The Kinks
Encyclopedia
The Kinks were an English rock
band formed in Muswell Hill
, North London, by brothers Ray
and Dave Davies
in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion
band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a wide range of genres, including rhythm and blues
, British music hall
, folk
and country
. Ray Davies (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and Dave Davies (lead guitar, vocals) remained members throughout the group's 32-year run. Original members Pete Quaife
(bass guitar, vocals) and Mick Avory
(drums and percussion) were replaced by John Dalton
in 1969 and Bob Henrit
in 1984, respectively. Dalton was in turn replaced by Jim Rodford
in 1978. Keyboardist Nicky Hopkins
accompanied the band during studio sessions in the mid-1960s. Later, various keyboardists, including John Gosling
and Ian Gibbons
, were full-time members.
The Kinks first came to prominence in 1964 with their third single, "You Really Got Me
", written by Ray Davies. It became an international hit, topping the charts in the United Kingdom and reaching the Top 10 in the United States. Between the mid-1960s and early 1970s, the group released a string of commercially and critically successful singles and LPs, and gained a reputation for songs and concept album
s reflecting English culture and lifestyle, fuelled by Ray Davies' observational writing style. Albums such as Face to Face
, Something Else
, The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
, Arthur
, Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround
and Muswell Hillbillies
, along with their accompanying singles, are considered among the most influential recordings of the period. The Kinks' subsequent theatrical concept albums met with less success, but the band experienced a revival during the late 1970s and early 1980s—groups such as Van Halen
, The Jam
, The Knack
and The Pretenders
covered their songs, helping to boost The Kinks' record sales. In the 1990s, Britpop
acts such as Blur
and Oasis
cited the band as a major influence. The Kinks broke up in 1996, a result of the commercial failures of their last few albums and creative tension between the Davies brothers.
The Kinks had five Top 10 singles on the US Billboard
chart. Nine of their albums charted in the Top 40. In the UK, the group had seventeen Top 20 singles and five Top 10 albums. Four of their albums have been certified gold by the RIAA
. Among numerous honours, they received the Ivor Novello Award for "Outstanding Service to British Music". In 1990, their first year of eligibility, the original four members of The Kinks were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, as well as the UK Music Hall of Fame in November 2005.
on Huntingdon Road, East Finchley
, the youngest and only boys among their family's eight children. Their parents, Frederick and Annie Davies, soon moved the family to 6 Denmark Terrace, Fortis Green
, in the neighbouring suburb of Muswell Hill
. At home they were immersed in a world of varied musical styles, from the music hall
of their parents' generation to the jazz
and early rock and roll
that their older sisters enjoyed. These musical experiences centred around nightlong parties held in the front room of their house, which made a great impression on the Davies brothers. Thomas Kitts writes, "The influence of these parties on The Kinks ... is remarkable. Whether consciously or unconsciously, [onstage] it seemed as if Ray was trying to recreate the Saturday night parties of his family's home—complete with chaos, beer and singalongs." Both Ray and his brother Dave, younger by almost three years, learned to play guitar, and they played skiffle
and rock and roll together.
The brothers attended William Grimshaw Secondary Modern School (later merged with Fortismere School
), where they formed a band, the Ray Davies Quartet, with Ray's friend and classmate Pete Quaife and Quaife's friend John Start. Their debut at a school dance was well received, which encouraged the group to play at local pubs and bars. The band went through a series of lead vocalists; the most notable was Rod Stewart
, another student at William Grimshaw, who performed with the group at least once in early 1962. He soon formed his own group, Rod Stewart and the Moonrakers, which became a local rival to the Ray Davies Quartet. In late 1962, Ray Davies left home to study at Hornsey College of Art
. He pursued interests in subjects such as film
, sketching
, theatre
and music such as jazz and blues. He gained experience as a guitarist with the Soho
-based Dave Hunt Band, a professional group of musicians who played jazz and R&B. Davies soon quit school and returned to Muswell Hill, where the brothers and Quaife re-formed their old group, performing under several names, including the Pete Quaife Band, The Bo-Weevils and The Ramrods, before (temporarily) settling on The Ravens.
The fledgling group hired two managers, Grenville Collins and Robert Wace, and in late 1963 former pop singer Larry Page
signed on as their third. American record producer Shel Talmy
began working with the band, and The Beatles
' promoter, Arthur Howes, was retained to schedule The Ravens' live shows. The group unsuccessfully auditioned for various record labels until early 1964, when Talmy secured them a contract with Pye Records
. During this period they had acquired a new drummer, Mickey Willet; however, Willet left the band shortly before they signed to Pye. The Ravens invited Mick Avory to replace him after seeing an advertisement Avory had placed in Melody Maker
. Avory had a background in jazz drumming, and had played one gig with the fledgling Rolling Stones.
Around this period, The Ravens decided on a new, permanent name: The Kinks. Numerous explanations of the name's genesis have been offered. In Jon Savage
's analysis, "[They] needed a gimmick, some edge to get them attention. Here it was: 'Kinkiness'—something newsy, naughty but just on the borderline of acceptability. In adopting the 'Kinks' as their name at that time, they were participating in a time-honoured pop ritual—fame through outrage." Manager Robert Wace related his side of the story: "I had a friend. ... He thought the group was rather fun. If my memory is correct, he came up with the name just as an idea, as a good way of getting publicity. ... When we went to [the band members] with the name, they were ... absolutely horrified. They said, 'We're not going to be called kinky! Ray Davies' account conflicts with Wace's—he recalled that the name was coined by Larry Page, and referenced their "kinky" fashion sense. Davies quoted him as saying, "The way you look, and the clothes you wear, you ought to be called the Kinks." "I've never really liked the name," Ray stated.
song "Long Tall Sally
". Bobby Graham
, a friend of the band, was recruited to play drums on the recording. He would continue to occasionally substitute for Avory in the studio and play on several of The Kinks' early singles. "Long Tall Sally" was released in February 1964, but despite the publicity efforts of the band's managers, the single was almost completely ignored. When their second single, "You Still Want Me
", failed to chart, Pye Records threatened to annul the group's contract unless their third single was successful.
"You Really Got Me
" was released in August 1964, and, boosted by a performance on the television show Ready Steady Go!
, quickly reached number one in the United Kingdom. Hastily imported by the American label Reprise Records
, it also made the Top 10 in the United States. The loud, distorted guitar riff—achieved by a slice Dave Davies made in the speaker cone of his Elpico amplifier (referred to by the band as the "little green amp")—gave the song its signature, gritty guitar sound. Extremely influential on the American garage rock
scene, "You Really Got Me" has been described as "a blueprint song in the hard rock
and heavy metal
arsenal". Soon after its release, the group recorded most of the tracks for their debut LP, simply titled Kinks. Consisting largely of covers and revamped traditional songs, it was released on 2 October 1964, reaching number four on the UK chart. The group's fourth single, "All Day and All of the Night
", another original hard rock tune, was released three weeks later, reaching number two in the United Kingdom, and number seven in the United States. The next singles, "Set Me Free" and "Tired of Waiting for You
", were also commercially successful, the latter topping the UK singles chart.
The Kinks made their first tour of Australia and New Zealand in January 1965 as part of a package bill that included Manfred Mann
and The Honeycombs
. An intensive performing schedule saw them headline other package tours throughout the year with acts such as The Yardbirds
and Mickey Finn. Tensions began to emerge within the band, expressed in incidents such as the on-stage fight between Avory and Dave Davies at The Capitol Theatre, Cardiff
, Wales on 19 May. After finishing the first song, "You Really Got Me", Davies insulted Avory and kicked over his drum set. Avory responded by hitting Davies with his hi-hat stand, rendering him unconscious, before fleeing from the scene, fearing that he had killed his bandmate. Davies was taken to Cardiff Royal Infirmary, where he received 16 stitches to his head. To placate the police, Avory later claimed that it was part of a new act in which the band members would hurl their instruments at each other. Following a mid-year tour of the United States, the American Federation of Musicians
refused permits for the group to appear in concerts there for the next four years, effectively cutting off The Kinks from the main market for rock music at the height of the British Invasion
. Although neither The Kinks nor the union gave a specific reason for the ban, at the time it was widely attributed to their rowdy on-stage behaviour.
A stopover in Bombay, India, during the band's Australian and Asian tour had led Davies to write the song "See My Friends
", released as a single in July 1965. This was an early example of crossover music and one of the first pop songs of the period to display the direct influence of traditional music from the Indian subcontinent. In his autobiography, X-Ray, Davies noted he was inspired to write "See My Friends" after hearing the songs of local fishermen during an early morning walk:
Music historian Jonathan Bellman
argues that the song was "extremely influential" on Davies' musical peers: "And while much has been made of The Beatles' 'Norwegian Wood
' because it was the first pop record to use a sitar
, it was recorded well after The Kinks' clearly Indian 'See My Friends' was released." Pete Townshend
of The Who
was particularly affected by the song: See My Friends' was the next time I pricked up my ears and thought, 'God, he's done it again. He's invented something new.' That was the first reasonable use of the drone—far, far better than anything The Beatles did and far, far earlier. It was a European sound rather than an Eastern sound but with a strong, legitimate Eastern influence which had its roots in European folk music." In a widely quoted statement by Barry Fantoni
, 1960s celebrity and friend of The Kinks, The Beatles and The Who, he recalled that it was also an influence on The Beatles: "I remember it vividly and still think it's a remarkable pop song. I was with The Beatles the evening that they actually sat around listening to it on a gramophone, saying 'You know this guitar thing sounds like a sitar. We must get one of those. The song's radical departure from popular music conventions proved unpopular with the band's American following—it hit number 11 in the UK, but stalled at number 111 in the US.
Recording began promptly on the group's next project, Kinda Kinks
, starting the day after their return from the Asian tour. The LP—10 of whose 12 songs were originals—was completed and released within two weeks. According to Ray Davies, the band was not completely satisfied with the final cuts, but pressure from the record company meant that no time was available to correct flaws in the mix. Davies later expressed his dissatisfaction with the production, saying, "a bit more care should have been taken with it. I think [producer] Shel Talmy
went too far in trying to keep in the rough edges. Some of the double tracking on that is appalling. It had better songs on it than the first album, but it wasn't executed in the right way. It was just far too rushed."
A significant stylistic shift became evident in late 1965, with the appearance of singles like "A Well Respected Man
" and "Dedicated Follower of Fashion
", as well as the band's third album, The Kink Kontroversy
, on which session musician
Nicky Hopkins
made his first appearance with the group on keyboards. These recordings exemplified the development of Davies' songwriting style, from hard-driving rock numbers toward songs rich in social commentary, observation and idiosyncratic character study, all with a uniquely English flavour. The satirical single "Sunny Afternoon
" was the biggest UK hit of summer 1966, topping the charts and displacing The Beatles' "Paperback Writer
". Before the release of The Kink Kontroversy, Ray Davies suffered a nervous and physical breakdown, caused by the pressures of touring, writing and ongoing legal squabbles. During his months of recuperation, he wrote several new songs and pondered the band's direction. Quaife was involved in an automobile accident, and after his recovery decided to step back from the band for much of 1966. Bassist John Dalton
filled in until Quaife returned to the group at the end of the year.
"Sunny Afternoon" was a dry run for the band's next album Face to Face
, which displayed Davies' growing ability to craft gentle yet cutting narrative songs about everyday life and people. Hopkins returned for the sessions to play various keyboard instruments, including piano and harpsichord
. He played on the band's next two studio albums as well, and featured on a number of their live BBC recordings before joining The Jeff Beck Group
in 1968. Face to Face was released in the UK in October 1966, where it was well received and peaked at number eight. It was released in the US in December and was tapped as a potential "chart winner" by Billboard magazine. Despite this it managed only a meager chart peak of 135—a sign of the band's flagging popularity in the American market. The Kinks' next single was a social commentary piece, entitled "Dead End Street
". It was released in November 1966 and became another UK Top 10 hit, although it reached only number 73 in the United States. Melody Maker reviewer Bob Dawbarn praised Ray Davies' ability to create a song with "some fabulous lyrics and a marvelous melody ... combined with a great production," and music scholar Johnny Rogan
described it as "a kitchen sink drama without the drama—a static vision of working class stoicism
". One of the group's first promotional music videos was produced for the song. It was filmed on Little Green Street, a small 18th-century lane in North London, located off Highgate Road in Kentish Town
.
", was released in May 1967. The lyrics describe two lovers passing over a bridge, with a melancholic observer reflecting on the couple, the Thames and Waterloo Station
. The song was rumoured to have been inspired by the romance between two British celebrities of the time, actors Terence Stamp
and Julie Christie
. Ray Davies denied this in his autobiography, and claimed in a 2008 interview, "It was a fantasy about my sister going off with her boyfriend to a new world and they were going to emigrate and go to another country." Despite its complex arrangement, the sessions for "Waterloo Sunset" lasted a mere ten hours; Dave Davies later commented on the recording: "We spent a lot of time trying to get a different guitar sound, to get a more unique feel for the record. In the end we used a tape-delay echo, but it sounded new because nobody had done it since the 1950s. I remember Steve Marriott
of the Small Faces came up and asked me how we'd got that sound. We were almost trendy for a while." The single was one of The Kinks' biggest UK successes (hitting number two on Melody Makers chart), and went on to become one of their most popular and best-known songs. Pop music journalist Robert Christgau
called it "the most beautiful song in the English language", and Allmusic senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine
cited it as "possibly the most beautiful song of the rock and roll era."
The songs on the 1967 album Something Else By The Kinks
developed the musical progressions of Face to Face, adding English music hall
influences to the band's sound. Dave Davies scored a major UK chart success with the album's "Death of a Clown". While it was co-written by Ray Davies and recorded by The Kinks, it was also released as a Dave Davies solo single. Overall, however, the album's commercial performance was disappointing, prompting The Kinks to rush out a new single, "Autumn Almanac
", in early October. Backed with "Mister Pleasant
", the single quickly became another Top 5 success for the group. Andy Miller points out that, despite its success, the single marks a turning point in the band's career—it would be their last entry into the UK Top Ten for three years: "In retrospect, 'Autumn Almanac' marked the first hint of trouble for The Kinks. This glorious single, one of the greatest achievements of British 60s pop, was widely criticised at the time for being too similar to previous Davies efforts." Nick Jones of Melody Maker asked, "Is it time that Ray stopped writing about grey suburbanites going about their fairly unemotional daily business? ... Ray works to a formula, not a feeling, and it's becoming rather boring." Disc jockey
Mike Ahern called the song "a load of old rubbish". Dave's second solo single, "Susannah's Still Alive
", was released in the UK on November 24. It sold a modest 59,000 copies, but failed to reach the Top 10. Miller states that "by the end of the year, The Kinks were rapidly sliding out of fashion."
