The Kinks
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Kinks | ||
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 Original line-up from left to right-Pete Quaife, Dave Davies, Mick Avory, and Ray Davies
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| Background information | ||
| Origin |  London, England |
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| Genre(s) | Rock British Invasion Rhythm and Blues Proto metal Proto punk |
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| Years active | 1964–1996 | |
| Label(s) | Pye, Reprise, RCA, Arista, London, MCA, Sony, Konk/Guardian | |
| Former members | ||
| Dave Davies Ray Davies Pete Quaife Mick Avory John Dalton John Gosling Andy Pyle Gordon Edwards Mark Haley Jim Rodford Ian Gibbons Bob Henrit |
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The Kinks were an English rock group formed in 1963 by lead singer-songwriter Ray Davies and his brother lead guitarist and vocalist Dave Davies with bassist Pete Quaife. While not as commercially successful in the United States as the other three members of the Big Four of the British Invasion (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks and The Who), the band is frequently cited as one of the most important and influential rock bands of all time.[1] The bands' early hard-driving singles set a standard in the mid-1960s for Rock & Roll, while albums such as Face to Face,[2] Something Else, Village Green, Arthur and Muswell Hillbillies are highly regarded by fans, critics, and peers alike, and are considered amongst the most influential recordings of the era.[3]
The Kinks first gained prominence in 1964 with the hit single "You Really Got Me", written by Ray Davies. The band's name came from their "kinky" dress sense of leather capes and boots worn on stage.[3] The group's original lineup consisted of Ray Davies on lead vocals/rhythm guitar, Dave Davies on lead guitar, Quaife on bass, and drummer Mick Avory. Following Quaife's departure in 1969, the band centered around the three remaining original members and frequently changed bassists and keyboardists, until 1984, when friction between Dave Davies and Mick Avory resulted into latter's departure, leaving only the Davies brothers from the original line-up.
The band has been inactive since 1996. The relationship between the Davies brothers seemed to deteriorate completely around this time, and both have since embarked on successful solo careers. Rumours of a Kinks reunion are persistent but still vague. Whatever the band's fortunes, however, their influence on emerging artists has been a constant. During the New Wave era, groups such as The Jam, The Knack, and The Pretenders covered Kinks songs[3] and Britpop acts such as Blur, Oasis and Supergrass have cited them as a major influence.[1] Many modern bands as The Killers and Franz Ferdinand also acknowledge The Kinks and Ray Davies' expert songwriting skills. As self-professed Kinks fan Pete Townshend said for 'The History of Rock 'n' Roll': "The Kinks were much more 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."
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[edit] History
[edit] (1963-1966) Formation and first years
The Davies brothers were born in Hill , North London. Ray Davies (b. Raymond Douglas Davies, 21 June 1944; vocals/guitar/piano) studied to be a theatre director at Hornsey College of Art and gained experience in music as a guitarist with the Soho-based Dave Hunt Band in 1963.[3] Ray and his brother Dave (b. 3 February 1947; guitar/vocals) had been playing skiffle and Rock & Roll together. Ray's Schoolmate Pete Quaife (b. 31 December 1943, Tavistock, Devon, England; bass/vocals) joined them and they formed a band (with Quaife's friend John Start on drums).[1]
By the summer of 1963, the band had decided to call themselves "The Ravens" and had recruited drummer Mickey Willet. A December 1963 audition with Philips Records ended in rejection, but eventually a demo tape landed in the hands of American record producer Shel Talmy, who helped them land a contract with Pye Records in early 1964. It was during this time that the Ravens changed their name to The Kinks.[1] Before signing to the label, drummer Willet left the band. The Kinks invited drummer Mick Avory (b. Michael Charles Avory, February 15, 1944) to join the band after seeing his advertisement in the magazine Melody Maker. Avory's previous experience included one gig with the Rolling Stones,[4] but his background was in jazz drumming.[citation needed]
The first single from The Kinks, "Long Tall Sally," was a cover of a Little Richard song, but because The Beatles also covered it with enormous success, The Kinks' version was overlooked and failed to chart. The Kinks' version, though not without charm, suffered from an obvious splicing of different takes. Nevertheless, the band received a lot of publicity through the efforts of their managers Robert Wace, Grenville Collins, and ex-1950s showbiz star Larry Page. Their second single, "You Still Want Me", also failed, while ignominiously shifting a minuscule number of units. [3] Pye at this point warned the band that they had only one more chance. Another unsuccessful single would result in their being dropped from the label.[citation needed]
The third single "You Really Got Me" entered the charts at No.1 in the UK and made the top 10 in the US, boosted by a performance on the UK television show Ready Steady Go!. With a loud, distorted guitar riff, achieved by Dave's slicing of the speaker cones in his Elpico amplifier (referred to by the band as the "little green amp"), which gave the song its signature, grittier guitar sound. "You Really Got Me" provided a blueprint for hard rock, and served as template for heavy metal. The group's fourth single, "All Day and All of the Night", another hard rock tune, was released late in 1964. It rose to No. 2 in the UK, and hit No. 7 in the US.[3] In 1965, The Kinks recorded "Set Me Free", and "Tired of Waiting for you", featuring a repeated bass guitar riff on both songs.
