2. Lola
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVXmMMSo47s
Taken from the album: Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One (1970) I have a friend who is going to hate me for not placing Lola at number one and for good reason, "Lola" is The Kinks at their most comical and most satirical and remains an undisputed British classic but it is not their crowning achievement... but more on that later. "Lola" finds Ray Davies at his most wicked as he humorously details a romantic liaison between an unwitting man and a transvestite who famously "walks like a woman and talks like a man" before going on to say that when Lola "squeezed me tight she nearly broke my spine". Highly amusing and expressive lyrics, bursting with imagery and an accurate portrayal of the 60's attitudes towards sexuality; a period of acceptance, experimentation and the exploration of gender identity. It's also a bloody perfect pop song too! Ray Davies famously had to fly back to London from New York just to re-record the line "You drink champagne and it tastes just like Coca-Cola" as the BBC had refused to play it due to the commercial reference. Ray subsequently changed the line to "tastes just like cherry cola" and immediately flew back to the States to resume The Kinks US tour. A six thousand mile round-trip to change one line, now that's commitment! It paid off, "Lola" reached No. 2 in the UK charts on release. So, what is at number one? Have I really got you guessing? Probably not...