written and produced by Ray Davies

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Easily the most famous transvestite song in recording history.

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I made this page June 21st, 2021, 77th birthday of Kinks songwriter

Sir Raymond Douglas Davies. Happy Birthday, RD!!

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Our protagonist wanders into a Soho club, and encounters a...n individual... dressed like a beautiful woman, who happens to be exceptionally physically strong, husky-voiced, and flirtatiously aggro. Our hero mysteriously falls in love with her nonetheless... possibly indicating that he is either: a bit slow on the uptake... a hopeless romantic with a somewhat unconventional sexual orientation... and/or already blind stinking plastered drunk.

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It helps when writing such a song that a band like The Kinks have always had a playful, whimsical way with their lyrics, which themselves tend to coquettishly flirt with the listener. Ray and the lads have always been skilled at this. And stirring up a little controversy can even be good for some extra publicity here and there. After the song came out in mid-1970, some criticized it for its lyrics and semi-taboo subject matter. Select radio stations either refused or censored the song. While the song never outright declares Lola’s gender or sexual preference, small pockets and passages of the lyrics subtly hint at it (“squeezed me tight, she nearly broke my spine,” “girls will be boys and boys will be girls,” “I’m glad I’m a man, and so is Lola”). Setting aside the touchy transvestite details, fun fact: the opening verse originally referenced Coca-Cola. Ah, but this was product placement, which they couldn’t have in conjunction with the BBC radio policy. So in the middle of touring in the USA, Ray put the shows on pause, flew back to London and re-recorded the offending lyric into “cherry-cola.”

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The song’s album, Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround (Part One), hit record stores in the late fall. “Powerman” and “Moneygoround” are fellow tracks that appear on the album. The song was a massive smash all over the globe, consequently sending the corresponding album up its own charts. Additional versions of “Lola” and a few other tracks from the record showed up as bonus cuts on the 1998 and 2004 re-issue editions.

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Weird Al parodied the song, as anyone who’s seen him live well knows, in honor of Star Wars (V): The Empire Strikes Back—into “Yoda.” He wrote it and cut its first versions in 1980, when the film came out, and it turned out to be one of the very few oldies Al parodied, for purposes of humorously capsulizing a semi-current motion picture. He recorded it professionally with his band for his third album in 1985, at the time merely as a cool included parody to help complement the big numbers... no one then aware what a huge fan favorite it was to become. Or that were it not for “Yoda,” Weird Al’s live show from the ’90s on would not have such a cool encore... or a chant.

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A few days before this, I catalogued the page for “Copacabana,” for Barry Manilow’s birthday (who remains one year older than Ray Davies). In it, I wondered out loud what sort of impact the song had since had on anyone named Lola... not having even considered The Kinks song at the time. Depending on whether you’re American, British or otherwise, and depending on the depths of musical taste and knowledge of the folks you meet... if your name is Lola, you’re likely getting one or the other... maybe even both. If you’re one to be put off by the proverbial broken record—and to henceforth wish the records were literally broken—do proceed with caution. Remember, if your parents named you Lola, you’re growing up to be either a showgirl or a transvestite. Or, again, both.

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Have notes to add? Let me know!

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YT:

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