The group released three albums and several EPs in the next 2 years. They also performed and toured relentlessly, which caused tension within the band.[1] Some legendary onstage fights erupted during this time as well. In the most notorious incident, at The Capitol Theatre, Cardiff, Wales in 1965, the normally placid drummer Avory hit Dave Davies with his hi-hat pedal and assaulted him on stage.[3]Avory later claimed that it was part of a new act in which the bandmembers would hurl their instruments at each other. At the conclusion of their summer 1965 American tour the American Federation of Musicians union had The Kinks banned from re-entering the United States by United States Government for unspecified reasons[3][1]. It has been suggested the AFM feared that British bands were gaining too much share of the music market and arbitrarily targeted The Kinks[5], or that a fight with a union member while recording Dick Clark's television show may have been the cause.[6] Whatever the reason the band were prohibited from returning to the US for four years.[3][1]
The band's stylistic changes were first evident in late 1965, with the appearance of singles like "A Well Respected Man," "Dedicated Follower of Fashion," and their third album The Kink Kontroversy. These demonstrated the progression in Davies's songwriting, from hard driving rock numbers towards social commentary, observation, and idiosyncratic character study, all with an increasingly English flavour. The satiric single, "Sunny Afternoon", was the biggest hit of the summer of 1966 in the UK, topping the charts.[3][1]
Prior to its release, Ray Davies suffered both a nervous and physical breakdown from the pressures of touring, writing, and ongoing legal squabbles. He spent several months recuperating, during which he wrote several new songs and pondered about the band's direction.[6] Quaife also left the band for much of 1966 after an automobile accident. After he recovered, he decided to step back from the band. Mick Avory's friend John Dalton replaced Quaife, but Quaife decided to return at the end of the year. This caused a little tension as Avory was more used to Dalton's style of playing.[7]
"Sunny Afternoon" was a dry run for the band's Face to Face. One of the earliest concept albums, Face to Face displayed Davies' growing skill at crafting gentle yet cutting narrative songs about everyday life and people. One of the songs from the album, "Session Man", was written about notable session musician Nicky Hopkins, who often joined the band in the studio playing keyboards, mellotron, and harpsicord. Hopkins had first played with the band during The Kinks Kontroversy sessions the year before. He would play on the band's next two studio albums (and would also be featured on numerous live BBC recordings with the band) before joining The Jeff Beck Group in 1968.
The great social commentary single, "Dead End Street", was released at the time of Face to Face, and became another big UK hit. It failed to make the charts in the US.
