The Kinks “Kinks Greatest Hits” 1971. Phonodisc Records. I’m spinning this early 70′s Kinks comp in honor of the track “Lola” which was released 50 years ago today (or possibly yesterday), July 29th 1970 (or maybe July 28th) in the US. It was released in June 1970 in the UK. The track appeared on their 1970 LP Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One and the controversial single went to #2 in the UK and #9 in the US. It was scandalous (and banned from the radio in some places) at the time for centering around a cross-dressing character as well as for mentioning Coca Cola in the lyrics (the Ray Davies changed the lyrics to “cherry cola” for the single release and later comp records). 50 years later both reasons for scandal seem pretty silly. The Kinks re-released a live version of “Lola” in 1980 and it charted again, going to #80 in the US. Besides “Lola,” the rest of this album is spectacular. I love the Kinks so it’s hard to pick top tracks (ALL of them!) but I’m particularly fond of “Where Have All the Good Times Gone,” “Till the End of the Day,” “Tired of Waiting for You,” “All Day and All of the Night” and “You Really Got Me.”