Beginning early in 1968, the group largely retired from touring, instead focusing on work in the studio. As the band was not available to promote their material, subsequent releases met with little success. The Kinks' next single, "Wonderboy", released in the spring of 1968, stalled at number 36 and became the band's first single not to make the UK Top Twenty since their early covers. Despite this, it became a favourite of John Lennon
of The Beatles. According to Ray Davies, "Someone had seen John Lennon in a club and he kept on asking the disc jockey to play 'Wonder Boy' over and over again". However, the band's own opinion of the track was low—Pete Quaife later stated, "[I] hated it ... it was horrible." In the face of The Kinks' declining popularity, Davies continued to pursue his deeply personal songwriting style while rebelling against the heavy demands placed on him to keep producing commercial hits, and the group continued to devote time to the studio, centring on a slowly developing project of Ray's called Village Green. In an attempt to revive the group's commercial standing, The Kinks' management booked them on a month-long package tour for April, drawing the group away from the studio. The venues were largely cabarets and clubs; headlining was Peter Frampton
's group The Herd
. "In general, the teenybopper
s were not there to see the boring old Kinks, who occasionally had to endure chants of "We Want The Herd!" during their brief appearances," commented Andy Miller. The tour proved taxing and stressful—Pete Quaife recalled, "It was a chore, very dull, boring and straightforward. ... We only did twenty minutes, but it used to drive me absolutely frantic, standing on stage and playing three notes over and over again." At the end of June, The Kinks released the single "Days
", which provided a minor, but only momentary, comeback for the group. "I remember playing it when I was at Fortis Green the first time I had a tape of it," Ray said. "I played it to Brian, who used to be our roadie, and his wife and two daughters. They were crying at the end of it. Really wonderful—like going to Waterloo and seeing the sunset. ... It's like saying goodbye to somebody, then afterwards feeling the fear that you actually are alone." "Days" reached number 12 in the United Kingdom and was a Top 20 hit in several other countries, but it did not chart in the United States.
Village Green eventually morphed into their next album, The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
, released in late 1968 in the UK. A collection of thematic vignettes of English town and hamlet life, it was assembled from songs written and recorded over the previous two years. It was greeted with almost unanimously positive reviews from both UK and US rock critics, yet failed to sell strongly. One factor in the album's initial commercial failure was the lack of a popular single. It did not include the moderately successful "Days"; "Starstruck" was released in North America and continental Europe, but was unsuccessful. Though a commercial disappointment, Village Green (the project's original name was adopted as shorthand for the long album title) was embraced by the new underground rock press when it came out in January 1969 in the United States, where The Kinks began to acquire a reputation as a cult band. In The Village Voice
, a newly hired Robert Christgau
called it "the best album of the year so far". The underground Boston paper Fusion published a review stating, "The Kinks continue, despite the odds, the bad press and their demonstrated lot, to come across. ... Their persistence is dignified, their virtues are stoic. The Kinks are forever, only for now in modern dress." The record did not escape criticism, however. In the student paper California Tech, one writer commented that it was "schmaltz rock ... without imagination, poorly arranged and a poor copy of The Beatles". Although it sold only an estimated 100,000 copies worldwide on its initial release, it has since become The Kinks' best-selling original record. The album remains popular; in 2004, it was re-released in a 3-CD "Deluxe" edition and one of its tracks, "Picture Book", was featured in a popular Hewlett-Packard
television commercial, helping to boost the album's popularity considerably.
In early 1969, Quaife told the band he was leaving. The other members did not take his statement seriously, until an article appeared in New Musical Express on 4 April featuring Quaife's new band, Maple Oak, which he had formed without telling the rest of The Kinks. Ray Davies pleaded with him to return for the sessions for their upcoming album, but Quaife refused. Davies immediately called up John Dalton, who had filled in for Quaife in the past, as a replacement. Dalton remained with the group until 1977, when the album Sleepwalker
was released.
Ray Davies travelled to Los Angeles, California, in April 1969 to help negotiate an end to the American Federation of Musicians' ban on the group, opening up an opportunity for them to return to touring in America. The group's management quickly made plans for a North American tour, to help restore their standing in the US pop music scene. Before their return to the United States, The Kinks recorded another album, Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
. As with the previous two albums, Arthur was grounded in characteristically English lyrical and musical hooks
. A modest commercial success, it was well received by American music critics. Conceived as the score for a proposed but unrealised television drama, much of the album revolved around themes from the Davies brothers' childhood; their sister Rosie, who had migrated to Australia in the early 1960s with her husband, Arthur Anning, the album's namesake; and life growing up during the Second World War
. The Kinks embarked on their tour of the US in October 1969. The tour was generally unsuccessful, as the group struggled to find cooperative promoters and interested audiences; many of the scheduled concert dates were cancelled. The band did, however, manage to play a few major underground venues such as the Fillmore East
and Whisky A Go Go
.
The band added keyboardist John Gosling
to their line-up in early 1970; before this Nicky Hopkins, along with Ray, had done most of the session work on keyboards. In May 1970 Gosling debuted with The Kinks on "Lola
", an account of a confused romantic encounter with a transvestite
, that became both a UK and US Top 10 hit, helping return The Kinks to the public eye. The lyrics originally contained the word "Coca-Cola
", and as a result the BBC
refused to broadcast the song, considering it to be in violation of their policy against product placement
. Part of the song was hastily re-recorded by Ray Davies, with the offending line changed to the generic "cherry cola", although in concert, The Kinks still used "Coca-Cola". Recordings of both versions of "Lola" exist. The accompanying album Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One
was released in November 1970. It was a critical and commercial success, charting in the Top 40 in America, making it their most successful album since the mid-1960s. After the success of "Lola", the band went on to release Percy
in 1971, a soundtrack album to a film of the same name
about a penis transplant. The album, which consisted largely of instrumentals, did not receive positive reviews. The band's US label, Reprise, declined to release it in America, precipitating a major dispute that contributed to the band's departure from the label. Directly after the release of the album, the band's contracts with Pye and Reprise expired.
Before the end of 1971, The Kinks signed a five-album deal with RCA Records and received a million-dollar advance, which helped fund the construction of their own recording studio, Konk
. Their debut for RCA, Muswell Hillbillies
, was replete with the influence of music hall and traditional American musical styles, including country and bluegrass. It is often hailed as their last great record, though it was not as successful as its predecessors. It was named after the Davies brothers' birthplace in Muswell Hill and contained songs focusing on working-class life and, again, the Davies childhood. Muswell Hillbillies, despite positive reviews and high expectations, peaked at number 48 on the Record World
chart and number 100 on the Billboard chart. It was followed in 1972 by a double album, Everybody's in Show-Biz
, which consisted of both studio tracks and live numbers recorded during a two-night stand at Carnegie Hall. The record featured the ballad "Celluloid Heroes
" and the Caribbean-themed "Supersonic Rocket Ship", their last UK Top 20 hit for more than a decade. "Celluloid Heroes" was a bittersweet rumination on dead Hollywood stars in which the narrator declares that he wishes his life were like a movie, "because celluloid heroes never feel any pain ... and celluloid heroes never really die." The album was moderately successful in the United States, peaking at number 47 in Record World and number 70 in Billboard. It marks the transition between the band's early 1970s rock material and the theatrical incarnation in which they immersed themselves for the next four years.
Ray's marital problems during this period began to affect the band adversely, particularly after his wife, Rasa, took their children and left him in June 1973. Davies went into a state of depression, culminating in a public outburst during a July gig at White City Stadium
. According to a Melody Maker review of the concert, "Davies swore on stage. He stood at The White City and swore that he was 'F...... sick of the whole thing'. ... He was 'Sick up to here with it' ... and those that heard shook their heads." At the show's conclusion, as pretaped music played on the sound system, he declared that he was quitting. Sounds magazine reported that Ray looked "haggard and ill" before he kissed Dave Davies "gently on the cheek, and then delivered the bombshell". Ray subsequently collapsed after a drug overdose and was rushed to hospital. Dave later commented in an interview about the incident:
With Ray Davies in a seemingly critical condition, plans were discussed for Dave to continue as frontman in a worst-case scenario. Ray eventually pulled through and recovered from his illness as well as his depression, but throughout the remainder of The Kinks' theatrical incarnation the band's output remained uneven, and their already fading popularity declined even more. John Dalton later commented that when Davies "decided to work again ... I don't think he was totally better, and he's been a different person ever since."
Preservation Act 1 was released in late 1973 to generally poor reviews, and its sequel, Preservation Act 2
, appeared in May 1974 to a similar reception. It was the first album recorded at Konk Studio; from this point forward, virtually every Kinks studio recording was produced by Ray Davies at Konk. The Kinks embarked on an ambitious US tour throughout late 1974, adapting the Preservation story for stage. Musicologist Eric Weisbard: "[Ray] Davies expanded the Kinks into a road troupe of perhaps a dozen costumed actors, singers and horn players. ... Smoother and tighter than on record, Preservation live proved funnier as well."
Davies soon began another project for Granada Television, a musical called Starmaker. After a broadcast with Ray Davies in the starring role and The Kinks as both back-up band and ancillary characters, the project eventually morphed into the concept album The Kinks Present a Soap Opera
, released in May 1975, in which Ray Davies fantasised about what would happen if a rock star traded places with a "normal Norman" and took a 9–5 job. In August 1975, The Kinks recorded their final theatrical work, Schoolboys in Disgrace
, a backstory biography of Preservation's Mr Flash. The record was a modest success, peaking at number 45 on the Billboard charts. Following the termination of their contract with RCA, The Kinks signed with Arista Records
in 1976. With the encouragement of Arista's management they stripped back down to a five-man core group and were reborn as an arena rock
band. During this period, heavy metal
band Van Halen
achieved a Top 40 hit with a cover of "You Really Got Me" (and their subsequent debut album, Van Halen
, which included the track, hit number 19 on Billboard), boosting The Kinks' commercial resurgence.
was brought in to complete the sessions and to play on the subsequent tour. Sleepwalker
, released in 1977, marked a return to success for the group as it peaked at number 21 on the Billboard chart. Soon after its release and the recording of its followup, Misfits
, Andy Pyle and keyboardist John Gosling left the group to work together on a separate project. Dalton returned to complete the tour and ex–Pretty Things
keyboardist Gordon John Edwards joined the band. In May 1978, Misfits, The Kinks' second Arista album, was released. It included the US Top 40 hit "A Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy", which helped make the record another success for the band. Dalton left the band permanently at the end of their UK tour, and Gordon John Edwards soon followed. Ex-Argent
bassist Jim Rodford
joined the band before the recording of Low Budget
, on which Ray Davies played the keyboard sections. Keyboardist Ian Gibbons
was recruited for the subsequent tour, and soon became a permanent member of the group. Despite the personnel changes, the popularity of the band's records and live shows continued to grow.
Beginning in the late 1970s, bands such as The Jam
("David Watts"), The Pretenders
("Stop Your Sobbing", "I Go to Sleep") and The Knack
("The Hard Way") recorded covers of Kinks songs, which helped bring attention to the group's new releases. In 1978, Van Halen
covered "You Really Got Me" for their debut single, a Top 40 U.S. hit (the band later covered "Where Have All the Good Times Gone
", another early Kinks song). The hard rock sound of Low Budget, released in 1979, helped make it the Kinks' second gold album and highest charting original album in America, where it peaked at number 11. In 1980, the group's third live album, One for the Road
, was produced, along with a video of the same title, bringing the group's concert-drawing power to a peak that would last into 1983. Dave Davies also took advantage of the group's improved commercial standing to fulfill his decade-long ambitions to release albums of his solo work. The first was the eponym
ous Dave Davies in 1980. It was also known by its catalogue number "AFL1-3603" because of its cover art, which depicted Dave Davies as a leather-jacketed piece of price-scanning barcode. He produced another, less successful, solo album in 1981, Glamour.
The next Kinks album, Give the People What They Want
, was released in late 1981 and reached number 15 in the US. The record attained gold status and featured the UK hit single "Better Things" as well as "Destroyer
", a major Mainstream Rock
hit for the group. To promote the album, The Kinks spent the end of 1981 and most of 1982 touring relentlessly, and played multiple sell-out concerts throughout Australia, Japan, England and America. The tour culminated with a performance at the US Festival
in San Bernardino, California, for a crowd of 205,000. In spring 1983, the song "Come Dancing
" became their biggest American hit since "Tired of Waiting for You", peaking at number six. It also became the group's first Top 20 hit in the UK since 1972, peaking at number 12 in the charts. The accompanying album, State of Confusion
, was another commercial success, reaching number 12 in the US, but, like all of the group's albums since 1967, it failed to chart in the UK. Another single released from the record, "Don't Forget to Dance", became a US top 30 hit and minor UK chart entry.
The Kinks' second wave of popularity remained at a peak with State of Confusion, but that success soon begin to fade, a trend that also affected their British rock contemporaries The Rolling Stones
and The Who
at the time. During the second half of 1983, Ray Davies started work on an ambitious solo film project, Return to Waterloo
, about a London commuter who daydreams that he is a serial murderer. The film gave actor Tim Roth
a significant early role. Davies' commitment to writing, directing and scoring the new work caused tension in his relationship with his brother. Another problem was the stormy end of the relationship between Ray Davies and Chrissie Hynde
. The old feud between Dave Davies and drummer Mick Avory also re-ignited. Davies eventually refused to work with Avory, and called for him to be replaced by Bob Henrit
, former drummer of Argent
(of which Jim Rodford had also been a member). Avory left the band, and Henrit was brought in to take his place. Ray Davies, who was still on amiable terms with Avory, invited him to manage Konk Studios. Avory accepted, and continued to serve as a producer and occasional contributor on later Kinks albums.
Between the completion of Return to Waterloo and Avory's departure, the band had begun work on Word of Mouth
, their final Arista album, released in November 1984. As a result it features Avory on three tracks, with Henrit and a drum machine
on the rest. Many of the songs also appeared as solo recordings on Ray Davies' Return to Waterloo soundtrack album. Word of Mouths lead track, "Do it Again", was released as a single in April 1985. It reached number 41 in the US, the band's last entry into the Billboard Hot 100.
Coinciding with the album's release, the first three books on The Kinks were published. The Kinks: The Official Biography, by Jon Savage
, drew on extensive interviews with members of the band. Ray Davies had even helped Savage and his agent set up the book deal. However, shortly before the publication date, he tried three times to halt its release. The Observer reported that "first was an objection to the text, even though the singer had approved it earlier. ... Then there came a threatened injunction ... because of objections to some of the photographs. Then there was a curious demand [for a] £50,000 permission fee for quoting some lyrics." The threats were dismissed, and publication went forward. Appearing soon after were The Kinks Kronikles, by rock critic John Mendelsohn
, who had compiled and written the liner notes to a similarly titled compilation album
released in 1972; and The Kinks—The Sound And The Fury (The Kinks—A Mental Institution in the US), by Johnny Rogan
.
in the United States and London Records in the UK. Their first album for the new labels, Think Visual
, released later that year, was a moderate success, peaking at number 81 on the Billboard albums chart. Songs like the ballad "Lost and Found" and "Working at the Factory" concerned blue-collar life on an assembly line, while the title track was an attack on the very MTV video culture from which the band had profited earlier in the decade. The Kinks followed Think Visual in 1987 with another live album, The Road, which was a mediocre commercial and critical performer. In 1989, The Kinks released UK Jive
, a commercial failure, making only a momentary entry into the album charts at number 122. MCA Records ultimately dropped them, leaving The Kinks scrambling to find a label deal for the first time in over a quarter of a century. Longtime keyboardist Ian Gibbons left the group and was replaced by Mark Haley.
