The Kinks

The Kinks were one of the most influential bands of the British Invasion. Like most bands of their era, the Kinks began as an R&B/blues outfit. Within four years, the band had become the most staunchly English of all their contemporaries, drawing heavily from British music hall and traditional pop, as well as incorporating elements of country, folk, and blues. Their style was always a little off the mainstream, sometimes well ahead of its time and sometimes just out of fashion, as in the later sixties.

Throughout their long, varied career, the core of the Kinks remained Ray and Dave Davies, who were born and raised in Muswell Hill, London. In their teens, the brothers began playing Skiffle and rock & roll. Soon, they recruited a schoolmate of Ray's, Peter Quaife, to play with them; like the Davies brothers, Quaife played guitar, but he switched to bass. By the summer of 1963, the group had decided to call itself the Ravens and had recruited a new drummer, Mickey Willet. Eventually, their demo tape reached Shel Talmy, an American record producer who was under contract to Pye Records. Talmy helped the band land a contract with Pye in 1964. Before signing to the label, the Ravens replaced drummer Willet with Mick Avory.

The Ravens recorded their debut single, a cover of Little Richard's Long Tall Sally, in January 1964. Before the single was released, the group changed their name to the Kinks. Long Tall Sally was released in February of 1964 and it failed to chart, as did their second single, You Still Want Me. The band's third single, You Really Got Me, written by Ray Davies,  was much noisier and dynamic, featuring a savage, fuzz-toned two-chord riff and a frenzied solo from Dave Davies. You Really Got Me reached number one within a month of its release; released on Reprise in the U.S., the single climbed into the Top Ten. All Day and All of the Night, the group's fourth single, was released late in 1964 and it rose all the way to number two; in America, it hit number seven. During this time, the band also produced two full-length albums and several EPs.

The Kinks became more tuneful and reflective with Set Me Free, Tired of Waiting for You, So Long and See My Friends. Ray also began to make his name as a satirist, in hits like A Well Respected Man and Dedicated Follower of Fashion.   In the album Face to Face, one of the great albums of the '60s, Davies refines his obsessions into his own private world, with nostalgic music-hall piano (Sunny Afternoon), brooding acoustic ballads (Fancy, Rainy Day in June,Too Much on My Mind), and swinging London rock (Most Exclusive Residence for Sale.

Something Else went even further, with Davies' gentle compassion for his characters inspiring his loveliest melodies.  The climax of the album is Waterloo Sunset, the ballad of a recluse living near a dreary London train station, watching lovers from his window, making up names and stories for them.

The Village Green Preservation Society was one of the greatest albums of the all time.  It has the lonesome regret of Picture Book and People Take Pictures of Each Other, and the rustic escapism of Animal Farm and Sitting by the Riverside.  It failed to chart, however, as the late sixties saw a downward spiral in their career.  The talent remained nevertheless, and their next album Arthur, an ambitious soundtrack to a British TV drama about a working-class family, has many great moments.  The Kinks followed Arthur with the 1970 single Lola, their biggest hit in years and one of their most fondly remembered. 

Their tours in the sixties were famous for the very explosive exchanges between the warring Davies brothers who frequently united to wage war on their drummer Mick Avory.  Their violent offstage behaviour became very public on an eventful night at the Capitol Cinema, Cardiff, on 19 May 1965.  Following the opening number, Dave Davies walked across to Avory for an exchange of insults, and then directed a well-aimed kick at the drum kick dismantling around the unfortunate drummer. Avory grabbed the nearest sharp object from the battered drum kit and gashed Dave across the side of the head before fleeing from the theatre. 

Despite frequent rumours of splits, The Kicks continued to tour extensively until mid-1996.  For more than a decade now band members have focused on their own solo projects with Ray and Dave releasing acclaimed studio albums.  In the autumn of 2005, The Kinks were inducted into the "UK Music Hall of Fame", at which time all of the original band members were present again.

See the Kinks perform All Day and All of the Night and Tired of Waiting