Have I Mentioned How Much I Love Ray Davies?

I've been my once-a-year Kinks/Ray Davies phase again, prompted by Davies' second solo album in the last couple of years, Working Man's Cafe.

The song from Letterman below is the obvious melodic standout on the album, which is Ray's vintage blend of sincerity, melancholy, empathetic observation and subtext-free lyrics. I realized with this release that while The Kinks are usually referred to as the lesser-known members of the British Invasion, Ray Davies the solo artist is more in the Randy Newman camp. (My only quibble with this video: Paul Shaffer is a poor sidekick substitute for Dave Davies.)