In 1990, their first year of eligibility, The Kinks were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Mick Avory and Pete Quaife were present for the award. The induction, however, did not resuscitate The Kinks' stalled career. A compilation from the MCA Records
period was produced in 1991, titled Lost & Found (1986-1989)
. It was primarily released to fulfill contractual obligations, and marked the official end of the group's relationship with MCA. The band then signed with Columbia Records
and released the five-song EP Did Ya in 1991 which, despite being coupled with a new studio re-recording of the band's 1968 British hit "Days", failed to chart.
The Kinks reverted to a four-piece band for the recording of their first Columbia album, Phobia
, in 1993. Following Mark Haley's departure after the band's sellout performance at the Royal Albert Hall, London, Gibbons rejoined The Kinks for a US tour. Phobia managed only one week in the US Billboard chart at number 166; as had by then become usual for the band, it made no impression in the UK. One single, "Only a Dream", narrowly failed to reach the British chart. "Scattered", the album's final candidate for release as a single, was announced, followed by TV and radio promotion, but the record was unavailable in stores—several months later a small number appeared on the collector market. The group was dropped by Columbia in 1994. In the same year, the band released the first version of the album To the Bone
on their own Konk
label in the UK. This live acoustic album was partly recorded on the highly successful UK tours of 1993 and 1994 and partly in the Konk studio, before a small, invited audience. Two years later the band released a new, improved, live double CD set in the USA, which retained the same name and contained two new studio tracks, "Animal" and "To The Bone". The CD set also featured new treatments of many old Kinks hits. The record drew respectable press but failed to chart in either the US or the UK.
The band's profile rose considerably in the mid-1990s, primarily as a result of the "Britpop
" boom. Several of the most prominent bands of the decade cited The Kinks as a major influence. Blur frontman Damon Albarn
and Oasis chief songwriter Noel Gallagher
both described The Kinks as having a major impact on their songwriting as well as their overall development as musical artists. Gallagher declared The Kinks the fifth best band of all time. Despite such accolades, the group's commercial viability continued to decline. They gradually became less active, leading Ray and Dave Davies to pursue their own interests. Each released an autobiography; Ray's X-Ray was published in early 1995, and Dave responded with his memoir Kink, published a year later. The Kinks gave their last public performance in mid-1996, and the group assembled for what would turn out to be their last time together at a party for Dave's 50th birthday. Kinks chronicler and historian Doug Hinman stated, "The symbolism of the event was impossible to overlook. The party was held at the site of the brothers' very first musical endeavour, the Clissold Arms pub, across the street from their childhood home on Fortis Green in North London."
as The Kast Off Kinks
. Gosling and Dalton retired in 2008 and were replaced in the band by former Kinks members Jim Rodford and Ian Gibbons. Ray Davies, Pete Quaife and Bob Henrit have occasionally made guest appearances with the group at Kinks fan club conventions.
Ray Davies came out with the solo album Storyteller, a companion piece to X-Ray, in 1998. Originally written two years earlier as a cabaret-style show, it celebrated his old band and his estranged brother. Seeing the programming possibilities in his music/dialogue/reminiscence format, the American music television network VH1
launched a series of similar projects featuring established rock artists titled VH1 Storytellers
. Dave Davies spoke favourably of a Kinks reunion in early 2003, and as the 40th anniversary of the group's breakthrough neared, both of the Davies brothers expressed interest in working together again. However, hopes for a reunion were eliminated when in June 2004 Dave suffered a stroke while exiting an elevator, temporarily impairing his ability to speak and play guitar. Following Dave's recovery, The Kinks were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame
in November 2005, with all four of the original band members in attendance. The award was presented by The Who
's guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend, a longtime Kinks fan and friend of Ray Davies. The induction helped fuel sales for the group; in August 2007, a re-entry of The Ultimate Collection
, a compilation of material spanning the band's career, reached number 32 on the UK Top 100 album chart and number one on the UK Indie album chart.
In December 2007, Record Collector
published an interview with Ray Davies in which he said, "I spoke to Quaife about a month ago and he dearly wants to make another record with me. I think Dave's getting better and Mick's still playing. It would be great to get back together just to see what musical ideas we had, and what would happen." The Daily Mail
subsequently interpreted his comments as a declaration that a reunion of the band's original line-up was imminent. Dave Davies swiftly rejected the idea of a reunion. He told a reporter that "it would be like a bad remake of Night of the Living Dead
" and added, "Ray has been doing Karaoke Kinks shows since 1996."
In a September 2008 interview with BBC Radio 4
, Ray Davies said of a possible reunion, "There is a desire to do it", but that he wouldn't participate if it were a nostalgia act: "The thing that would make me decide 'yes' or 'no' would be whether or not we could do new songs". He added that the main barrier to the band getting back together was his brother's condition following his stroke. Two months later, he told the BBC that the band was beginning to write new material for a possible reunion, but failed to detail which members were involved. In an interview aired that December on the Biography Channel, Quaife rejected any possibility that he would take part in a reunion. That same month, Ray Davies spoke again about the possibility of performing with his brother: "I suggested he do some low-key shows to see how well he can play. If we're going to play together again, we can't hit the road straight away with a big-time announcement. ... But, if Dave feels good about it and there's good new material that we can write, it'll happen."
In June 2009, Ray Davies told The Independent
that while a full-fledged reunion was unlikely, "I will continue to play with ex-band members like Mick Avory from time to time. With Dave, a lot of it is psychological. I’ll guide him in, and coerce and nurture him, and when the time is right I suppose I’ll even shout at him again." When asked about a possible reunion in an interview that year, Avory stated, "A reunion would not be possible with the originals, for a start due to ill health. But it would be possible with the Kast Off Kinks plus Ray. In any event Ray would record new material. We have some old tracks from the 80s as well." In March 2010, Avory reported that the band were planning on releasing an album of unreleased and new material. He stated that they had "eight tracks" ready for the album, but that the Davies brothers had to settle their differences before the project could progress. It remains unclear who has been involved in the recordings besides Avory and Ray Davies.
Quaife, who had been receiving kidney dialysis for more than ten years, died on 23 June 2010, aged 66. Two days after the bassist's death, Dave Davies posted a statement on his message board expressing deep sorrow over the passing of his former band mate and stating that Quaife "was never really given the credit he deserved for his contribution and involvlement [with The Kinks]". Ray Davies dedicated his 27 June performance at the Glastonbury Festival
to Quaife and performed several Quaife-era Kinks songs in tribute to him. Davies told the crowd, "I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for him."
In separate interviews early in 2011 both Davies brothers spoke positively about a potential reunion. Dave Davies explained, "There's nothing in the pipeline yet, but...we'll see. It's possible." Each has said that any reunion would be dependent on the other. According to Ray Davies, the brothers were to meet in April to discuss future plans.
groups such as the Ramones
, The Clash
, and The Jam
, New Wave
and heavy metal
acts like The Pretenders
and Van Halen
and Britpop
groups such as Oasis
, Blur
and Pulp
. Pete Townshend
, guitarist with The Kinks' contemporaries The Who
, was particularly influenced by the group's sound: "The Kinks were ... quintessentially English. I always think that Ray Davies should one day be poet laureate. He invented a new kind of poetry and a new kind of language for pop writing that influenced me from the very, very, very beginning." Jon Savage wrote that The Kinks were an influence on late-1960s American psychedelic groups, "like the Doors
, Love
and Jefferson Airplane
". Musicologist
Joe Harrington has described The Kinks' influence on the development of hard rock and heavy metal: "You Really Got Me', 'All Day and All of the Night' and 'I Need You' were predecessors of the whole three-chord genre ... the Kinks did a lot to help turn rock 'n' roll (Jerry Lee Lewis
) into rock (Led Zeppelin
, Black Sabbath
, the Stooges
)."
, released in 1965, was certified gold for sales of $1,000,000 on 28 November 1968—six days after the release of The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, which failed to chart worldwide. The group would not receive another gold record award until 1979's Low Budget; the 1980 live album One For The Road followed soon after, and was certified gold on 8 December 1980. Give The People What They Want, released in 1981, received its certification on 25 January 1982, for sales of 500,000 copies. ASCAP, the performing-rights
group, presented The Kinks with an award for "One Of The Most Played Songs Of 1983" for the hit single "Come Dancing".
The group received the Ivor Novello Award for "Outstanding Service to British Music", and in 1990, their first year of eligibility, the original four members of The Kinks were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The Kinks were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in November 2005.
and blues
, but soon began experimenting with louder rock
and hard rock
sounds—due to their pioneering of the field, they have often been labelled as "the original punks
". Dave Davies became bored with the traditional "clean" guitar style of the period; in search of a louder, more biting sound, he famously split the speaker cone of his Elpico amplifier
(nicknamed "the little green amp"): "I started to get really frustrated [with the amp's sound], and I said, 'I know! I'll fix you!' I got a single-sided Gillette razorblade and cut ... [from the centre to the edge of the] cone
... so it was all shredded but still on there, still intact. I played and I thought it was amazing." The jagged sound of the amplifier was replicated in the studio; the Elpico was plugged into a larger Vox AC30
, and the resulting effect became a mainstay in The Kinks' early recordings—most notably on "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night".
However, the group soon abandoned its R&B and hard rock leanings. From 1966 onwards, The Kinks came to be known for their adherence to traditions of English music and culture, during a period when many other British groups dismissed their heritage in favour of American blues, R&B and pop styles. Ray Davies recalled that at a distinct moment in 1965 he decided to break away from the American scene, and write more introspective and intelligent songs. "I decided I was going to use words more, and say things. I wrote 'Well Respected Man'. That was the first real word-oriented song I wrote. ... [I also] abandoned any attempt to Americanise my accent." The Kinks' allegiance to English styles was strengthened by the ban placed on them by the American Federation of Musicians
. The ban cut them off from the American record buying public, the world's largest musical market, forcing them to focus on Britain and mainland Europe. The Kinks expanded on their English sound throughout the remainder of the 1960s, fusing music hall and folk, and creating some of the most influential and important music of the period.
Beginning with Everybody's In Show-biz (1972), Ray Davies began exploring theatrical concepts on the group's albums; these themes became manifest on the 1973 album Preservation Act 1 and continued through Schoolboys In Disgrace (1976). The Kinks found little success with these conceptual works, and reverted to a traditional rock format throughout the remainder of the 1970s. Sleepwalker (1977), which heralded their return to commercial success, featured a mainstream, relatively slick production style that would become their norm. The band returned to hard rock for Low Budget (1979), and continued to record within the genre throughout the remainder of their career.
, unlike larger labels like EMI
, kept very few of The Kinks' session tapes, acetates and out-takes—most were destroyed, wiped
, or recorded over by the mid-1980s. From the RCA period onwards, both documentation and tapes were preserved, mainly because The Kinks were given creative license at their own Konk Studios, but, as Doug Hinman notes, "Until and unless there is some access to the vaults of Konk Studios, this aspect of The Kinks recording legacy will remain far from definitive."
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band formed in Muswell Hill
Muswell Hill
Muswell Hill is a suburb of north London, mostly in the London Borough of Haringey. It is situated about north of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. Muswell Hill is in the N10 postal district and mostly in the Hornsey and Wood Green parliamentary constituency.- History :The...
, North London, by brothers Ray
Ray Davies
Ray Davies, CBE is an English rock musician. He is best known as lead singer and songwriter for the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother, Dave...
and Dave Davies
Dave Davies
David Russell Gordon "Dave" Davies is an English rock musician best known for his role as lead guitarist and vocalist for the English rock band The Kinks....
in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a wide range of genres, including rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, British music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
. Ray Davies (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and Dave Davies (lead guitar, vocals) remained members throughout the group's 32-year run. Original members Pete Quaife
Pete Quaife
Peter Alexander Greenlaw "Pete" Quaife was an English musician, artist and author. He was a founding member and the original bass guitarist for The Kinks, from 1963 until 1969....
(bass guitar, vocals) and Mick Avory
Mick Avory
Michael Charles "Mick" Avory is an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer and percussionist for the British rock band, The Kinks, joining them shortly after their formation in 1964 and remaining with them until 1984, when he left amid creative friction with guitarist Dave Davies...
(drums and percussion) were replaced by John Dalton
John Dalton (musician)
John Dalton is a British bass guitar player, best known as a member of The Kinks' from 1969 to 1976, replacing original member Pete Quaife.- Biography :...
in 1969 and Bob Henrit
Bob Henrit
Bob Henrit is an English drummer who has been a member of several musical groups, including Buster Meikle & The Daybreakers, The Hunters, Unit 4 + 2, The Roulettes, Argent and The Kinks....
in 1984, respectively. Dalton was in turn replaced by Jim Rodford
Jim Rodford
Jim Rodford is a musician who played with The Kinks, The Swinging Blue Jeans and was a founding member of Argent...
in 1978. Keyboardist Nicky Hopkins
Nicky Hopkins
Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins was an English pianist and organist.He recorded and performed on noted British and American popular music recordings of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as a session musician....
accompanied the band during studio sessions in the mid-1960s. Later, various keyboardists, including John Gosling
John Gosling
not to be confused with John Gostling John Gosling , is an English classically trained organist and pianist....
and Ian Gibbons
Ian Gibbons
Ian Gibbons is an English keyboardist, most notable for playing with The Kinks.Gibbons began playing the accordion at the age 9, playing in the school band, and solo at music festivals, competitions and charity events. At the age of 14, he started a school rock band, playing guitar and singing...
, were full-time members.
The Kinks first came to prominence in 1964 with their third single, "You Really Got Me
You Really Got Me
"You Really Got Me" is a rock song written by Ray Davies and performed by his band, The Kinks. It was released on 4th August 1964 as the group's third single, and reached Number 1 on the UK singles chart the next month, remaining for two weeks...
", written by Ray Davies. It became an international hit, topping the charts in the United Kingdom and reaching the Top 10 in the United States. Between the mid-1960s and early 1970s, the group released a string of commercially and critically successful singles and LPs, and gained a reputation for songs and concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
s reflecting English culture and lifestyle, fuelled by Ray Davies' observational writing style. Albums such as Face to Face
Face to Face (The Kinks album)
Face to Face, released in 1966 on Pye Records in the United Kingdom and on Reprise Records in the United States, is the fourth UK studio album by The Kinks. A major artistic breakthrough for Kinks' songwriter Ray Davies, the LP represents the first full flowering of Davies' use of narrative,...
, Something Else
Something Else by the Kinks
Something Else by The Kinks, often referred to as just Something Else, is the fifth UK studio album by English rock group The Kinks, released in September 1967. The album marks the final involvement of American producer Shel Talmy in The Kinks' 1960s studio recordings; henceforth Ray Davies would...