[edit] (1967-1972) "Golden age"
In May 1967, The Kinks returned with "Waterloo Sunset" (which reached #2 on the UK charts), an emotional single with the melancholic observer spying two lovers meeting and crossing over Waterloo Bridge in London. The song was rumoured to have been inspired by the romance between two British celebrities of the time- actors Terence Stamp and Julie Christie (hence the famous line 'Terry meets Julie') - though Ray Davies denied this in his autobiography. The songs on their enduring 1967 album Something Else By The Kinks expanded the musical progressions of Face to Face, adding English music hall influences to their sound. Dave Davies scored a major chart success with "Death of a Clown," co-written with Ray and recorded by The Kinks, but released as a Davies solo single (although confusingly also released on the Something Else LP). Later, the Rolling Stones would remark that Face to Face and Something Else were both serious influences on their own albums of the late 1960s.
After a disappointing commercial reception for Something Else, The Kinks rushed out a new single, "Autumn Almanac," which became another hit in the UK. But their next single, "Wonderboy", released in the spring of 1968, stalled at #36 and would be the band's first single not to make the Top Ten since their early covers.
Throughout 1968, Davies continued to pursue his deeply personal songwriting style, while at the same time rebelling against the heavy demands placed on him to keep producing commercial hits. The Kinks released the single "Days," which made No. 12, in the summer of 1968. Yet The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, released in the autumn of 1968, failed to sell. A collection of thematic vignettes of town life, assembled from songs written and recorded over the previous two years, the album did not have a popular single ("Starstruck" was released as a single in North America and continental Europe but failed to chart anywhere but Holland). Although it was commercially unsuccessful, Village Green was embraced by the new underground rock press, particularly in the US, where The Kinks' status as a cult band began to grow. Village Green is now widely considered one of the best rock records of the era, as well as The Kinks' masterwork. An album track, "Picture Book", was featured in a popular Hewlett-Packard television commercial in 2004.
Original bassist Peter Quaife resigned in March 1969 to form his own band Mapleoak, and was swiftly replaced by John Dalton. The American ban upon the band was finally removed that same year. Yet the band had to now adapt to an American concert scene that had changed radically in their absence — when The Kinks returned to the US their shows were at first held in smallish venues such as the Fillmore East. It would take several years of extensive touring in the US between 1969 and 1972 before the band developed a disciplined stage act that would generate positive reviews and draw crowds to larger concert venues.
Before their return to the US, The Kinks crafted another album, Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire). As with the previous two albums, Arthur was soaked with British lyrical and musical hooks, having been conceived as the score for a proposed but never realised television drama. It was a modest commercial success and was particularly well received by music critics in America, where it was favourably compared to the rock opera Tommy by The Who.
The band added keyboardist John Gosling to their permanent line-up while recording the follow-up to Arthur. Before that, veteran keyboardist Nicky Hopkins, along with Ray, had done most of the session work. Gosling debuted with The Kinks on "Lola" (1970), a clever account of a confused romantic encounter with a transvestite that became a hit in both the UK and the US. The song originally contained a reference to "Coca Cola", but the BBC refused to play it as this was considered a violation of their advertising policy. The single then had to be hastily re-recorded with the offending line changed to "cherry cola". The album Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One was their most successful since the mid-1960s. The album also featured the group's final UK Top 10 hit, "Apeman."
In 1971, the band released Percy, a soundtrack album to a film of the same name about a penis transplant. It is generally regarded as a lesser effort. The band's US label, Reprise, declined to release it in America, precipitating a major dispute that contributed to the band's departure from that label.
In 1971, the band's contracts with Pye and Reprise expired. Before the end of the year The Kinks signed a five-album deal with RCA Records and received a million dollar advance. This helped fund the construction of their own recording studio, Konk. Their debut for RCA, Muswell Hillbillies, was soaked with country influence and is often hailed as their last great record, though it failed commercially. A few months after the release of Muswell Hillbillies, Reprise released the double-album compilation The Kink Kronikles, which actually outsold Muswell Hillbillies.
1972's double album Everybody's in Show-Biz consisted of half studio tracks and half live tracks recorded during a a two-night stand in New York's Carnegie Hall stand. The record featured the ballad "Celluloid Heroes" and the catchy "Supersonic Rocket Ship", their last UK Top 20 hit for over a decade. "Celluloid Heroes" was a bittersweet rumination on dead Hollywood stars in which Ray Davies admits 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 a commercial failure in the UK, but more successful in the US. The record was a transitional piece between the band's early 1970s rock material and the theatrical incarnation in which they would immerse themselves over the next four years.
