the Finnish band Kontra had a number one hit with the song "Jerry Cotton" which was a cover version of the song "Jack the Idiot Dunce."
Concept
According to the back cover
liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes.
Origin
Liner notes are desce ...
,
the story which the album presents is as follows:
Once upon a time there was a naughty little schoolboy. He and his gang were always playing tricks on the teachers and bullying other children in the school. One day he got himself into very serious trouble with a naughty schoolgirl and he was sent to the Headmaster who decided to disgrace the naughty boy and his gang in front of the whole school.
After this punishment the boy turned into a hard and bitter character. Perhaps it was not the punishment that changed him but the fact that he realised people in authority would always be there to kick him down and the Establishment would always put him in his place. He knew that he could not change the past but he vowed that in the future he would always get what he wanted. The naughty little boy grew up... into Mr Flash.
Mr Flash was the name of the villain from the Kinks' rock opera ''Preservation'' (released as ''
Preservation Act 1
''Preservation Act 1'' is a concept album and the 12th studio album by the English rock group the Kinks, released 16 November 1973 by RCA Records.
''Preservation Act 1'' did not sell well (peaking on the '' Billboard'' 200 at No. 177). However ...
'' and ''
Preservation Act 2'').
Reception
Reviewing in ''
Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981),
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
regarded the album as "yet another original cast recording" and mocked Davies' indictment of "Education" in the "big production number" of the same name: "Ultimate Cause. Go get 'em, Ray."
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...
writing for ''
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
'' criticised the album's combination of '50s rock and roll and contemporary arena rock, and deemed it "one of their least satisfying albums".
In 2015, the band's 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 in ...
spoke positively of the album in a ''
Yahoo
Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present), Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds ma ...
'' interview, saying, "''Schoolboys in Disgrace'' is a great album. At the time, we were so busy doing it and getting it out and touring and playing it. Over a matter of three years it was gone and we were doing something else. But when you draw this into the present, it’s like, 'Oh my God, what the f— is this?!? How did we do that?' We've been very fortunate, Ray and I and the Kinks. We’ve had such a wealth of materials, ideas, and observations. We’ve been very good at following our intuition. That's something you can’t really teach."
Track listing
Personnel
The Kinks
*
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 ...
– vocals, guitar, piano
*
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 in ...
– lead guitar, vocals
*
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 Gosling – keyboards
Additional personnel
*Alan Holmes – saxophones
*Nick Newell – tenor saxophone
*John Beecham – trombone
*Pamela Travis – background vocals
*
Debbie Doss – background vocals
*Shirley Roden – background vocals
*Written, arranged and produced by Raymond Douglas Davies
*Roger Wake – engineer
*
Bob Ludwig
Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Qu ...
– mastering
*Mickey Finn – front cover illustration
*Chris Hopper – photography
*Pat Doyle – art direction
Charts
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1975 albums
The Kinks albums
RCA Records albums
Concept albums
Rock operas
Albums produced by Ray Davies