Song · The Kinks
“Apeman” by The Kinks
From the album Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One (1970)
“Apeman” by The Kinks appears on 9 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 1999 and 2020. It was first released in 1970 on the album Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One. Its best result is #718 on the KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2020). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #2,580 alternative song of all time.
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Ray Davies wrote "Apeman" on a family trip to Cornwall in July 1970, and you can hear the holiday in it: a lazy calypso lilt, a wink in the voice, and a man who has had it up to here with traffic, industry and the whole crowded city. The Kinks put it on Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One, with Davies producing, and it went out as the follow-up to "Lola" late that year.
The joke has teeth, though. Davies blames mankind for the mess and dreams of chucking it all for the jungle, the same longing for a simpler world that ran through The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society. Like "Lola", it needed a line re-dubbed before it could be released, and it gave the band another hit, climbing to number five in Britain.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 1133 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 2000 |
| 2000 | 1135 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) | 2001 |
| 2001 | 1136 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) | 2002 |
| 2002 | 1135 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) | 2003 |
| 2003 | 1120 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) | 2004 |
| 2004 | 1120 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 2005 |
| 2005 | 1120 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 1994 |
| 2019 | 731 | 102.5 KZOK | KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 | 1025 |
| 2020 | 718 | 102.5 KZOK | KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2020) | 1025 |
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