[edit] (1973-1976) Theatrical incarnation
In 1973, Ray Davies dove headlong into the theatrical style, beginning with the rock opera Preservation, a sprawling chronicle of social revolution, more ambitious — if less successful — outgrowth of the earlier Village Green Preservation Society. In conjunction with the Preservation project, Davies expanded The Kinks' lineup to include a horn section and female backup singers, essentially reforming the group as a theatrical troupe. Preservation was the first project recorded at Konk Studio. From this point forward, virtually every Kinks studio recording would be produced by Ray Davies at Konk.
Ray's marital problems during this period would prove to adversely affect the band. Coupled with the band's abuse of drugs and alcohol and some members' antipathy for their new theatrical incarnation, the band's output remained uneven and their already wobbling popularity eroded further. Notable songs from this period include "Daylight", "Where Are They Now?", and "Sweet Lady Genevieve", as well as the more rock-oriented "Money Talks".
Preservation: Act 1, closer in spirit to vaudeville than to rock opera, was released in late 1973 amid generally poor reviews, although its live performances fared better with the critics. Preservation: Act 2 appeared in the summer of 1974 to a similar reception. Davies soon began another musical, Starmaker, this time for the BBC. The project eventually morphed into the thematically complex if uneven concept album The Kinks present A Soap Opera, released in the spring of 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 1976, The Kinks recorded their final theatrical work, Schoolboys in Disgrace, a backstory biography of Preservation's capitalist overlord Mr. Flash. Compared with the previous three albums, the songs on Schoolboys were more independent from the album's concept and featured a harder rock sound. With its funky beginning and emotive lyrics, "No More Looking Back" was considered the stand-out track by Kinkophiles. Some of the songs were performed at the Dutch Pinkpop festival, where a blind-drunk Ray Davies raced through an embarrassing golden oldies set, to the amusement of the equally inebriated crowd.
The Kinks signed with Arista Records in 1976, reborn with the encouragement of Arista's management as an arena rock band, stripped back down to a five-man core group.
Rock was also in a back-to-basics trend at this time, spearheaded by the Punk movement and the emergence of late 1970s "supergroups". One of the biggest of these, Van Halen, achieved their breakthrough hit with an arena rock remake of "You Really Got Me", which in turn greatly boosted The Kinks' commercial resurgence. The band soon reappeared on the record charts in what would prove to be their most successful commercial period.
[edit] (1977-1984) Return to commercial success
John Dalton left the band before finishing "Mr. Big Man" for their debut Arista album. Andy Pyle was brought in to complete the track and to play on the following tour. Sleepwalker featured the touching ballad "Brother" and the reflective rocker "Juke Box Music". The single "Father Christmas" followed in late 1977 and became a seasonal fixture on US rock radio. The b-side "Prince of the Punks" was Ray Davies' satirical comment on his former protege Tom Robinson of "2-4-6-8 Motorway" fame.
Andy Pyle and keyboardist John Gosling soon left the group to work together on a separate project. Dalton returned to complete the tour, and ex-The Pretty Things keyboardist Gordon Edwards joined the band. The Kinks' second Arista album Misfits, and their only album with Andy Pyle, was released in 1978 and included the minor hit "A Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy," a mid-life crisis tribute to The Kinks' dedicated fanbase. The album's title track was a commentary on the band's lack of commercial success. Misfits is often cited as one of the band's better later albums.
There were soon to be further line-up changes before The Kinks coalesced around a more stable line-up. Dalton left the band permanently after the end of their UK tour, with Edwards soon to follow. Ex-Argent bassist Jim Rodford joined the band, which recorded Low Budget with Ray Davies handling keyboard duties. Former Life keyboardist Ian Gibbons was drafted for the following tour and soon become a permanent member. Despite the personnel changes, the group's recording and concert success continued to grow.