, The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society is the sixth studio album by the English rock group The Kinks, released in November 1968. It was the last album by the original quartet, as bassist Pete Quaife left the group in early 1969...
, Arthur
Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
Arthur is the seventh studio album by English rock band The Kinks, released in October 1969. Kinks frontman Ray Davies constructed the concept album as the soundtrack to a Granada Television play and developed the storyline with novelist Julian Mitchell; however, the television programme was...
, Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround
Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One
Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part OneAlternatively titled Kinks Part One: Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround; commonly abbreviated to Lola Versus Powerman is the eighth studio album by British rock band The Kinks, recorded and released in 1970...
and Muswell Hillbillies
Muswell Hillbillies
Muswell Hillbillies is the ninth studio album by the English rock group The Kinks, released in November 1971. The album is named after the Muswell Hill area of North London, where band leader Ray Davies and guitarist Dave Davies grew up and the band formed in the early 1960s.The album centred on...
, along with their accompanying singles, are considered among the most influential recordings of the period. The Kinks' subsequent theatrical concept albums met with less success, but the band experienced a revival during the late 1970s and early 1980s—groups such as Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
, The Jam
The Jam
The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...
, The Knack
The Knack
The Knack was an American New Wave rock quartet based in Los Angeles that rose to fame with their first single, "My Sharona", an international number one hit in 1979.-Founding :...
and The Pretenders
The Pretenders
The Pretenders are an English rock band formed in Hereford, England in March 1978. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde , James Honeyman-Scott , Pete Farndon , and Martin Chambers...
covered their songs, helping to boost The Kinks' record sales. In the 1990s, Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
acts such as Blur
Blur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
and Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
cited the band as a major influence. The Kinks broke up in 1996, a result of the commercial failures of their last few albums and creative tension between the Davies brothers.
The Kinks had five Top 10 singles on the US Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
chart. Nine of their albums charted in the Top 40. In the UK, the group had seventeen Top 20 singles and five Top 10 albums. Four of their albums have been certified gold by the RIAA
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
. Among numerous honours, they received the Ivor Novello Award for "Outstanding Service to British Music". In 1990, their first year of eligibility, the original four members of The Kinks were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, as well as the UK Music Hall of Fame in November 2005.
Formation (1962–1963)
The Davies brothers were born in suburban North LondonNorth London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
on Huntingdon Road, East Finchley
East Finchley
East Finchley is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet, in north London, and situated north-west of Charing Cross. Geographically it is somewhat separate from the rest of Finchley, with North Finchley and West Finchley to the north, and Finchley Central to the west.- History :The land on which...
, the youngest and only boys among their family's eight children. Their parents, Frederick and Annie Davies, soon moved the family to 6 Denmark Terrace, Fortis Green
Fortis Green
Fortis Green is a ward in the extreme north-western corner of the Borough of Haringey, North London. It is also the name of the road that runs between Muswell Hill and East Finchley which forms part of the A504....
, in the neighbouring suburb of Muswell Hill
Muswell Hill
Muswell Hill is a suburb of north London, mostly in the London Borough of Haringey. It is situated about north of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. Muswell Hill is in the N10 postal district and mostly in the Hornsey and Wood Green parliamentary constituency.- History :The...
. At home they were immersed in a world of varied musical styles, from the music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
of their parents' generation to the jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and early rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
that their older sisters enjoyed. These musical experiences centred around nightlong parties held in the front room of their house, which made a great impression on the Davies brothers. Thomas Kitts writes, "The influence of these parties on The Kinks ... is remarkable. Whether consciously or unconsciously, [onstage] it seemed as if Ray was trying to recreate the Saturday night parties of his family's home—complete with chaos, beer and singalongs." Both Ray and his brother Dave, younger by almost three years, learned to play guitar, and they played skiffle
Skiffle
Skiffle is a type of popular music with jazz, blues, folk, roots and country influences, usually using homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a term in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century, it became popular again in the UK in the 1950s, where it was mainly...
and rock and roll together.
The brothers attended William Grimshaw Secondary Modern School (later merged with Fortismere School
Fortismere School
Fortismere School is a mixed, community foundation secondary school in Muswell Hill, London, United Kingdom.-Admissions:It falls under the London Borough of Haringey Local Education Authority...
), where they formed a band, the Ray Davies Quartet, with Ray's friend and classmate Pete Quaife and Quaife's friend John Start. Their debut at a school dance was well received, which encouraged the group to play at local pubs and bars. The band went through a series of lead vocalists; the most notable was Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
, another student at William Grimshaw, who performed with the group at least once in early 1962. He soon formed his own group, Rod Stewart and the Moonrakers, which became a local rival to the Ray Davies Quartet. In late 1962, Ray Davies left home to study at Hornsey College of Art
Hornsey College of Art
Hornsey College of Art is a former college centred in Crouch End, London, England. Since 2008, the building has been a part of Coleridge Primary School, upon its expansion to four form entry...
. He pursued interests in subjects such as film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, sketching
Sketch (drawing)
A sketch is a rapidly executed freehand drawing that is not usually intended as a finished work...
, theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and music such as jazz and blues. He gained experience as a guitarist with the Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
-based Dave Hunt Band, a professional group of musicians who played jazz and R&B. Davies soon quit school and returned to Muswell Hill, where the brothers and Quaife re-formed their old group, performing under several names, including the Pete Quaife Band, The Bo-Weevils and The Ramrods, before (temporarily) settling on The Ravens.
The fledgling group hired two managers, Grenville Collins and Robert Wace, and in late 1963 former pop singer Larry Page
Larry Page (British singer and manager)
Larry Page is an English former pop singer and record producer of the late 1950s and 1960s.-Biography:...
signed on as their third. American record producer Shel Talmy
Shel Talmy
Shel Talmy is an American record producer, songwriter, arranger best known for his work in London with The Who and The Kinks in the 1960s, with a role in many other English bands including Cat Stevens and Pentangle...
began working with the band, and The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' promoter, Arthur Howes, was retained to schedule The Ravens' live shows. The group unsuccessfully auditioned for various record labels until early 1964, when Talmy secured them a contract with Pye Records
Pye Records
Pye Records was a British record label. In its first incarnation, perhaps Pye's best known artists were Lonnie Donegan , Petula Clark , The Searchers , The Kinks , Sandie Shaw and Brotherhood of Man...
. During this period they had acquired a new drummer, Mickey Willet; however, Willet left the band shortly before they signed to Pye. The Ravens invited Mick Avory to replace him after seeing an advertisement Avory had placed in Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
. Avory had a background in jazz drumming, and had played one gig with the fledgling Rolling Stones.
Around this period, The Ravens decided on a new, permanent name: The Kinks. Numerous explanations of the name's genesis have been offered. In Jon Savage
Jon Savage
Jon Savage , real name Jonathon Sage, is a Cambridge-educated writer, broadcaster and music journalist, best known for his award winning history of the Sex Pistols and punk music, England's Dreaming, published in 1991.-Career:...
's analysis, "[They] needed a gimmick, some edge to get them attention. Here it was: 'Kinkiness'—something newsy, naughty but just on the borderline of acceptability. In adopting the 'Kinks' as their name at that time, they were participating in a time-honoured pop ritual—fame through outrage." Manager Robert Wace related his side of the story: "I had a friend. ... He thought the group was rather fun. If my memory is correct, he came up with the name just as an idea, as a good way of getting publicity. ... When we went to [the band members] with the name, they were ... absolutely horrified. They said, 'We're not going to be called kinky! Ray Davies' account conflicts with Wace's—he recalled that the name was coined by Larry Page, and referenced their "kinky" fashion sense. Davies quoted him as saying, "The way you look, and the clothes you wear, you ought to be called the Kinks." "I've never really liked the name," Ray stated.
Breakthrough and American touring ban (1964–1966)
The Kinks' first single was a cover of the Little RichardLittle Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
song "Long Tall Sally
Long Tall Sally
"Long Tall Sally" is a rock and roll 12-bar blues song written by Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, Enotris Johnson and Richard Penniman , recorded by Little Richard and released March 1956 on the Specialty Records label....
". Bobby Graham
Bobby Graham
Bobby Graham was an English session drummer, composer, arranger and record producer. Shel Talmy, who produced The Kinks, David Bowie and The Who, described Graham as "the greatest drummer the UK has ever produced."...
, a friend of the band, was recruited to play drums on the recording. He would continue to occasionally substitute for Avory in the studio and play on several of The Kinks' early singles. "Long Tall Sally" was released in February 1964, but despite the publicity efforts of the band's managers, the single was almost completely ignored. When their second single, "You Still Want Me
You Still Want Me
"You Still Want Me" is a single by The Kinks released in 1964. It was their second record, and failed to chart upon release. This prompted Pye Records to consider dropping the fledgling group. However, the massive success of the band's next single, "You Really Got Me", ensured their tenure with...
", failed to chart, Pye Records threatened to annul the group's contract unless their third single was successful.
"You Really Got Me
You Really Got Me
"You Really Got Me" is a rock song written by Ray Davies and performed by his band, The Kinks. It was released on 4th August 1964 as the group's third single, and reached Number 1 on the UK singles chart the next month, remaining for two weeks...
" was released in August 1964, and, boosted by a performance on the television show Ready Steady Go!
Ready Steady Go!
Ready Steady Go! or simply RSG! was one of the UK's first rock/pop music TV programmes. It was conceived by Elkan Allan, head of Rediffusion TV. Allan was assisted by record producer/talent manager Vicki Wickham, who became the producer. It was broadcast from August 1963 until December 1966...
, quickly reached number one in the United Kingdom. Hastily imported by the American label Reprise Records
Reprise Records
Reprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...
, it also made the Top 10 in the United States. The loud, distorted guitar riff—achieved by a slice Dave Davies made in the speaker cone of his Elpico amplifier (referred to by the band as the "little green amp")—gave the song its signature, gritty guitar sound. Extremely influential on the American garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
scene, "You Really Got Me" has been described as "a blueprint song in the hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
and heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
arsenal". Soon after its release, the group recorded most of the tracks for their debut LP, simply titled Kinks. Consisting largely of covers and revamped traditional songs, it was released on 2 October 1964, reaching number four on the UK chart. The group's fourth single, "All Day and All of the Night
All Day and All of the Night
"All Day and All of the Night" is a song by the British band The Kinks from 1964. It can be found on their debut album "Kinks". It reached #2 on the UK Singles Chart and #7 on Billboards United States chart in 1965....
", another original hard rock tune, was released three weeks later, reaching number two in the United Kingdom, and number seven in the United States. The next singles, "Set Me Free" and "Tired of Waiting for You
Tired of Waiting for You
"Tired of Waiting for You" was a hit 1965 rock song by the English band The Kinks. It reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart and #6 in the USA. It was recorded late August 1964 at Pye Studios , London, with additional guitar overdub at IBC Studios, London on 29 December 1964. "Come On Now" was recorded...
", were also commercially successful, the latter topping the UK singles chart.
The Kinks made their first tour of Australia and New Zealand in January 1965 as part of a package bill that included Manfred Mann
Manfred Mann
Manfred Mann was a British beat, rhythm and blues and pop band of the 1960s, named after their South African keyboardist, Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band...
and The Honeycombs
The Honeycombs
The Honeycombs were an English beat/pop group, founded in 1963 in North London. The group had one chart-topping hit, the million selling "Have I the Right?", in 1964. After that song the interest in the group ebbed away, and they split up in late 1966...
. An intensive performing schedule saw them headline other package tours throughout the year with acts such as The Yardbirds
The Yardbirds
- Current :* Chris Dreja - rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Jim McCarty - drums, backing vocals * Ben King - lead guitar * David Smale - bass, backing vocals...
and Mickey Finn. Tensions began to emerge within the band, expressed in incidents such as the on-stage fight between Avory and Dave Davies at The Capitol Theatre, Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
, Wales on 19 May. After finishing the first song, "You Really Got Me", Davies insulted Avory and kicked over his drum set. Avory responded by hitting Davies with his hi-hat stand, rendering him unconscious, before fleeing from the scene, fearing that he had killed his bandmate. Davies was taken to Cardiff Royal Infirmary, where he received 16 stitches to his head. To placate the police, Avory later claimed that it was part of a new act in which the band members would hurl their instruments at each other. Following a mid-year tour of the United States, the American Federation of Musicians
American Federation of Musicians
The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada is a labor union of professional musicians in the United States and Canada...
refused permits for the group to appear in concerts there for the next four years, effectively cutting off The Kinks from the main market for rock music at the height of the British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
. Although neither The Kinks nor the union gave a specific reason for the ban, at the time it was widely attributed to their rowdy on-stage behaviour.
A stopover in Bombay, India, during the band's Australian and Asian tour had led Davies to write the song "See My Friends
See My Friends
"See My Friends" is a song by The Kinks, written by the group's singer and guitarist, Ray Davies. Released in 1965, it reached #10 on the UK Singles Chart...
", released as a single in July 1965. This was an early example of crossover music and one of the first pop songs of the period to display the direct influence of traditional music from the Indian subcontinent. In his autobiography, X-Ray, Davies noted he was inspired to write "See My Friends" after hearing the songs of local fishermen during an early morning walk:
Music historian Jonathan Bellman
Jonathan Bellman
Jonathan Bellman is a musicologist currently employed at the University of Northern Colorado and a widely acknowledged expert on exoticism and music....
argues that the song was "extremely influential" on Davies' musical peers: "And while much has been made of The Beatles' 'Norwegian Wood
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
"Norwegian Wood " is a song by The Beatles, first released on the 1965 album Rubber Soul....
' because it was the first pop record to use a sitar
Sitar
The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
, it was recorded well after The Kinks' clearly Indian 'See My Friends' was released." Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
of The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
was particularly affected by the song: See My Friends' was the next time I pricked up my ears and thought, 'God, he's done it again. He's invented something new.' That was the first reasonable use of the drone—far, far better than anything The Beatles did and far, far earlier. It was a European sound rather than an Eastern sound but with a strong, legitimate Eastern influence which had its roots in European folk music." In a widely quoted statement by Barry Fantoni
Barry Fantoni
Barry Ernest Fantoni is a writer, comic strip cartoonist and jazz musician of Italian and Jewish descent, most famous for his work with the magazine Private Eye, for whom he also created Neasden F.C. As of 2005 he remains a shareholder in the company that owns Private Eye, Pressdram Limited...
, 1960s celebrity and friend of The Kinks, The Beatles and The Who, he recalled that it was also an influence on The Beatles: "I remember it vividly and still think it's a remarkable pop song. I was with The Beatles the evening that they actually sat around listening to it on a gramophone, saying 'You know this guitar thing sounds like a sitar. We must get one of those. The song's radical departure from popular music conventions proved unpopular with the band's American following—it hit number 11 in the UK, but stalled at number 111 in the US.
Recording began promptly on the group's next project, Kinda Kinks
Kinda Kinks
Allmusic wrote that the album was uneven, but that "...what was first-rate was also highly memorable, and what wasn't also wasn't bad." They also made note of some maturing in Ray Davies's songwriting.-Side 1:# "Look for Me Baby" – 2:17...
