Plastic Man

"Plastic Man" is a pop song, written by Ray Davies and recorded by The Kinks in 1969.

The song is in a similar style to earlier tracks such as "Dedicated Follower of Fashion". It was written and recorded specifically as an attempt at a hit single, released only days after being recorded. The previous year had been commercially disastrous for The Kinks. Their two singles had failed to reach the top 10 in the UK and failed to chart at all in the US. The album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society had also failed to chart in both the UK and US.

The plan for a hit backfired when the use of the word 'bum' (in the line "...plastic legs that reach up to his plastic bum") meant that the BBC refused to play the song. The single only managed to reach #31 in the UK and the following two Kinks singles failed to chart altogether.

The single was not released in the US and, although B-side "King Kong" was included on the Kink Kronikles compilation in 1972, "Plastic Man" was left off, only being released in the US on The Great Lost Kinks Album in 1973.

Both sides of the single (as well as a stereo version of the A-side) are included as bonus tracks on the CD reissue of Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire).

References

1. ^ Plastic Man at kinks.it.rit.edu, retrieved March 10, 2009.