During this time in the late 1970s, new wave bands like The Jam ("David Watts") and The Pretenders ("Stop Your Sobbing") and heavy metal acts like Van Halen ("You Really Got Me") recorded successful covers of Kinks songs, boosting each band's fame. At the same time, these cover versions helped fuel the commercial success of each new Kinks release. The hard and punk rock sounds of Low Budget (1979) helped make it the group's most successful album in America, peaking at number 11. Davies' crafted intelligent, polished, and commercially appealing songs like "Pressure", "A Little Bit of Abuse", "Catch Me Now I'm Falling", and the minor, disco-flavoured hit "(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman". 1979 also saw The Kinks headline at Madison Square Garden for the first time.
A live album (their third) and video, both called "One for the Road", followed in 1980, bringing the group's concert drawing power to a peak between 1980 and 1983. Dave Davies also took advantage of the group's improved commercial standing to fulfill his decade-long solo ambitions and released albums on his own, including the eponymous "Dave Davies" in 1980 (also known by its catalogue number "PL13603" owing to its striking cover art, which depicted Dave Davies as a leather-jacketed piece of price scanning barcode) and 1981's less successful "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 optimistic pub-rocker "Better Things" (a rare UK hit single), as well as "Destroyer", tracks reminiscent in sound to the band's 60s heyday. The Kinks spent the better part of 1982 touring. In spring 1983, the nostalgic "Come Dancing" became their biggest American hit (at number 6) since "Tired of Waiting for You". It also became the group's first top 20 hit in the UK since 1972, peaking at number 12 in the charts. The anthemic album State of Confusion followed and was another commercial success, going to number 12 in the US, but once again failing to chart in the UK, as had all previous albums since 1967. Prominent tracks were the ballads "Don't Forget to Dance (a US top 30 hit, and minor UK chart entry)," "Long Distance", the title track and the gentle sing-along "Heart of Gold". The song "Young Conservatives" in turn commented on the aspirations of the younger generation in the 1980s. During this time, Ray Davies became romantically involved with Pretenders leader Chrissie Hynde, resulting in the birth of a daughter, Natalie Ray, in 1983.
The Kinks performed Saturday Night Live three times during this period, further adding to their resurgent popularity. They first performed for SNL in 1977 during the famous "Mardi Gras" episode, then again in 1981, and one final time in 1984.
The Kinks' second wave of popularity effectively peaked with State of Confusion in 1983, but both internal and external factors would soon begin to undermine them. A music video-fueled influx of new, fresh talent and styles into popular music at this time effectively muted the early 80s resurgence of many of the classic acts (including fellow UK bands such as David Bowie, The Who, and The Rolling Stones). Bands influenced by The Kinks, such as U2, the Smiths, The Jam and Duran Duran were topping charts. The concert market for Kinks shows in the US had largely been played out by a decade of almost non-stop touring. As these outside pressures mounted, the internal strife in the group reached a critical point.
During the second half of 1983, Ray Davies started working on an ambitious solo film project, Return to Waterloo, about a London commuter who daydreams he's 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 volatile romance between Ray Davies and Chrissie Hynde. The old feud between Dave Davies and drummer Mick Avory also reignited. Soon Dave Davies wanted Avory replaced by the former drummer from Argent (a band in which Jim Rodford had also been a member), Robert Henrit, who had played drums on Dave's solo albums. It is also believed that Rodford also was instrumental in bringing his former bandmate in the fold.
These conflicts took a heavy toll on the band. Avory's relationship with Dave Davies had reached a breaking point. Dave Davies refused to work with Avory. Ray Davies said that Avory was his best friend in the band and he unwillingly had to choose sides, as said later in a 1989 interview: "The saddest day for me was when Mick left.... Mick had an important sound. Mick wasn't a great drummer, but he was a jazz drummer - same school, same era as Charlie Watts." Bob Henrit was brought in to take Avory's place. At Ray Davies' invitation Avory agreed to manage Konk Studios, where he also served as a producer and occasional contributor on later Kinks albums.
