''Return to Waterloo'' is the debut solo album by

Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...

' leader and chief songwriter

Ray Davies Sir Raymond Douglas Davies ( ; born 21 June 1944) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter for the Rock music, rock band the Kinks, which he led, with his younger brother Dave Davies, Dave pro ...

. Three of the tracks (tracks 3, 4 and 5) on the album release were also available in near-identical form on The Kinks' 1984 release ''

Word of Mouth Word of mouth is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others a ...

''. All of The Kinks appear on the album with the exception of Dave Davies. According to Ray Davies, Dave Davies refused to perform on the album. He later said, "Dave refused to play and so it had to be 'Ray Davies and members of the Kinks'. If he had worked with me on it, it would have been a ''great'' record, but he let me down." An hour-long musical film, '' Return to Waterloo'', was also written and directed by Davies, wherein instead of dialogue, the story is told through music and lyrics. The film features

Tim Roth Timothy Simon Roth (; born 14 May 1961) is an English actor. He was among a group of prominent British actors known as the " Brit Pack". After garnering attention in television productions '' Made in Britain'' (1982) and '' Meantime'' (1983), ...

, Kenneth Colley, Valerie Holliman, Dominique Barnes, and (briefly) Ray Davies himself. One song which appears in the film but not on the soundtrack is "Ladder of Success".

Track listing

Personnel

* Ray Davies – vocals, guitar, piano, synthesizer, gong, sound effects * Ian Gibbons – synthesizer, keyboards, drum and percussion programming, backing vocals * Louisa Davies – vocals "girl's voice" * Valerie Hollerman – spoken word "woman station announcer" *

Jim Rodford James Walter Rodford (7 July 1941 – 20 January 2018) was an English musician, who played bass for several British rock bands. He was a founding member of Argent, which was led by his cousin Rod Argent, and performed with them from their forma ...

– bass guitar, backing vocals *

Mick Avory Michael Charles Avory (born 15 February 1944) is an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer and percussionist for the English rock band the Kinks. He joined them shortly after their formation in 1964 and remained with them until 1984 ...

– drums * Robert Henrit – drums; extra percussion on "Voices in the Dark (End Title)" * John O'Donnell – extra percussion on "Voices in the Dark (End Title)" ;Technical *Damian Korner, David Baker – engineer

References

;Sources * {{Authority control 1985 debut albums Ray Davies albums Arista Records albums Albums produced by Ray Davies