Australian singles charts:
Lola entered the Kent charts on 21 September 1970 and peaked at #4. The song was #47 in the Top 100 of 1971.
Album:
The song is on Lola vs. Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One which entered the Kent album charts on 8 May 1971 and peaked at #24.
Songwriter:
Ray Davies
Producer:
Ray Davies
Record label of Australian release:
Astor
Songfacts:
As stated in The Kinks: The Official Biography, Ray Davies wrote the lyrics after their manager got drunk at a club and started dancing with what he thought was a woman. Toward the end of the night, his stubble started showing, but their manager was too tanked to notice.
Said Davies: “Lola was a love song, and the person they fall in love with is a transvestite. It’s not their fault – they didn’t know – but you know it’s not going to last. It was based on a story about my manager.”
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/the-kinks/lola
Wikipedia:
Originally, Lola saw controversy for its lyrics. In a Record Mirror article entitled ‘Sex Change Record: Kink Speaks’, Ray Davies addressed the matter, saying, “It really doesn’t matter what sex Lola is, I think she’s alright”.
Lola received positive reviews from critics. Upon the single’s release, the NME praised the song as “an engaging and sparkling piece with a gay Latin flavour and a catchy hook chorus”.
Read more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lola_(song)
This song is also on our Spotify playlist Bang a Gong – the 70s
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