"Lola" in my Rear View Mirror

You "more mature" kids around here in Cyrsti's Condo probably remember the Kinks' classic Lola. If by chance you haven't heard of Lola, here are a few of the lyrics which made the song so interesting to many of us:

"Girls will be boys and boys will be girls It's a mixed up muddled up shook up world except for Lola La-la-la-la Lola Well I left home just a week before And I'd never ever kissed a woman before But Lola smiled and took me by the hand And said dear boy I'm gonna make you a man

 Well I'm not the world's most masculine man But I know what I am and I'm glad I'm a man And so is Lola"

According to Wickopedia:  "The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorized in the United States as a British Invasion band, the Kinks are recognized as one of the most important and influential rock groups of the era."

"Lola" itself , was a song written by Ray Davies. The song details a romantic encounter between a young man and a possible transvestite or transgender person he meets in a club in Soho, London, with the narrator describing his confusion towards a person named Lola who "walked like a woman and talked like a man". Released in June 1970, in the UK on the 12th and in the USA on the 28th, the single was taken from the album Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One and reached #2 in the UK charts and #9 in the US. It was ranked 422nd on the List of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time."

In 1970, I was in college and worked a part time job as a DJ on the local radio station where the school was located. Nearly every night there was this guy who called and harassed the living daylights out of me to play anything by the Kinks so of course that night I played the newly released Lola. He called back so confused he could barely talk.  He asked if he had heard the lyrics correctly and of course I said yes and did I think Lola was a man?  I said most certainly to the disappointed kid - while all the while I was thinking how I could meet her!

Unfortunately the crappy "Dude Looks Like a Lady" Arrowsmith song gets most of publicity as a classic from our community.  But every and then, the grand old girl gets an encore performance opportunity on an area AM classic radio station in the area. In my mind she still looks as good as ever under the "electric candlelight" !