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Oh, the controversy!
In 1970, the Kinks released a song that some radio stations flat out refused to play. Why? Two reasons: #1: Because it was about a transvestite. #2: Because it mentioned Coca-Cola.
In those days, subject #1 was completely taboo for some folks--even though the lyrics were based on a true encounter by the Kinks' manager Robert Wace...a friend of the band named Mike McGrath...or songwriter Ray Davies himself. (After all these years, it's still unclear who had the encounter,)
Subject #2 was a problem because the BBC banned all product placement in songs. That was corrected after Ray Davies flew 6,000 miles round trip from New York to London and back to sing the words "cherry cola." (The copy I owned was the" Coke" version.)
Even after all those hassles, the song went to #1 in 5 countries, #2 in the U.K. and Canada, and top 10 in 4 other counties, including the U.S. where it went to #9.
Personally, I always thought it was "punny" that the Kinks got "kinky"!)
Today's "Great Song of the '70s:" "Lola!"
(Coke version)
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