Between the completion of Return to Waterloo and Avory's departure, the band had already begun work on Word of Mouth, released in late 1984 with Avory still part of the line-up on three tracks. The album was similar to the last few Kinks records, but many of the songs had already been featured in solo versions on Ray Davies' companion album for Return to Waterloo, others lacked the heart, cleverness, and quality of the previous albums. The Kinks' rhythm section, no longer supported by Avory, was especially troubled, with a third of the tracks featuring Avory, others with Henrit, and still others supported by a drum machine which the band employed before the arrival of Henrit. Meanwhile, reports circulated that the Davies brothers were performing their album parts separately, unable to face each other in the studio. Despite everything, some standout material made the cut on Word of Mouth, including Ray's ballad "Missing Persons", Dave's death-of-empire themed "Living on a Thin Line", and The Kinks' last Billboard Hot 100 entry, "Do it Again" (#41). Intense squabbles over song selections and singles released further strained the Davies brothers' working relationship. They have not made the Top 40 since.
[edit] (1985-1996) Fall in popularity
Word of Mouth was the last Kinks album for Arista Records. In early 1986, the group signed with MCA Records in the United States and London Records in the UK. Their first album for the new label, Think Visual, (1986) was a moderate success, and holds interest as a result of songs like the ballad "Lost and Found", "Working at the Factory," which equated making records with blue-collar life on an assembly line, and the title track, an attack on the very MTV video culture the band seemed to be enjoying so much during the earlier part of the decade. During the Think Visual sessions Mick Avory patched up his friendship with Dave Davies and played on Dave's composition "Rock 'N' Roll Cities". Avory was asked to rejoin The Kinks but declined, desiring a break from the non-stop schedule of recording, touring and performing. The Kinks followed Think Visual in 1987 with another live album, titled The Road, which was a mediocre commercial and critical performer. In 1989, The Kinks released UK Jive - an out and out commercial failure. 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 during this period, disappointed with the band's sudden lack of success, and was replaced by Mark Haley.
In 1990, their first year of eligibility, The Kinks were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame alongside The Who, Simon and Garfunkel, The Four Seasons, The Four Tops, Hank Ballard and The Platters. Mick Avory and Pete Quaife were on hand for the award. When receiving the award Ray Davies looked out at the audience and said, "Seeing everybody makes me realise rock 'n' roll has become respectable. What a bummer." The prestigious induction, however, did not bring back The Kinks' stagnated career. In 1991, a compilation from the MCA Records period, Lost & Found (1986-1989) was released to fulfil contractual obligations and their MCA period officially ended. The band signed with Columbia Records and released the 5-song EP Did Ya, which, despite a new studio re-recording of the band's 1968 British hit "Days," failed to chart.
The Kinks' first album for Columbia, Phobia (1993), was released and recorded by the band as a four piece. Gibbons rejoined for the tours and again became part of the band. The record was critically well received, but yet again a commercial failure only managing one week in the US Billboard chart at #166. As usual, no impression was made on the group's home country chart in the UK. The album, which contained a disproportionate contribution from Dave Davies and an at times overzealous heavy rock sound, suffered from lack of promotion.[citation needed] But Phobia had moments of interest, including the call and response duet "Hatred," in which the Davies brothers sent up their fractious reputation as brawling brethren. One single, "Only a Dream" narrowly failed to reach the UK chart, climbing to #79, but sadly the release of one of The Kinks finest singles was botched. "Scattered", the album's final track's release as a single was announced, TV and radio promotion followed, but it could not be found in the shops. Several months later a small number appeared on the collector market. Yet another opportunity wasted for a single which was receiving airplay, yet the record company let the band down.
Following this failure, the group was dropped by Columbia in 1994. In 1994 the band released the first version of the album To The Bone on their own Konk label in the UK, a live album recorded partly on the highly successful UK tours of 1993 and 1994, and in the Konk studio before a small invited audience. Two years later the band released a new improved double CD live set in the USA, still called To The Bone, which now consisted of two new studio tracks ("Animal" and "To The Bone") paired with effective new treatments of many old Kinks hits, on independent labels in the UK and the US. It failed to chart in either. After the Hall of Fame induction, The Kinks decided to make some moves in the "unplugged" direction and softened their live performances, giving sensitive treatment to little-played songs from their early career such as the aforementioned "Days" and "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" from 1966.