, starting the day after their return from the Asian tour. The LP—10 of whose 12 songs were originals—was completed and released within two weeks. According to Ray Davies, the band was not completely satisfied with the final cuts, but pressure from the record company meant that no time was available to correct flaws in the mix. Davies later expressed his dissatisfaction with the production, saying, "a bit more care should have been taken with it. I think [producer] Shel Talmy
Shel Talmy
Shel Talmy is an American record producer, songwriter, arranger best known for his work in London with The Who and The Kinks in the 1960s, with a role in many other English bands including Cat Stevens and Pentangle...
went too far in trying to keep in the rough edges. Some of the double tracking on that is appalling. It had better songs on it than the first album, but it wasn't executed in the right way. It was just far too rushed."
A significant stylistic shift became evident in late 1965, with the appearance of singles like "A Well Respected Man
A Well Respected Man
"A Well Respected Man" is a song by the British band The Kinks, written by the group's lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ray Davies, and originally released on the U.K. EP Kwyet Kinks in September 1965 . It was released as a single in the U.S. during October of that same year and reached #13...
" and "Dedicated Follower of Fashion
Dedicated Follower of Fashion
"Dedicated Follower of Fashion" is a 1966 single by British band The Kinks. It lampoons the contemporary British fashion scene and mod culture in general...
", as well as the band's third album, The Kink Kontroversy
The Kink Kontroversy
The Kink Kontroversy is the third studio album by the English band The Kinks, released in 1965. It is a transitional work, with elements of both the earlier Kinks' styles and early indications of the future direction of Ray Davies songwriting...
, on which session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
Nicky Hopkins
Nicky Hopkins
Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins was an English pianist and organist.He recorded and performed on noted British and American popular music recordings of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as a session musician....
made his first appearance with the group on keyboards. These recordings exemplified the development of Davies' songwriting style, from hard-driving rock numbers toward songs rich in social commentary, observation and idiosyncratic character study, all with a uniquely English flavour. The satirical single "Sunny Afternoon
Sunny Afternoon
"Sunny Afternoon" is a song by The Kinks, written by chief songwriter Ray Davies. Like its contemporary "Taxman" by The Beatles, the song references the high levels of progressive tax taken by the British Labour government of Harold Wilson. The track later featured on the Face to Face album as well...
" was the biggest UK hit of summer 1966, topping the charts and displacing The Beatles' "Paperback Writer
Paperback Writer
"Paperback Writer" is a 1966 song recorded and released by The Beatles. Written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney, the song was released as the A-side of their eleventh single...
". Before the release of The Kink Kontroversy, Ray Davies suffered a nervous and physical breakdown, caused by the pressures of touring, writing and ongoing legal squabbles. During his months of recuperation, he wrote several new songs and pondered the band's direction. Quaife was involved in an automobile accident, and after his recovery decided to step back from the band for much of 1966. Bassist John Dalton
John Dalton (musician)
John Dalton is a British bass guitar player, best known as a member of The Kinks' from 1969 to 1976, replacing original member Pete Quaife.- Biography :...
filled in until Quaife returned to the group at the end of the year.
"Sunny Afternoon" was a dry run for the band's next album Face to Face
Face to Face (The Kinks album)
Face to Face, released in 1966 on Pye Records in the United Kingdom and on Reprise Records in the United States, is the fourth UK studio album by The Kinks. A major artistic breakthrough for Kinks' songwriter Ray Davies, the LP represents the first full flowering of Davies' use of narrative,...
, which displayed Davies' growing ability to craft gentle yet cutting narrative songs about everyday life and people. Hopkins returned for the sessions to play various keyboard instruments, including piano and harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
. He played on the band's next two studio albums as well, and featured on a number of their live BBC recordings before joining The Jeff Beck Group
The Jeff Beck Group
The Jeff Beck Group were an English rock band formed in London in January 1967 by former Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck. Their innovative approach to heavy sounding blues and R&B was a major influence on popular music.- The first Jeff Beck Group :...
in 1968. Face to Face was released in the UK in October 1966, where it was well received and peaked at number eight. It was released in the US in December and was tapped as a potential "chart winner" by Billboard magazine. Despite this it managed only a meager chart peak of 135—a sign of the band's flagging popularity in the American market. The Kinks' next single was a social commentary piece, entitled "Dead End Street
Dead End Street (song)
"Dead End Street" is a song by the British band The Kinks from 1966, written by main songwriter Ray Davies. Like many other songs written by Davies, it is slightly influenced by British Music Hall. It was originally released as a non-album single, but has since been included as one of several bonus...
". It was released in November 1966 and became another UK Top 10 hit, although it reached only number 73 in the United States. Melody Maker reviewer Bob Dawbarn praised Ray Davies' ability to create a song with "some fabulous lyrics and a marvelous melody ... combined with a great production," and music scholar Johnny Rogan
Johnny Rogan
Johnny Rogan is an author of Irish descent best known for his books about music and popular culture. He has written influential biographies of The Byrds, The Smiths and Van Morrison. His writing is characterised by "an almost neurotic attention to detail", epic length and a sometimes hostile...
described it as "a kitchen sink drama without the drama—a static vision of working class stoicism
Stoicism
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in the early . The Stoics taught that destructive emotions resulted from errors in judgment, and that a sage, or person of "moral and intellectual perfection," would not suffer such emotions.Stoics were concerned...
". One of the group's first promotional music videos was produced for the song. It was filmed on Little Green Street, a small 18th-century lane in North London, located off Highgate Road in Kentish Town
Kentish Town
Kentish Town is an area of north west London, England in the London Borough of Camden.-History:The most widely accepted explanation of the name of Kentish Town is that it derived from 'Ken-ditch' meaning the 'bed of a waterway'...
.
The Golden Age (1967–1972)
The Kinks' next single, "Waterloo SunsetWaterloo Sunset
Waterloo Sunset is a song by British rock band The Kinks. It was released as a single in 1967, and featured on their album Something Else by The Kinks...
", was released in May 1967. The lyrics describe two lovers passing over a bridge, with a melancholic observer reflecting on the couple, the Thames and Waterloo Station
Waterloo station
Waterloo station, also known as London Waterloo, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex. The station is owned and operated by Network Rail and is close to the South Bank of the River Thames, and in Travelcard Zone 1....
. The song was rumoured to have been inspired by the romance between two British celebrities of the time, actors Terence Stamp
Terence Stamp
Terence Henry Stamp is an English actor. Since starting his career in 1962 he has appeared in over 60 films. His title role as Billy Budd in his film debut earned Stamp an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and a BAFTA nomination for Best Newcomer.His other major roles include...
and Julie Christie
Julie Christie
Julie Frances Christie is a British actress. Born in British India to English parents, at the age of six Christie moved to England, where she attended boarding school....
. Ray Davies denied this in his autobiography, and claimed in a 2008 interview, "It was a fantasy about my sister going off with her boyfriend to a new world and they were going to emigrate and go to another country." Despite its complex arrangement, the sessions for "Waterloo Sunset" lasted a mere ten hours; Dave Davies later commented on the recording: "We spent a lot of time trying to get a different guitar sound, to get a more unique feel for the record. In the end we used a tape-delay echo, but it sounded new because nobody had done it since the 1950s. I remember Steve Marriott
Steve Marriott
Stephen Peter Marriott , popularly known as Steve Marriott, was an English musician, songwriter, and frontman of several notable rock and roll bands, spanning over two decades...
of the Small Faces came up and asked me how we'd got that sound. We were almost trendy for a while." The single was one of The Kinks' biggest UK successes (hitting number two on Melody Makers chart), and went on to become one of their most popular and best-known songs. Pop music journalist Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
called it "the most beautiful song in the English language", and Allmusic senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
cited it as "possibly the most beautiful song of the rock and roll era."
The songs on the 1967 album Something Else By The Kinks
Something Else by the Kinks
Something Else by The Kinks, often referred to as just Something Else, is the fifth UK studio album by English rock group The Kinks, released in September 1967. The album marks the final involvement of American producer Shel Talmy in The Kinks' 1960s studio recordings; henceforth Ray Davies would...
developed the musical progressions of Face to Face, adding English music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
influences to the band's sound. Dave Davies scored a major UK chart success with the album's "Death of a Clown". While it was co-written by Ray Davies and recorded by The Kinks, it was also released as a Dave Davies solo single. Overall, however, the album's commercial performance was disappointing, prompting The Kinks to rush out a new single, "Autumn Almanac
Autumn Almanac
"Autumn Almanac" is a pop song, written by Ray Davies and recorded by the musical group The Kinks in 1967. "Autumn Almanac" has since been noted for being an "absolute classic", "a finely observed slice of English custom", a "weird character study" and for its "mellow, melodic sound that was to...
", in early October. Backed with "Mister Pleasant
Mister Pleasant
"Mister Pleasant" is a song recorded by British rock group The Kinks in 1967, written by Ray Davies. It was released as a single in the US and mainland Europe but not in the UK. It was released in the UK six months later as the B-side to "Autumn Almanac"...
", the single quickly became another Top 5 success for the group. Andy Miller points out that, despite its success, the single marks a turning point in the band's career—it would be their last entry into the UK Top Ten for three years: "In retrospect, 'Autumn Almanac' marked the first hint of trouble for The Kinks. This glorious single, one of the greatest achievements of British 60s pop, was widely criticised at the time for being too similar to previous Davies efforts." Nick Jones of Melody Maker asked, "Is it time that Ray stopped writing about grey suburbanites going about their fairly unemotional daily business? ... Ray works to a formula, not a feeling, and it's becoming rather boring." Disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
Mike Ahern called the song "a load of old rubbish". Dave's second solo single, "Susannah's Still Alive
Susannah's Still Alive
"Susannah's Still Alive" is a song by the British musician Dave Davies and his group The Kinks. It was one of the few Kinks songs that was written by Davies, the brother of lead songwriter Ray Davies. The single was credited solely to Dave Davies and featured all of The Kinks as his backing band...
", was released in the UK on November 24. It sold a modest 59,000 copies, but failed to reach the Top 10. Miller states that "by the end of the year, The Kinks were rapidly sliding out of fashion."
Beginning early in 1968, the group largely retired from touring, instead focusing on work in the studio. As the band was not available to promote their material, subsequent releases met with little success. The Kinks' next single, "Wonderboy", released in the spring of 1968, stalled at number 36 and became the band's first single not to make the UK Top Twenty since their early covers. Despite this, it became a favourite of John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
of The Beatles. According to Ray Davies, "Someone had seen John Lennon in a club and he kept on asking the disc jockey to play 'Wonder Boy' over and over again". However, the band's own opinion of the track was low—Pete Quaife later stated, "[I] hated it ... it was horrible." In the face of The Kinks' declining popularity, Davies continued to pursue his deeply personal songwriting style while rebelling against the heavy demands placed on him to keep producing commercial hits, and the group continued to devote time to the studio, centring on a slowly developing project of Ray's called Village Green. In an attempt to revive the group's commercial standing, The Kinks' management booked them on a month-long package tour for April, drawing the group away from the studio. The venues were largely cabarets and clubs; headlining was Peter Frampton
Peter Frampton
Peter Kenneth Frampton is an English musician, singer, producer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. He was previously associated with the bands Humble Pie and The Herd. Frampton's international breakthrough album was his live release, Frampton Comes Alive!. The album sold over 6 million copies...
's group The Herd
The Herd (UK band)
The Herd were an English psychedelic rock group, founded in 1965, that came to prominence in the late 1960s. They launched the career of Peter Frampton and scored three UK top twenty hits.-Biography:...
. "In general, the teenybopper
Teenybopper
The term teenybopper was invented by marketing professionals and psychologists, later becoming a subculture of its own. The term describes a young teenager, particularly a girl, who follows adolescent trends in music, fashion and culture. The term was introduced in the 1950s to refer to teenagers...
s were not there to see the boring old Kinks, who occasionally had to endure chants of "We Want The Herd!" during their brief appearances," commented Andy Miller. The tour proved taxing and stressful—Pete Quaife recalled, "It was a chore, very dull, boring and straightforward. ... We only did twenty minutes, but it used to drive me absolutely frantic, standing on stage and playing three notes over and over again." At the end of June, The Kinks released the single "Days
Days (The Kinks song)
Kirsty MacColl covered "Days" on her 1989 album Kite. It was released as a single and reached #12 on the UK singles chart, the same position achieved by The Kinks in 1969. It was re-released in 1995, charting much lower, only reaching #42 in the UK...
", which provided a minor, but only momentary, comeback for the group. "I remember playing it when I was at Fortis Green the first time I had a tape of it," Ray said. "I played it to Brian, who used to be our roadie, and his wife and two daughters. They were crying at the end of it. Really wonderful—like going to Waterloo and seeing the sunset. ... It's like saying goodbye to somebody, then afterwards feeling the fear that you actually are alone." "Days" reached number 12 in the United Kingdom and was a Top 20 hit in several other countries, but it did not chart in the United States.
Village Green eventually morphed into their next album, The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society is the sixth studio album by the English rock group The Kinks, released in November 1968. It was the last album by the original quartet, as bassist Pete Quaife left the group in early 1969...
, released in late 1968 in the UK. A collection of thematic vignettes of English town and hamlet life, it was assembled from songs written and recorded over the previous two years. It was greeted with almost unanimously positive reviews from both UK and US rock critics, yet failed to sell strongly. One factor in the album's initial commercial failure was the lack of a popular single. It did not include the moderately successful "Days"; "Starstruck" was released in North America and continental Europe, but was unsuccessful. Though a commercial disappointment, Village Green (the project's original name was adopted as shorthand for the long album title) was embraced by the new underground rock press when it came out in January 1969 in the United States, where The Kinks began to acquire a reputation as a cult band. In The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, a newly hired Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
called it "the best album of the year so far". The underground Boston paper Fusion published a review stating, "The Kinks continue, despite the odds, the bad press and their demonstrated lot, to come across. ... Their persistence is dignified, their virtues are stoic. The Kinks are forever, only for now in modern dress." The record did not escape criticism, however. In the student paper California Tech, one writer commented that it was "schmaltz rock ... without imagination, poorly arranged and a poor copy of The Beatles". Although it sold only an estimated 100,000 copies worldwide on its initial release, it has since become The Kinks' best-selling original record. The album remains popular; in 2004, it was re-released in a 3-CD "Deluxe" edition and one of its tracks, "Picture Book", was featured in a popular Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
television commercial, helping to boost the album's popularity considerably.
In early 1969, Quaife told the band he was leaving. The other members did not take his statement seriously, until an article appeared in New Musical Express on 4 April featuring Quaife's new band, Maple Oak, which he had formed without telling the rest of The Kinks. Ray Davies pleaded with him to return for the sessions for their upcoming album, but Quaife refused. Davies immediately called up John Dalton, who had filled in for Quaife in the past, as a replacement. Dalton remained with the group until 1977, when the album Sleepwalker
Sleepwalker (The Kinks album)
Sleepwalker is a 1977 album by the English rock group, The Kinks. It marked a return to straight-ahead, self-contained rock songs after several years of concept albums. It is the first album in what critics usually call the "arena rock" phase of the group, in which more commercial and mainstream...
was released.
