X-Ray: The Unauthorized Autobiography by Ray Davies

Author:Ray Davies [Davies, Ray]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Music, Entertainment & Performing Arts, General
ISBN: 9781468302387
Google: GebZ3wRXOAgC
Amazon: 1585679399
Publisher: Overlook
Published: 1994-01-01T11:00:00+00:00

12

Complicated life

Raymond Douglas sat back in his chair and he disappeared into the shadows.

'I want to stop now.' His voice tapered away and he sounded very old and very young at the same time. It was obvious that I was losing him again.

'Surely you must remember your first visit to New York?' I asked in fake excitement, just to hype him up.

There was silence for a few seconds, then he sprang back to life and leaned forward into the light. It took me by surprise. His head was no more than four or five inches away from mine, and for the first time I could see his craggy old face quite clearly. His hair was incredibly white, short-cropped. He leaned in even closer and his keen blue eyes seemed to look right through me. He frowned as if he were toying with my emotions. Again he knew that I was like a fish who had taken the bait; he became the angler playing with me on the end of the line, waiting for me to tire. He smirked, mocking me.

'Oh yes, oh yes, the tits, the broads, the cunt, the excess, that's what you want. You're just a journalist, after all. I was a newly married man, what sort of a prick do you take me for? Besides I had elephantiasis, or some damned disease. I was bitten by some insect in Hong Kong and by the time I reached New York my left ankle had blown up like a balloon. This presented a problem to our promoters as we were due to appear on the Hullabaloo TV show, and we were supposed to do a dance routine. What a joke. At the first day's rehearsal I pleaded with the producer not to make me do it but they were adamant that when the Kinks were introduced the camera would cut from the presenter Frankie Avalon to show the four Kinks dancing.'

Raymond Douglas paused and sat back in his chair, grunting like a dirty old man.

'After rehearsals, Avory snuck one of the dancers on the show back to the hotel and was fucking her. Just as he was about to have an orgasm, a security guard burst into his room and pointed a gun at him. This put Avory right off his stroke.'

This made Raymond Douglas laugh so loudly that he developed a wheezing cough, and it took a few sips of cold tea for him to recover enough to continue.

'When the Kinks arrived in the Big Apple, I felt a combination of excitement and fear in the pit of my stomach. Perhaps it was the food. Whatever. It was my first time in New York and I was too terrified to leave my hotel room. Later that night Avory and some of the others went out and visited the Peppermint Lounge, accompanied by Danny Kessler, an associate of Eddie Kassner's. Kessler was a chirpy New Yorker who had helped promote Gary (son of Jerry) Lewis' group the Playboys, and was eager to show us around the clubs.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.