In 1995, Dave Davies co-composed the soundtrack to horror filmmaker John Carpenter's remake of the 1960 alien invasion classic Village of the Damned.
The band's name and profile rose considerably in the mid 1990s, mainly due to the British rock boom called "Britpop" by the UK press. Several of the most prominent bands of the decade, including Blur, Pulp, Suede and Oasis, acknowledged The Kinks as a major influence on their careers and proclaimed themselves as among The Kinks' most admiring students. Blur frontman Damon Albarn and Oasis' chief songwriter Noel Gallagher especially stressed that The Kinks were one of the bands that made the biggest impact on their songwriting as well as their development as artists and musicians. Sadly, all these accolades made little difference to the commercial viability of the group. Rumours of a final break-up began to unfold.
Ray Davies took to his familiar role as a touchstone for yet another generation of British rockers, and acted as Britpop's "godfather" in a manner reminiscent of his relationship to The Jam and The Pretenders in the late-1970s. His intricate autobiographical novel X-Ray was published in early 1995, while the Britpop hysteria was at its peak in the UK. Not to be outdone, brother Dave Davies responded with his memoir Kink, published in the spring of 1996.
[edit] (1997-present) Disintegration
The Kinks performed the last time in mid-1996. The brothers' relationship seemed to have broken completely around this time as Ray reportedly didn't attend his brother's 50th birthday in 1997. Talk of a Kinks reunion has circulated (including an aborted studio reunion of the original band members in 1999), but both Ray and Dave Davies have shown little interest in playing together again. One of Ray's projects has included a choral work commissioned by the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, performed but never recorded. Most of the bandmembers are tied to their own solo projects (see below).
Despite all the post-break-up activity, the old ties could still bind. In 1998, Ray Davies released the solo album Storyteller (a companion piece to his autobiographical novel X-Ray) which celebrated his old band and his estranged brother. Before becoming an album, Storyteller began life as a cabaret style show in 1996. Seeing the programming possibilities inherent in Ray Davies' music/dialogue/reminiscence format, the American music television network VH-1 launched a series of similar projects featuring established rock artists, titling their show "VH-1 Storytellers".
In the autumn of 2005, The Kinks were inducted into the "UK Music Hall of Fame", where all of the original band members were present again [1] (indeed, they are now the only major British Invasion band whose original members are all still alive). The award was given by long-time Kinks fan and friend of Ray, The Who's guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend, who expressed his wishes to see The Kinks reunited in 2006.
[edit] Reunion?
In January 2006 Ray Davies said for an interview for Rolling Stone that the band may reform for another album. According to him, he recently got together with former bandmates, including Dave, to discuss potential future plans. Since the meeting, Ray is considering reforming the band for a reunion record. He confirms, "I had not seen them in ten years, but we had dinner recently and there's still chemistry. "At the end of the day all bands have fights and lawsuits and still come out with a string of great albums. "If we played together and felt any of the music was right then we'd make another record. "I don't just want to do a golden oldies tour." Ray was referring to the four original Kinks - himself, Dave Davies, Peter Quaife and Mick Avory - going for a curry after their induction into the UK Music Hall of Fame in November 2005.
In October 2006 Ray Davies said that he was confident the two would work together again. He told BBC 6 Music: "I'm trying to track down my brother, see how he's doing. Maybe he could guest on a few tracks. But we'll see," as well as "I spoke to him before I went on my last tour in America, and he's really on the mend. He's playing again, so it's a good sign."