Ray Davies travelled to Los Angeles, California, in April 1969 to help negotiate an end to the American Federation of Musicians' ban on the group, opening up an opportunity for them to return to touring in America. The group's management quickly made plans for a North American tour, to help restore their standing in the US pop music scene. Before their return to the United States, The Kinks recorded another album, Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
Arthur is the seventh studio album by English rock band The Kinks, released in October 1969. Kinks frontman Ray Davies constructed the concept album as the soundtrack to a Granada Television play and developed the storyline with novelist Julian Mitchell; however, the television programme was...
. As with the previous two albums, Arthur was grounded in characteristically English lyrical and musical hooks
Hook (music)
A hook is a musical idea, often a short riff, passage, or phrase, that is used in popular music to make a song appealing and to "catch the ear of the listener". The term generally applies to popular music, especially rock music, hip hop, dance music, and pop. In these genres, the hook is often...
. A modest commercial success, it was well received by American music critics. Conceived as the score for a proposed but unrealised television drama, much of the album revolved around themes from the Davies brothers' childhood; their sister Rosie, who had migrated to Australia in the early 1960s with her husband, Arthur Anning, the album's namesake; and life growing up during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The Kinks embarked on their tour of the US in October 1969. The tour was generally unsuccessful, as the group struggled to find cooperative promoters and interested audiences; many of the scheduled concert dates were cancelled. The band did, however, manage to play a few major underground venues such as the Fillmore East
Fillmore East
The Fillmore East was rock promoter Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue near East 6th Street in the East Village neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City. It was open from 1968 to 1971, and featured some of the biggest acts in rock music at the time...
and Whisky A Go Go
Whisky a Go Go
The Whisky a Go Go is a nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard, on the Sunset Strip.-History:...
.
The band added keyboardist John Gosling
John Gosling
not to be confused with John Gostling John Gosling , is an English classically trained organist and pianist....
to their line-up in early 1970; before this Nicky Hopkins, along with Ray, had done most of the session work on keyboards. In May 1970 Gosling debuted with The Kinks on "Lola
Lola (song)
"Lola" is a song written by Ray Davies and performed by The Kinks which details a romantic encounter between a young man and a transvestite he meets in a club in Soho, London....
", an account of a confused romantic encounter with a transvestite
Transvestism
Transvestism is the practice of cross-dressing, which is wearing clothing traditionally associated with the opposite sex. Transvestite refers to a person who cross-dresses; however, the word often has additional connotations. -History:Although the word transvestism was coined as late as the 1910s,...
, that became both a UK and US Top 10 hit, helping return The Kinks to the public eye. The lyrics originally contained the word "Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
", and as a result the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
refused to broadcast the song, considering it to be in violation of their policy against product placement
Product placement
Product placement, or embedded marketing, is a form of advertisement, where branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads, such as movies, music videos, the story line of television shows, or news programs. The product placement is often not disclosed at the time that the...
. Part of the song was hastily re-recorded by Ray Davies, with the offending line changed to the generic "cherry cola", although in concert, The Kinks still used "Coca-Cola". Recordings of both versions of "Lola" exist. The accompanying album Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One
Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One
Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part OneAlternatively titled Kinks Part One: Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround; commonly abbreviated to Lola Versus Powerman is the eighth studio album by British rock band The Kinks, recorded and released in 1970...
was released in November 1970. It was a critical and commercial success, charting in the Top 40 in America, making it their most successful album since the mid-1960s. After the success of "Lola", the band went on to release Percy
Percy (soundtrack)
Percy is a 1971 film soundtrack for the British comedy film Percy performed by English rock group the Kinks with additional orchestral arrangements conducted by Stanley Myers. The songs were written by Ray Davies and include both standard pop songs and instrumental numbers.-Release and...
in 1971, a soundtrack album to a film of the same name
Percy (1971 film)
Percy is a British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas starring Hywel Bennett, Denholm Elliott, Elke Sommer and Britt Ekland.Percy , an innocent and shy young man, is hit by a nude man falling from a high-rise building while carrying a chandelier...
about a penis transplant. The album, which consisted largely of instrumentals, did not receive positive reviews. The band's US label, Reprise, declined to release it in America, precipitating a major dispute that contributed to the band's departure from the label. Directly after the release of the album, the band's contracts with Pye and Reprise expired.
Before the end of 1971, The Kinks signed a five-album deal with RCA Records and received a million-dollar advance, which helped fund the construction of their own recording studio, Konk
Konk (recording)
Konk is the name of a recording studio and record label, established and managed by members of British Rock group The Kinks.- Konk Studios :In 1971, The Kinks left Pye Records for a five-album stint with RCA, who offered them a million-dollar advance...
. Their debut for RCA, Muswell Hillbillies
Muswell Hillbillies
Muswell Hillbillies is the ninth studio album by the English rock group The Kinks, released in November 1971. The album is named after the Muswell Hill area of North London, where band leader Ray Davies and guitarist Dave Davies grew up and the band formed in the early 1960s.The album centred on...
, was replete with the influence of music hall and traditional American musical styles, including country and bluegrass. It is often hailed as their last great record, though it was not as successful as its predecessors. It was named after the Davies brothers' birthplace in Muswell Hill and contained songs focusing on working-class life and, again, the Davies childhood. Muswell Hillbillies, despite positive reviews and high expectations, peaked at number 48 on the Record World
Record World
Record World magazine was one of the three main music industry trade publications in the United States, along with Billboard and Cash Box magazines. It was founded in 1946 under the name Music Vendor, but since 1964 changed it to Record World, under the ownership of Sid Parnes and Bob Austin, both...
chart and number 100 on the Billboard chart. It was followed in 1972 by a double album, Everybody's in Show-Biz
Everybody's in Show-Biz
Everybody's in Show-Biz is the tenth studio album released by English rock group The Kinks, released in 1972. A double album, the first disc features studio recordings, while the second disc documents a two-night Carnegie Hall stand....
, which consisted of both studio tracks and live numbers recorded during a two-night stand at Carnegie Hall. The record featured the ballad "Celluloid Heroes
Celluloid Heroes
"Celluloid Heroes" is a song performed by The Kinks and written by their lead vocalist and principal songwriter, Ray Davies. It debuted on their 1972 album Everybody's in Show-Biz.-Lyrical themes:...
" and the Caribbean-themed "Supersonic Rocket Ship", their last UK Top 20 hit for more than a decade. "Celluloid Heroes" was a bittersweet rumination on dead Hollywood stars in which the narrator declares that he wishes his life were like a movie, "because celluloid heroes never feel any pain ... and celluloid heroes never really die." The album was moderately successful in the United States, peaking at number 47 in Record World and number 70 in Billboard. It marks the transition between the band's early 1970s rock material and the theatrical incarnation in which they immersed themselves for the next four years.
Theatrical incarnation (1973–1976)
In 1973, Ray Davies dived headlong into the theatrical style, beginning with the rock opera Preservation, a sprawling chronicle of social revolution, and a more ambitious outgrowth of the earlier Village Green Preservation Society ethos. In conjunction with the Preservation project, The Kinks' line-up was expanded to include a horn section and female backup singers, essentially reconfiguring the group as a theatrical troupe.Ray's marital problems during this period began to affect the band adversely, particularly after his wife, Rasa, took their children and left him in June 1973. Davies went into a state of depression, culminating in a public outburst during a July gig at White City Stadium
White City Stadium
White City Stadium was built in White City, London, for the 1908 Summer Olympics, often seen as the precursor to the modern seater stadium and noted for hosting the finish of the first modern distance marathon. It also hosted speedway and a match at the 1966 World Cup, before the stadium was...
. According to a Melody Maker review of the concert, "Davies swore on stage. He stood at The White City and swore that he was 'F...... sick of the whole thing'. ... He was 'Sick up to here with it' ... and those that heard shook their heads." At the show's conclusion, as pretaped music played on the sound system, he declared that he was quitting. Sounds magazine reported that Ray looked "haggard and ill" before he kissed Dave Davies "gently on the cheek, and then delivered the bombshell". Ray subsequently collapsed after a drug overdose and was rushed to hospital. Dave later commented in an interview about the incident:
God, that was horrible. That was when Ray tried to top himself. I thought he looked a bit weird after the show—I didn't know that he'd taken a whole bloody bottle of weird-looking psychiatric pills. It was a bad time. Ray suddenly announced that he was going to end it all—it was around that time that his first wife left him. ... She'd left him and taken the kids on his birthday, just to twist the blade in a little more. ... I think he took the pills before the show. I said to him towards the end that he was getting a bit crazy. I didn't know what happened—I suddenly got a phone call saying he was in the hospital. I remember going to the hospital after they'd pumped his stomach and it was bad.
With Ray Davies in a seemingly critical condition, plans were discussed for Dave to continue as frontman in a worst-case scenario. Ray eventually pulled through and recovered from his illness as well as his depression, but throughout the remainder of The Kinks' theatrical incarnation the band's output remained uneven, and their already fading popularity declined even more. John Dalton later commented that when Davies "decided to work again ... I don't think he was totally better, and he's been a different person ever since."
Preservation Act 1 was released in late 1973 to generally poor reviews, and its sequel, Preservation Act 2
Preservation Act 2
Preservation Act 2 is a 1974 concept album by British rock band The Kinks. It was not well-received by critics and sold poorly , though the live performances of the material were much better received...
, appeared in May 1974 to a similar reception. It was the first album recorded at Konk Studio; from this point forward, virtually every Kinks studio recording was produced by Ray Davies at Konk. The Kinks embarked on an ambitious US tour throughout late 1974, adapting the Preservation story for stage. Musicologist Eric Weisbard: "[Ray] Davies expanded the Kinks into a road troupe of perhaps a dozen costumed actors, singers and horn players. ... Smoother and tighter than on record, Preservation live proved funnier as well."
Davies soon began another project for Granada Television, a musical called Starmaker. After a broadcast with Ray Davies in the starring role and The Kinks as both back-up band and ancillary characters, the project eventually morphed into the concept album The Kinks Present a Soap Opera
Soap Opera (album)
Soap Opera or The Kinks Present a Soap Opera is a 1975 concept album by The Kinks.It tells the story of a musician named Starmaker who changes places with an "ordinary man" named Norman in order to better understand life. The album is the third concept album in the band's "theatrical period"...
, released in May 1975, in which Ray Davies fantasised about what would happen if a rock star traded places with a "normal Norman" and took a 9–5 job. In August 1975, The Kinks recorded their final theatrical work, Schoolboys in Disgrace
Schoolboys in Disgrace
Schoolboys in Disgrace or The Kinks Present Schoolboys in Disgrace is a 1975 album by English rock group The Kinks.According to the back cover liner notes, the story which the album presents is as follows:...
, a backstory biography of Preservation's Mr Flash. The record was a modest success, peaking at number 45 on the Billboard charts. Following the termination of their contract with RCA, The Kinks signed with Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
in 1976. With the encouragement of Arista's management they stripped back down to a five-man core group and were reborn as an arena rock
Arena rock
Arena rock is a term used to describe rock music that utilised large arena venues, particularly sports venues, for concerts or series of concerts linked in tours...
band. During this period, heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
achieved a Top 40 hit with a cover of "You Really Got Me" (and their subsequent debut album, Van Halen
Van Halen (album)
Van Halen is the debut studio album by American rock band Van Halen, released in February 1978.- History :Recorded in 1977, Van Halen sold over 10 million copies in the US alone, becoming one of the most successful debuts by a rock band. Along with 1984, it gives Van Halen two original albums with...
, which included the track, hit number 19 on Billboard), boosting The Kinks' commercial resurgence.
Return to commercial success (1977–1985)
John Dalton left the band before finishing the sessions for the debut Arista album. Andy PyleAndy Pyle
Andy Pyle is an English bass guitarist. He played with The Kinks from 1976–1978. Prior to that, he was in Blodwyn Pig and Savoy Brown...
was brought in to complete the sessions and to play on the subsequent tour. Sleepwalker
Sleepwalker (The Kinks album)
Sleepwalker is a 1977 album by the English rock group, The Kinks. It marked a return to straight-ahead, self-contained rock songs after several years of concept albums. It is the first album in what critics usually call the "arena rock" phase of the group, in which more commercial and mainstream...
, released in 1977, marked a return to success for the group as it peaked at number 21 on the Billboard chart. Soon after its release and the recording of its followup, Misfits
Misfits (The Kinks album)
Misfits is a 1978 album by the English rock group The Kinks.-Track listing:On the UK version of the LP, a longer version of "Live Life" switches places with "Black Messiah". Remastered CD releases have the UK LP track order and include the shorter "Live Life" as a bonus track...
, Andy Pyle and keyboardist John Gosling left the group to work together on a separate project. Dalton returned to complete the tour and ex–Pretty Things
The Pretty Things
The Pretty Things are an English rock and roll band from London, who originally formed in 1963. They took their name from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing" and, in their early days, were dubbed by the British press the "uglier cousins of the Rolling Stones". Their most commercially successful...
keyboardist Gordon John Edwards joined the band. In May 1978, Misfits, The Kinks' second Arista album, was released. It included the US Top 40 hit "A Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy", which helped make the record another success for the band. Dalton left the band permanently at the end of their UK tour, and Gordon John Edwards soon followed. Ex-Argent
Argent (band)
Argent are an English rock band founded in 1969 by keyboardist Rod Argent, formerly of The Zombies.-Career:The first three demos from Argent, recorded in the autumn of 1968 featured Mac MacLeod on bass guitar though he was not meant to become a member of the group.Original members of the band were...
bassist Jim Rodford
Jim Rodford
Jim Rodford is a musician who played with The Kinks, The Swinging Blue Jeans and was a founding member of Argent...
joined the band before the recording of Low Budget
Low Budget (album)
Low Budget is a 1979 album by the English rock group, The Kinks. It was a great success for the group, becoming their best-selling non-compilation album, peaking at #11 on the US album charts.-Track listing:-Personnel:...
, on which Ray Davies played the keyboard sections. Keyboardist Ian Gibbons
Ian Gibbons
Ian Gibbons is an English keyboardist, most notable for playing with The Kinks.Gibbons began playing the accordion at the age 9, playing in the school band, and solo at music festivals, competitions and charity events. At the age of 14, he started a school rock band, playing guitar and singing...
was recruited for the subsequent tour, and soon became a permanent member of the group. Despite the personnel changes, the popularity of the band's records and live shows continued to grow.
Beginning in the late 1970s, bands such as The Jam
The Jam
The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...
("David Watts"), The Pretenders
The Pretenders
The Pretenders are an English rock band formed in Hereford, England in March 1978. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde , James Honeyman-Scott , Pete Farndon , and Martin Chambers...
("Stop Your Sobbing", "I Go to Sleep") and The Knack
The Knack
The Knack was an American New Wave rock quartet based in Los Angeles that rose to fame with their first single, "My Sharona", an international number one hit in 1979.-Founding :...
