An Incomplete Guide To Kayaking: Introduction
Posted on | April 18, 2008 at 8:12 am | 1 Comment
It’s time for another look down the progressive rock history lane, since the Mike Oldfield post was such a smash. Even though I’m really not much of a prog rock fan, when you get right down to it.
Around the beginning of this year, I got a hankering to re-listen to all my CDs by the palindromic Dutch progressive rock band Kayak. And I thought, “Hey! Reviewing their albums would make a good set of blog entries for when times are slow!” Since Kayak is somewhat obscure on this side of the ocean (and maybe the other as well) and broke up in 1982, I figured this was ground that hadn’t been well covered.
But then a funny thing happened. In the course of researching the band, I discovered that they had reunited in the year 2000 and had quite a prolific string of albums since then. I love the Internet. How did I miss that? So then proceeded a mad scramble to get my hands on the CDs they’ve made since their reformation. Not an easy task, since they’re only available as expensive, and sometimes hard-to-find, imports. Those releases included three studio albums, one extended remake of an earlier studio album, one live album, one live acoustic album, and one double album recording of an original rock opera stage show (which I assume was recorded live, but I don’t have it, so I’m not sure). And oh yeah, there’s also a single album compilation of the tunes from that last one available. So that makes something like eight albums since 2000. And a DVD.
I did manage to get my hands on most of them, but a few are still alluding me and my budget. In addition, I never did get their first two albums on CD, though I do have one of them on vinyl somewhere in the garage. So, that’s why this is an incomplete guide. Rather than wait until I had the complete Kayak collection, I figure I have enough information now to write with some authority on their catalog.
So, first, a little background on the band and my attachment to them. Kayak is an odd band. They hail from Holland yet sing in English and sound like a British rock band. There are some strange things in the band’s history, like they’re the only band I can think of where the lead singer vacated the frontman position in favor of sitting behind the drum kit, rather than the other way around. They have been through many stylistic phases and lineup changes in their career. I have, somewhat arbitrarily categorized these phases thusly:
Kayak Phase 1: Prog Rock (1973-1974)
Kayak Phase 2: Prog Pop (1975-1977)
Kayak Phase 3: Pop Prog (1978-1981)
Kayak Phase 4: Rock Opera Pop (2000-present day)
The main constant in the lineup over the years is keyboardist/songwriter Ton Scherpenzeel, who has been in every incarnation of the group and is its guiding light. After the band went on their almost 20-year hiatus in 1982, he joined the group Camel for awhile, another of the progressive rock bands that I like.
The band’s biggest US hit was “Want You To Be Mine” from Starlight Dancer (Billboard #55), which was a strange chunk of… I’m gonna call it “Disco Prog”. But more on that later. The band’s biggest international hit was “Ruthless Queen” from Phantom of the Night, which seems to be pretty popular everywhere but here. The band is probably best known in the US for a hit from one of its “sub-bands”. Two current Kayak members were the main guys in the band Diesel, which had a #25 Billboard hit in 1981 with the song “Sausalito Summernight”, a quintessentially (and great) American-sounding song from these Dutch Masters. But I’m not going to get into that.
Lyrically, the band does not delve into fantasy as much as you’d think, or as much as other prog rock bands. Most of the songs have to do with (horrors) human relationships. Though they do get into historical epics, mythology, and the occasional science fictional ditty.
I discovered the group right at the beginning of Phase 3: Pop Prog. The album Phantom Of The Night (from which the band photo at right comes from) had just come out. I heard the poppy single “Keep The Change” on the legendary KFML and knew I had to check out the band. I bought the album and found the whole thing to be a pleasantly entertaining affair with sparks of genius here and there. When I eventually mentioned the band to DJ Smallberries, he brought out his pre-Phantom of the Night Kayak albums for me to listen to, and I liked them even better. For awhile, the band was probably one of my top-ten favorite bands, and I listened to them quite a lot when I was in college. Not so much after they broke up, although I was still into them enough to track down what CDs I could find when they’re catalog started getting released digitally.
In subsequent entries, I will go into more detail about the albums and the phases and the strange history of the band. But for now, I suggest checking out the English language version of the band’s official website. The blog entries are especially interesting (there’s not a lot of them) as are the photos of the band throughout the ages. The band also has the de rigueur MySpace page, though I’m pretty sure that the tunes offered up for sale there under the Snocap area are for a different band called Kayak. So… um…. buyer beware.
Next: The Prog Phase.
Vaarwel voor nu.
Comments
One Response to “An Incomplete Guide To Kayaking: Introduction”
April 18th, 2008 @ 8:52 pm
I think the notion that prog bands typically focused on “fantasy” in their lyrics is a misperception. But someone more into prog than I am – like say, our friend Joe, if he’s reading this – is better placed to address that idea at length.