The Touching, Personal History Behind The Kinks' "Come Dancing" | Music Video Time

For this session of Music Video Time, we will be discussing the iconic act The Kinks and one of their biggest hits of all time, "Come Dancing". Talking about the personal history behind its creation and how the music video managed to propel the single into commercial success.
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[@matthewharris7640]

This song always had a special place in my heart. I had a big sister that went to the big dances and it always felt close to me.

[@Lucholosabe]

Love The Kinks. Love Come Dancing. Like Julien Temple I never understand why Ray Davies don't take more acting roles in movies or series, he's such a charismatic guy. Great video, good work as usual.

[@BLFulle]

Thank you for this video. I knew the story behind the record. I have an old Rolling Stone Magazine with Ray an interview of Ray Davies. I love this song but mostly I love the tenderness of a brothers love for his sister. I love that he gave her life a different ending creating a happily ever after ending for the lovely woman who gave him his first guitar. I have no doubt she would've danced to everyone of his songs.

[@kevindupre4014]

What an AWESOME comment! Especially that last sentence. The Kinks have always been one of my favorite bands.

[@natalie9527]

Thank you so much for this episode! I absolutely love the Kinks.

[@suzannemadanat4053]

I have such a soft spot for the Kinks. Totally fun group and they were excellent in concert. I had the opportunity to see The Word of Mouth tour.

[@nonsuch]

I was 10 yrs old when "Come Dancing" was being played on MTV. In 1982, There wasn't a big variety of videos available so, I remember seeing it a lot. However, I was never a huge fan of it honestly. I think 'Do It Again" from the same album is a FAR superior song and I love it!

[@thomasferruzza1981]

Always loved that song. More now that I know the history.

[@scopex2749]

This song has always been special to me the whole package, the lyrics, the old organ sound its ALL PERFECT! Its a song i play on days \i feel low or fed up its a real HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY song!!😊👋👋👋👋💓

[@korssar]

By the end of the month they are going to close a supermarket on the neighborhood I grew up, it opened the same year Come dancing was released, well I guess, I was born around those years. Its parking lot was that big it held a flying circus and even some music shows back when cassettes were in and we used to buy some there. Part of my childhood died, just died.

[@annemichaels5368]

Thank you, this was really well done. As soon as I started watching my roommate overheard and was instantly interested. We both really enjoyed this piece. Please, keep up the good work! Looking forward ✌

[@ItsMusicVideoTime]

This is a wonderful comment. Thank you for telling me this.

[@annemichaels5368]

@@ItsMusicVideoTime My pleasure

[@UndeadKiev007]

awesomest video

[@susanbrazao5555]

Does anybody know who played Ray’s sister in the video? Someone here commented it might be Australian actress Emma Harrison. There are multiple sites on the web crediting her for this video, but she looks too young. I would really appreciate any help in finding out her identity. Thanks!

[@arthurm4726]

It’s still a mystery…and yes the Australian actress is far too young to have played her.

[@PeterByker]

"Simon of the Desert" also inspired The New Pornographers "The Laws Have Changed" music video, and I know the band are also big Ray Davies fans, so thanks for making such an interesting connection! 🎶Have yourself a very merry Christmas, have yourself a good time...🎶

[@michladd24]

Come Dancing I swar is the best obituary that was ever written and sang!

[@SamLowryDZ-015]

The UK singles market is not comparable to the American multiple charts. And the times and music trends in 83 the 'kids' were still in the grip of the synth pop revolution and Duran Duran and Culture Club hitting their peak. And nostalgia for the 60s was still a decade away.

[@studiokohl1]

Like they Always say, chart position doesn't always match the songs popularity. I was in high school when come dancing came out and we, of course, had MTV so we all saw it over and over. When I hit the college bar scene in the mid to late 80s it was there, playing on the DJs turn table. When some of us started getting married it played there as well. So when it comes to gen Xers, like myself, we maybe had the album or not but we all had at least 1 of the kinks album.

[@annemichaels5368]

Perfectly said. Me too. Class of '83. When you think of the time span of their music they were always woven somewhere in the soundtrack of our youth, in some capacity, throughout. You captured how it was beautifully. Thank you.

[@JonathanLedbetter]

When I first heard the song, I thought the word was "palley". Turns out it's just the British pronunciation of "palais", the French word for "palace".

[@WilliamLithgowGuitars]

Or maybe Palladium!

[@jbshaka653]

They actually pronounce their last name "Davies" like Davis not Davees

[@TrashLefties]

heavy mtv airplay. Not so much radio.

[@pauljackson2473]

It sounded like Ray Davies wanted to quit after the “State of Confusion” album. I know he didn’t sign another contract with Arista Records, even though it was Clive Davis that was responsible for their comeback in 1977. He pissed off Clive Davis by not signing and that’s why their last Arista Album “Word of Mouth” wasn’t promoted very heavily, even though it was a really strong album. Ray Davies always managed to screw things up by his own admission. If he would have stayed with Arista, I bet he could have rode out the 80’s with some more hit records. They ended up signing with MCA and it was a disaster.

[@bmunson4920]

Who was the sister in the video? I keep getting the name ‘Emma Harrison’, but looking up that name on its own leads to an Australian actress from the late 1990’s - 2000…

[@susanbrazao5555]

Did you ever find out who played her?

[@arthurm4726]

@@susanbrazao5555 nope…..someone will have ask Ray Davies, I guess…there were a lot of very attractive young women in early videos from the ‘MTV’ age, some you can trace, others not. My guess is that they were models, or even related to crew members, and did a video, and then went on with life….i think one of the most interesting is the Brunette from ABC’s ‘Poison Arrow “ video - it’s ’Lisa Vanderpump’….

[@pauljackson2473]

The part in the “Do it again” video where the Spiv is in a blown up area of the subway is a weird flashback to World War 2, where people were hiding for cover from bombing. It’s not the special area where the spiv lives, it was a weird flashback. I’m guessing it’s importance is that the Spiv’s special skills helped during the WW2 blitz in London.

[@ItsMusicVideoTime]

Sorry for the late response but you are completely right. For some reason, the version of Do It Again that I have doesn't have the bombing sound effects in compared to another version of the video that The Kinks uploaded months after I made this video. Probably would have been made more aware of that detail if they didn't remove the sound effects in the version I have.

[@gerrymcguire9860]

The video for Do it again, The spiv is not living in the subway tunnels with bums, he's entertaining people taking shelter from Nazi bombers during the blitz. That's where Londoners took shelter during bombing raids during WWII. c'mon man.

[@ItsMusicVideoTime]

I've been meaning to explain this. Apparently there are two version of the music video out there. One version has sound effects to bombings being heard. And it seems the version I had used for the video doesn't have the sound effect in. If I had the other version, I would have been more aware of this detail.

[@johnpendarvis7885]

It's pronounced "Davis".

[@christophersteer505]

Not renay reenee okay. Rs London boy