("The Hard Way") recorded covers of Kinks songs, which helped bring attention to the group's new releases. In 1978, Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
covered "You Really Got Me" for their debut single, a Top 40 U.S. hit (the band later covered "Where Have All the Good Times Gone
Where Have All The Good Times Gone
"Where Have All the Good Times Gone" is a song written by Ray Davies and performed with The Kinks. It was first released as the B-side to "Till the End of the Day," and was then included on their album The Kink Kontroversy in 1965 ....
", another early Kinks song). The hard rock sound of Low Budget, released in 1979, helped make it the Kinks' second gold album and highest charting original album in America, where it peaked at number 11. In 1980, the group's third live album, One for the Road
One for the Road (The Kinks album)
In their brief review, Allmusic wrote that "One for the Road is a fascinating document of trailblazing elder statesmen who paved the way for heavy metal and punk, but never felt a glorious pop song was out of their grasp."-Track listing:...
, was produced, along with a video of the same title, bringing the group's concert-drawing power to a peak that would last into 1983. Dave Davies also took advantage of the group's improved commercial standing to fulfill his decade-long ambitions to release albums of his solo work. The first was the eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
ous Dave Davies in 1980. It was also known by its catalogue number "AFL1-3603" because of its cover art, which depicted Dave Davies as a leather-jacketed piece of price-scanning barcode. He produced another, less successful, solo album in 1981, Glamour.
The next Kinks album, Give the People What They Want
Give the People What They Want
-Personnel:*Ray Davies - guitar, keyboards, vocals*Dave Davies - guitar, vocals*Jim Rodford - bass*Mick Avory - drums*Ian Gibbons - keyboards...
, was released in late 1981 and reached number 15 in the US. The record attained gold status and featured the UK hit single "Better Things" as well as "Destroyer
Destroyer (The Kinks song)
"Destroyer" is a song by British rock band The Kinks, written by Ray Davies. It was released as a track on the group's nineteenth album, Give the People What They Want, in August 1981, and was the album's lead single in the US...
", a major Mainstream Rock
Mainstream rock
Mainstream rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada.-Format background:...
hit for the group. To promote the album, The Kinks spent the end of 1981 and most of 1982 touring relentlessly, and played multiple sell-out concerts throughout Australia, Japan, England and America. The tour culminated with a performance at the US Festival
US Festival
The US Festivals were two early 1980s music and culture festivals sponsored by Steve Wozniak, formerly of Apple Computer. The first was held Labor Day weekend in September 1982 and the second was Memorial Day weekend in May 1983...
in San Bernardino, California, for a crowd of 205,000. In spring 1983, the song "Come Dancing
Come Dancing (song)
"Come Dancing" is a 1982 recording by British rock group The Kinks; a 1983 hit single in both the US and the UK, the track was included on the album State of Confusion.-Song themes and meaning:...
" became their biggest American hit since "Tired of Waiting for You", peaking at number six. It also became the group's first Top 20 hit in the UK since 1972, peaking at number 12 in the charts. The accompanying album, State of Confusion
State of Confusion
State of Confusion is a 1983 album by the English rock group, The Kinks. The record featured the single "Come Dancing", which hit #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was one of the band's biggest hit singles in the United States, equaling the 1965 peak of "Tired of Waiting for You". The album itself...
, was another commercial success, reaching number 12 in the US, but, like all of the group's albums since 1967, it failed to chart in the UK. Another single released from the record, "Don't Forget to Dance", became a US top 30 hit and minor UK chart entry.
The Kinks' second wave of popularity remained at a peak with State of Confusion, but that success soon begin to fade, a trend that also affected their British rock contemporaries The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
and The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
at the time. During the second half of 1983, Ray Davies started work on an ambitious solo film project, Return to Waterloo
Return to Waterloo
Return to Waterloo is an album and hour-long film by Kinks' leader and chief songwriter Ray Davies. Several of the tracks on the album release were also available in near-identical form on The Kinks 1984 release Word of Mouth...
, about a London commuter who daydreams that he is a serial murderer. The film gave actor Tim Roth
Tim Roth
Simon Timothy "Tim" Roth is an English film actor and director best known for his roles in the American films,Legend of 1900, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Four Rooms, Skellig, Planet of the Apes, The Incredible Hulk and Rob Roy, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for...
a significant early role. Davies' commitment to writing, directing and scoring the new work caused tension in his relationship with his brother. Another problem was the stormy end of the relationship between Ray Davies and Chrissie Hynde
Chrissie Hynde
Christine Ellen "Chrissie" Hynde is an US musician best known as the leader of the rock/new wave band the Pretenders. She is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, and has been the only constant member of the band throughout its history.-Early life and career:Hynde is the daughter of a part-time...
. The old feud between Dave Davies and drummer Mick Avory also re-ignited. Davies eventually refused to work with Avory, and called for him to be replaced by Bob Henrit
Bob Henrit
Bob Henrit is an English drummer who has been a member of several musical groups, including Buster Meikle & The Daybreakers, The Hunters, Unit 4 + 2, The Roulettes, Argent and The Kinks....
, former drummer of Argent
Argent (band)
Argent are an English rock band founded in 1969 by keyboardist Rod Argent, formerly of The Zombies.-Career:The first three demos from Argent, recorded in the autumn of 1968 featured Mac MacLeod on bass guitar though he was not meant to become a member of the group.Original members of the band were...
(of which Jim Rodford had also been a member). Avory left the band, and Henrit was brought in to take his place. Ray Davies, who was still on amiable terms with Avory, invited him to manage Konk Studios. Avory accepted, and continued to serve as a producer and occasional contributor on later Kinks albums.
Between the completion of Return to Waterloo and Avory's departure, the band had begun work on Word of Mouth
Word of Mouth (The Kinks album)
Word of Mouth is a 1984 album by the English rock group, The Kinks.-Track listing:-Personnel:*Ray Davies - guitar, keyboards, harmonica, vocals*Dave Davies - guitar, background vocals*Jim Rodford - bass, background vocals*Mick Avory - drums...
, their final Arista album, released in November 1984. As a result it features Avory on three tracks, with Henrit and a drum machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
on the rest. Many of the songs also appeared as solo recordings on Ray Davies' Return to Waterloo soundtrack album. Word of Mouths lead track, "Do it Again", was released as a single in April 1985. It reached number 41 in the US, the band's last entry into the Billboard Hot 100.
Coinciding with the album's release, the first three books on The Kinks were published. The Kinks: The Official Biography, by Jon Savage
Jon Savage
Jon Savage , real name Jonathon Sage, is a Cambridge-educated writer, broadcaster and music journalist, best known for his award winning history of the Sex Pistols and punk music, England's Dreaming, published in 1991.-Career:...
, drew on extensive interviews with members of the band. Ray Davies had even helped Savage and his agent set up the book deal. However, shortly before the publication date, he tried three times to halt its release. The Observer reported that "first was an objection to the text, even though the singer had approved it earlier. ... Then there came a threatened injunction ... because of objections to some of the photographs. Then there was a curious demand [for a] £50,000 permission fee for quoting some lyrics." The threats were dismissed, and publication went forward. Appearing soon after were The Kinks Kronikles, by rock critic John Mendelsohn
John Mendelsohn
John Ned Mendelsohn is an American writer, journalist, musician and graphic designer, best known for his rock criticism in Rolling Stone. Critic Barney Hoskyns has called him "one of the funniest writers in English"....
, who had compiled and written the liner notes to a similarly titled compilation album
The Kink Kronikles
The Kink Kronikles is a USA compilation double album of singles, B-sides, album tracks and previously unreleased tracks recorded by The Kinks between 1966 and 1970...
released in 1972; and The Kinks—The Sound And The Fury (The Kinks—A Mental Institution in the US), by Johnny Rogan
Johnny Rogan
Johnny Rogan is an author of Irish descent best known for his books about music and popular culture. He has written influential biographies of The Byrds, The Smiths and Van Morrison. His writing is characterised by "an almost neurotic attention to detail", epic length and a sometimes hostile...
.
Decline in popularity and split (1986–1996)
In early 1986, the group signed with MCA RecordsMCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
in the United States and London Records in the UK. Their first album for the new labels, Think Visual
Think Visual
Think Visual is an album by English rock band, The Kinks, released in 1986.-Track listing:All songs by Ray Davies, except as noted.#"Working at the Factory" – 2:58#"Lost and Found" – 5:19#"Repetition" – 4:06#"Welcome to Sleazy Town" – 3:50...
, released later that year, was a moderate success, peaking at number 81 on the Billboard albums chart. Songs like the ballad "Lost and Found" and "Working at the Factory" concerned blue-collar life on an assembly line, while the title track was an attack on the very MTV video culture from which the band had profited earlier in the decade. The Kinks followed Think Visual in 1987 with another live album, The Road, which was a mediocre commercial and critical performer. In 1989, The Kinks released UK Jive
UK Jive
UK Jive is a 1989 album by the English rock group, The Kinks. It was the first album in almost three years since the 1986 album, Think Visual...
, a commercial failure, making only a momentary entry into the album charts at number 122. MCA Records ultimately dropped them, leaving The Kinks scrambling to find a label deal for the first time in over a quarter of a century. Longtime keyboardist Ian Gibbons left the group and was replaced by Mark Haley.
In 1990, their first year of eligibility, The Kinks were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Mick Avory and Pete Quaife were present for the award. The induction, however, did not resuscitate The Kinks' stalled career. A compilation from the MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
period was produced in 1991, titled Lost & Found (1986-1989)
Lost & Found (1986-1989)
Lost & Found was a compilation album by the English rock music group The Kinks. The album appeared in 1991 and covered the best of their material during their period with MCA records.-Track listing:# "The Road" – 6:07# "UK Jive" – 3:45...
. It was primarily released to fulfill contractual obligations, and marked the official end of the group's relationship with MCA. The band then signed with Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
and released the five-song EP Did Ya in 1991 which, despite being coupled with a new studio re-recording of the band's 1968 British hit "Days", failed to chart.
The Kinks reverted to a four-piece band for the recording of their first Columbia album, Phobia
Phobia (The Kinks album)
Phobia, released in 1993, was the twenty-third and final studio album by English rock group The Kinks before they disbanded three years later in 1996.-Track listing:All songs by Ray Davies, except as noted# "Opening" – 0:38# "Wall of Fire" – 5:01...
, in 1993. Following Mark Haley's departure after the band's sellout performance at the Royal Albert Hall, London, Gibbons rejoined The Kinks for a US tour. Phobia managed only one week in the US Billboard chart at number 166; as had by then become usual for the band, it made no impression in the UK. One single, "Only a Dream", narrowly failed to reach the British chart. "Scattered", the album's final candidate for release as a single, was announced, followed by TV and radio promotion, but the record was unavailable in stores—several months later a small number appeared on the collector market. The group was dropped by Columbia in 1994. In the same year, the band released the first version of the album To the Bone
To the Bone (The Kinks album)
To the Bone is a 1994 album by English rock group The Kinks. It was the band's final release before their breakup in 1996.Included are concert recordings plus live-in-studio acoustic reworkings of other songs, a popular trend in the 1990s among established acts due to MTV's Unplugged. In 1996, an...
on their own Konk
Konk (recording)
Konk is the name of a recording studio and record label, established and managed by members of British Rock group The Kinks.- Konk Studios :In 1971, The Kinks left Pye Records for a five-album stint with RCA, who offered them a million-dollar advance...
label in the UK. This live acoustic album was partly recorded on the highly successful UK tours of 1993 and 1994 and partly in the Konk studio, before a small, invited audience. Two years later the band released a new, improved, live double CD set in the USA, which retained the same name and contained two new studio tracks, "Animal" and "To The Bone". The CD set also featured new treatments of many old Kinks hits. The record drew respectable press but failed to chart in either the US or the UK.
The band's profile rose considerably in the mid-1990s, primarily as a result of the "Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
" boom. Several of the most prominent bands of the decade cited The Kinks as a major influence. Blur frontman Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn is an English singer-songwriter and record producer who has been involved in many high profile projects, coming to prominence as the frontman and primary songwriter of Britpop band Blur...
and Oasis chief songwriter Noel Gallagher
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...
both described The Kinks as having a major impact on their songwriting as well as their overall development as musical artists. Gallagher declared The Kinks the fifth best band of all time. Despite such accolades, the group's commercial viability continued to decline. They gradually became less active, leading Ray and Dave Davies to pursue their own interests. Each released an autobiography; Ray's X-Ray was published in early 1995, and Dave responded with his memoir Kink, published a year later. The Kinks gave their last public performance in mid-1996, and the group assembled for what would turn out to be their last time together at a party for Dave's 50th birthday. Kinks chronicler and historian Doug Hinman stated, "The symbolism of the event was impossible to overlook. The party was held at the site of the brothers' very first musical endeavour, the Clissold Arms pub, across the street from their childhood home on Fortis Green in North London."
Solo work and potential reunion (1997–present)
The band members subsequently focused on solo projects, and Ray and Dave released their own studio albums. Talk of a Kinks reunion circulated (including an aborted studio reunion of the original band members in 1999), but neither Ray nor Dave Davies showed much interest in playing together again. Meanwhile, former members John Gosling, John Dalton and Mick Avory had regrouped in 1994 and started performing on the oldies circuit along with guitar-player/singer Dave ClarkeDave Clarke (musician)
Dave Clarke is a singer, guitarist and keyboard player.-Biography:Clarke started playing piano at the age of 4 and guitar at 9. His first record in 1963 was produced by Luigi Creatore at New York’s Roulette Records. Often confused with his Dave Clark Five namesake, his 1971 solo album Pale Horse...
as The Kast Off Kinks
The Kast Off Kinks
The Kast Off Kinks are a band composed of members formerly in the British Invasion band The Kinks. They mostly tour Europe and attend reunion for fans and for charity, such as the Leukemia Research Fund...
. Gosling and Dalton retired in 2008 and were replaced in the band by former Kinks members Jim Rodford and Ian Gibbons. Ray Davies, Pete Quaife and Bob Henrit have occasionally made guest appearances with the group at Kinks fan club conventions.
Ray Davies came out with the solo album Storyteller, a companion piece to X-Ray, in 1998. Originally written two years earlier as a cabaret-style show, it celebrated his old band and his estranged brother. Seeing the programming possibilities in his music/dialogue/reminiscence format, the American music television network VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
launched a series of similar projects featuring established rock artists titled VH1 Storytellers
VH1 Storytellers
Storytellers is a television music series produced by the VH1 network.In each episode artists perform in front of a live audience, and tell stories about their music, writing experiences and memories, somewhat similar to MTV Unplugged...
. Dave Davies spoke favourably of a Kinks reunion in early 2003, and as the 40th anniversary of the group's breakthrough neared, both of the Davies brothers expressed interest in working together again. However, hopes for a reunion were eliminated when in June 2004 Dave suffered a stroke while exiting an elevator, temporarily impairing his ability to speak and play guitar. Following Dave's recovery, The Kinks were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame
UK Music Hall of Fame
The UK Music Hall of Fame was an awards ceremony to honour musicians, of any nationality, for their lifetime contributions to music in the United Kingdom. The Hall of Fame started in 2004 with the induction of five founder members and five more members selected by a public televote, two from each...
in November 2005, with all four of the original band members in attendance. The award was presented by The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
's guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend, a longtime Kinks fan and friend of Ray Davies. The induction helped fuel sales for the group; in August 2007, a re-entry of The Ultimate Collection
The Ultimate Collection (The Kinks album)
The Ultimate Collection is a greatest hits compilation by British rock band The Kinks. It was released in the UK on May 27, 2002.The album includes all the hits, spanning from their debut album to their 1984 album Word of Mouth...
, a compilation of material spanning the band's career, reached number 32 on the UK Top 100 album chart and number one on the UK Indie album chart.
In December 2007, Record Collector
Record Collector
Record Collector is the United Kingdom's longest-running monthly music magazine. It distributes both within the UK and worldwide. It started in 1979.-The early years:...
published an interview with Ray Davies in which he said, "I spoke to Quaife about a month ago and he dearly wants to make another record with me. I think Dave's getting better and Mick's still playing. It would be great to get back together just to see what musical ideas we had, and what would happen." The Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
subsequently interpreted his comments as a declaration that a reunion of the band's original line-up was imminent. Dave Davies swiftly rejected the idea of a reunion. He told a reporter that "it would be like a bad remake of Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead is a 1968 American independent black-and-white zombie film and cult film directed by George A. Romero, starring Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea and Karl Hardman. It premiered on October 1, 1968, and was completed on a USD$114,000 budget. After decades of cinematic re-releases, it...
" and added, "Ray has been doing Karaoke Kinks shows since 1996."
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
, Ray Davies said of a possible reunion, "There is a desire to do it", but that he wouldn't participate if it were a nostalgia act: "The thing that would make me decide 'yes' or 'no' would be whether or not we could do new songs". He added that the main barrier to the band getting back together was his brother's condition following his stroke. Two months later, he told the BBC that the band was beginning to write new material for a possible reunion, but failed to detail which members were involved. In an interview aired that December on the Biography Channel, Quaife rejected any possibility that he would take part in a reunion. That same month, Ray Davies spoke again about the possibility of performing with his brother: "I suggested he do some low-key shows to see how well he can play. If we're going to play together again, we can't hit the road straight away with a big-time announcement. ... But, if Dave feels good about it and there's good new material that we can write, it'll happen."
In June 2009, Ray Davies told The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
that while a full-fledged reunion was unlikely, "I will continue to play with ex-band members like Mick Avory from time to time. With Dave, a lot of it is psychological. I’ll guide him in, and coerce and nurture him, and when the time is right I suppose I’ll even shout at him again." When asked about a possible reunion in an interview that year, Avory stated, "A reunion would not be possible with the originals, for a start due to ill health. But it would be possible with the Kast Off Kinks plus Ray. In any event Ray would record new material. We have some old tracks from the 80s as well." In March 2010, Avory reported that the band were planning on releasing an album of unreleased and new material. He stated that they had "eight tracks" ready for the album, but that the Davies brothers had to settle their differences before the project could progress. It remains unclear who has been involved in the recordings besides Avory and Ray Davies.
Quaife, who had been receiving kidney dialysis for more than ten years, died on 23 June 2010, aged 66. Two days after the bassist's death, Dave Davies posted a statement on his message board expressing deep sorrow over the passing of his former band mate and stating that Quaife "was never really given the credit he deserved for his contribution and involvlement [with The Kinks]". Ray Davies dedicated his 27 June performance at the Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
to Quaife and performed several Quaife-era Kinks songs in tribute to him. Davies told the crowd, "I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for him."
In separate interviews early in 2011 both Davies brothers spoke positively about a potential reunion. Dave Davies explained, "There's nothing in the pipeline yet, but...we'll see. It's possible." Each has said that any reunion would be dependent on the other. According to Ray Davies, the brothers were to meet in April to discuss future plans.
Legacy
The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the 1960s. Stephen Thomas Erlewine called The Kinks "one of the most influential bands of the British Invasion", and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website states that "Ray Davies is almost indisputably rock's most literate, witty and insightful songwriter." Artists influenced by The Kinks include punk rockPunk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
groups such as the Ramones
Ramones
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
, The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
, and The Jam
The Jam
The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...
, New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
and heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
acts like The Pretenders
The Pretenders
The Pretenders are an English rock band formed in Hereford, England in March 1978. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde , James Honeyman-Scott , Pete Farndon , and Martin Chambers...
and Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
and Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
groups such as Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
, Blur
Blur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
and Pulp
Pulp (band)
Pulp are an English alternative rock band formed in Sheffield in 1978. Their lineup consists of Jarvis Cocker , Russell Senior , Candida Doyle , Mark Webber , Steve Mackey and Nick Banks ....
. Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
, guitarist with The Kinks' contemporaries The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, was particularly influenced by the group's sound: "The Kinks were ... quintessentially English. I always think that Ray Davies should one day be poet laureate. He invented a new kind of poetry and a new kind of language for pop writing that influenced me from the very, very, very beginning." Jon Savage wrote that The Kinks were an influence on late-1960s American psychedelic groups, "like the Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
, Love
Love (band)
Love was an American rock group of the late 1960s and early 1970s. They were led by singer/songwriter Arthur Lee and lead guitarist Johnny Echols...
and Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
". Musicologist
Musicology
Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...
Joe Harrington has described The Kinks' influence on the development of hard rock and heavy metal: "You Really Got Me', 'All Day and All of the Night' and 'I Need You' were predecessors of the whole three-chord genre ... the Kinks did a lot to help turn rock 'n' roll (Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
) into rock (Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
, Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
, the Stooges
The Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
)."
Charts, sales certifications and recognition
The Kinks had five Top 10 singles on the US Billboard chart. Nine of their albums charted in the Top 40. In the UK, the group had seventeen Top 20 singles along with five Top 10 albums. The RIAA has certified four of The Kinks' albums as gold records. Greatest Hits!Greatest Hits!
The Kinks Greatest Hits! was the first compilation album released in the US by British rock group The Kinks in 1966. The album consists of some of the most popular singles and songs released by the Kinks since 1964. It is the only Kinks album to reach the US top 10 peaking at #9...
, released in 1965, was certified gold for sales of $1,000,000 on 28 November 1968—six days after the release of The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, which failed to chart worldwide. The group would not receive another gold record award until 1979's Low Budget; the 1980 live album One For The Road followed soon after, and was certified gold on 8 December 1980. Give The People What They Want, released in 1981, received its certification on 25 January 1982, for sales of 500,000 copies. ASCAP, the performing-rights
Performing rights
Performing rights are the right to perform music in public. It is part of copyright law and demands payment to the music’s composer/lyricist and publisher . Public performance means that a musician or group who is not the copyright holder is performing a piece of music live, as opposed to the...
group, presented The Kinks with an award for "One Of The Most Played Songs Of 1983" for the hit single "Come Dancing".
The group received the Ivor Novello Award for "Outstanding Service to British Music", and in 1990, their first year of eligibility, the original four members of The Kinks were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The Kinks were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in November 2005.
Musical style
The Kinks initially stayed within the boundaries of genres such as R&BRhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
and blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, but soon began experimenting with louder rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
sounds—due to their pioneering of the field, they have often been labelled as "the original punks
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
". Dave Davies became bored with the traditional "clean" guitar style of the period; in search of a louder, more biting sound, he famously split the speaker cone of his Elpico amplifier
Amplifier
Generally, an amplifier or simply amp, is a device for increasing the power of a signal.In popular use, the term usually describes an electronic amplifier, in which the input "signal" is usually a voltage or a current. In audio applications, amplifiers drive the loudspeakers used in PA systems to...
(nicknamed "the little green amp"): "I started to get really frustrated [with the amp's sound], and I said, 'I know! I'll fix you!' I got a single-sided Gillette razorblade and cut ... [from the centre to the edge of the] cone
Speaker cone
A speaker cone, loudspeaker cone or diaphram can be manufactured from various materials depending on driver implementation , desired frequency response for each driver, and cost....
... so it was all shredded but still on there, still intact. I played and I thought it was amazing." The jagged sound of the amplifier was replicated in the studio; the Elpico was plugged into a larger Vox AC30
Vox AC30
The Vox AC30 is a guitar amplifier manufactured by Vox and known for its "jangly" high-end sound. First introduced in 1958 due to the growing demand for higher-wattage amplifiers, it became an iconic amplifier for British musicians and soon for others....
, and the resulting effect became a mainstay in The Kinks' early recordings—most notably on "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night".
However, the group soon abandoned its R&B and hard rock leanings. From 1966 onwards, The Kinks came to be known for their adherence to traditions of English music and culture, during a period when many other British groups dismissed their heritage in favour of American blues, R&B and pop styles. Ray Davies recalled that at a distinct moment in 1965 he decided to break away from the American scene, and write more introspective and intelligent songs. "I decided I was going to use words more, and say things. I wrote 'Well Respected Man'. That was the first real word-oriented song I wrote. ... [I also] abandoned any attempt to Americanise my accent." The Kinks' allegiance to English styles was strengthened by the ban placed on them by the American Federation of Musicians
American Federation of Musicians
The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada is a labor union of professional musicians in the United States and Canada...
. The ban cut them off from the American record buying public, the world's largest musical market, forcing them to focus on Britain and mainland Europe. The Kinks expanded on their English sound throughout the remainder of the 1960s, fusing music hall and folk, and creating some of the most influential and important music of the period.
Beginning with Everybody's In Show-biz (1972), Ray Davies began exploring theatrical concepts on the group's albums; these themes became manifest on the 1973 album Preservation Act 1 and continued through Schoolboys In Disgrace (1976). The Kinks found little success with these conceptual works, and reverted to a traditional rock format throughout the remainder of the 1970s. Sleepwalker (1977), which heralded their return to commercial success, featured a mainstream, relatively slick production style that would become their norm. The band returned to hard rock for Low Budget (1979), and continued to record within the genre throughout the remainder of their career.
Documentation, unreleased material and outtakes
Unlike contemporaries such as The Beatles, whose recording legacies are well-preserved, almost no studio documentation of The Kinks' recording history from the 1960s survives. Ray Davies is known to have kept a diary, but he has yet to allow public scrutiny of it. Pye RecordsPye Records
Pye Records was a British record label. In its first incarnation, perhaps Pye's best known artists were Lonnie Donegan , Petula Clark , The Searchers , The Kinks , Sandie Shaw and Brotherhood of Man...
, unlike larger labels like EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, kept very few of The Kinks' session tapes, acetates and out-takes—most were destroyed, wiped
Wiping
Wiping or junking is a colloquial term for action taken by radio and television production and broadcasting companies, in which old audiotapes, videotapes, and telerecordings , are erased, reused, or destroyed after several uses...
, or recorded over by the mid-1980s. From the RCA period onwards, both documentation and tapes were preserved, mainly because The Kinks were given creative license at their own Konk Studios, but, as Doug Hinman notes, "Until and unless there is some access to the vaults of Konk Studios, this aspect of The Kinks recording legacy will remain far from definitive."
Personnel
| Musician | Ray Davies Ray Davies Ray Davies, CBE is an English rock musician. He is best known as lead singer and songwriter for the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother, Dave... | Feb 1964–1996 | lead vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica, keyboards, lead songwriting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Davies Dave Davies David Russell Gordon "Dave" Davies is an English rock musician best known for his role as lead guitarist and vocalist for the English rock band The Kinks.... |
Feb 1964–1996 | lead guitar, backup vocals, occasional lead vocals and songwriting | |
| Mick Avory Mick Avory Michael Charles "Mick" Avory is an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer and percussionist for the British rock band, The Kinks, joining them shortly after their formation in 1964 and remaining with them until 1984, when he left amid creative friction with guitarist Dave Davies... |
Feb 1964–1984 | drums and percussion | |
| Pete Quaife Pete Quaife Peter Alexander Greenlaw "Pete" Quaife was an English musician, artist and author. He was a founding member and the original bass guitarist for The Kinks, from 1963 until 1969.... |
Feb 1964 – June 1966, Nov 1966 – Mar 1969 | bass guitar, backup vocals | |
| Nicky Hopkins Nicky Hopkins Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins was an English pianist and organist.He recorded and performed on noted British and American popular music recordings of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as a session musician.... |
1965–1968 | keyboards (session) | |
| John Dalton John Dalton (musician) John Dalton is a British bass guitar player, best known as a member of The Kinks' from 1969 to 1976, replacing original member Pete Quaife.- Biography :... |
June–Nov 1966, Apr 1969–1976, 1978 | bass guitar, backup vocals | |
| John Gosling John Gosling not to be confused with John Gostling John Gosling , is an English classically trained organist and pianist.... |
1970–1978 | keyboards | |
| Andy Pyle Andy Pyle Andy Pyle is an English bass guitarist. He played with The Kinks from 1976–1978. Prior to that, he was in Blodwyn Pig and Savoy Brown... |
1976–1978 | bass guitar | |
| Gordon John Edwards | 1978 | keyboards, backup vocals | |
| Jim Rodford Jim Rodford Jim Rodford is a musician who played with The Kinks, The Swinging Blue Jeans and was a founding member of Argent... |
1978–1996 | bass guitar, backup vocals | |
| Ian Gibbons Ian Gibbons Ian Gibbons is an English keyboardist, most notable for playing with The Kinks.Gibbons began playing the accordion at the age 9, playing in the school band, and solo at music festivals, competitions and charity events. At the age of 14, he started a school rock band, playing guitar and singing... |
1979–1989, 1993–1996 | keyboards, backup vocals | |
| Bob Henrit Bob Henrit Bob Henrit is an English drummer who has been a member of several musical groups, including Buster Meikle & The Daybreakers, The Hunters, Unit 4 + 2, The Roulettes, Argent and The Kinks.... |
1984–1996 | drums and percussion | |
| Mark Haley | 1989–1993 | keyboards, backup vocals | |
See also
- 1964 in music1964 in music-Events:*January 1 – Top of the Pops is broadcast for the first time, on BBC television.*January 3 – Footage of the Beatles performing a concert in Bournemouth, England is shown on The Jack Paar Show....
- 1996 in music1996 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1996.-January:* January – At the trial of two American teenagers, Nicholaus McDonald and Brian Bassett, for the murder of Bassett's parents and young brother, defense lawyers attempt to lay the blame for the murders on the fact...
- British invasionBritish InvasionThe British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
- British rockBritish rockBritish rock describes a wide variety of forms of music made in the United Kingdom. Since around 1964, with the "British Invasion" of the United States spearheaded by The Beatles, British rock music has had a considerable impact on the development of American music and rock music across the...
- Carnaby StreetCarnaby StreetCarnaby Street is a pedestrianised shopping street in London, United Kingdom, located in the Soho district, near Oxford Street and Regent Street. It is home to numerous fashion and lifestyle retailers, including a large number of independent fashion boutiques...
- Do It Again, 2009 documentary film