[edit] Solo work
- Ray Davies was awarded the rank of Commander of the British Empire, or CBE (the rank below Knighthood), by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004, for "services to music." On January 4 of that year, Ray Davies was shot in the leg while pursuing a thief who had snatched the purse of his companion in the French Quarter of New Orleans. This experience influenced the writing of his first official solo album (which he had begun to work on in the late 1990's). Titled Other People's Lives, the album was released in early 2006 to critical acclaim. Populated by Kinky character studies, though somewhat more musically eclectic than the band's late period albums, Other People's Lives suggested that Davies' musical instincts were slightly more wide-ranging when released from his brother's heavier-rock lead guitar histrionics. Despite widespread praise, many critics noted the absence of the old Davies-Davies-Avory ragged glory on some of the more full-out rock compositions. Amazingly, 'Other People's Lives' gave Ray Davies his first top 40 album chart success in the UK for almost 40 years. As of 2006, Ray is working on his second full solo album with a working title Songs from the Big Weird.
- While a member of the band Dave Davies released three solo releases: his self-titled Dave Davies in 1980 and the less successful Glamour in 1981 and Chosen People in 1983. After The Kinks' demise, he toured and released solo albums, such as - Purusha and the Spiritual Planet (1998), Fortis Green (1999), and Fragile (2001). In 2003 Dave Davies released the critically acclaimed concept album Bug, based in Davies' belief that he was contacted telepathically by space aliens in the 1970s (the incident is also the subject of "True Story", a track from Chosen People). On June 30, 2004 Davies suffered a stroke in an elevator at the London offices of the BBC, where he had been promoting Bug. Davies was hospitalised and released shortly afterward, though he is still recovering as of early 2007. Davies released a new studio album, Fractured Mindz, in January of 2007.
- Since leaving The Kinks in 1984, Mick Avory has engaged in little session work or touring. However, he remains a manager of the Konk Studios and keeps in touch with the Davies brothers. Avory, along with former Kinks' supporting players John Dalton and John Gosling, perform in Europe as The Kast Off Kinks (with non-Kink singer/guitarist Dave Clarke). They are occasionally joined by Ray Davies' first wife Rasa (who replicates the back-up vocals she contributed on Kinks tracks of the mid-to-late 1960s) as well as Pete Quaife. In 2004 Avory joined a "supergroup" of 1960s British pop veterans called The Class of '64 (the name refers to the year of the British Invasion music breakthrough). Besides Avory, the line-up consists of Chip Hawkes from The Tremeloes, Eric Haydock from The Hollies, and features guitarists "Telecaster" Ted Tomlin and Graham Pollock. The band tours internationally and has recorded both an album of hits from the primary band members' pasts and an original single.
[edit] Personnel
| (1964-1966, 1966-1969) |
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| (1966, 1969-1970) |
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| (1970-1977) |
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[edit] Studio Discography
 1. The Kinks (Released in the US as You Really Got Me) – 1964 |
 2. Kinda Kinks– 1965 |
 3. The Kink Kontroversy– 1965 |
 4. Face to Face – 1966 |
 5. Something Else by The Kinks – 1967 |
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 9. Muswell Hillbillies – 1971 |
 10. Everybody's in Show-Biz1 – 1972 |
 * The Great Lost Kinks Album – 1973 |
 11. Preservation: Act 1 – 1973 |
 12. Preservation: Act 2 – 1974 |
 13. Soap Opera – 1975 |
 14. Schoolboys in Disgrace – 1976 |
 15. Sleepwalker – 1977 |
 16. Misfits – 1978 |
 17. Low Budget – 1979 |
 18. Give the People What They Want – 1981 |
 19. State of Confusion – 1983 |
 20. Word of Mouth – 1984 |
 21. Think Visual – 1986 |
 22. UK Jive – 1989 |
 23. Phobia – 1993 |
[edit] Trivia and facts
- Rod Stewart grew up in Muswell Hill and went to school with Ray Davies and Pete Quaife. Stewart briefly joined an early version of The Kinks, "The Ray Davies Quartet", as lead singer in spring of 1962. He performed with the group on at least one occasion, but was soon dropped due to complaints about his voice from then-drummer John Start's mother as well as musical and personality differences with the rest of the band.
- The band went under many names between 1962 and 1964 including "The Ray Davies Quartet", "The Pete Quaife Band", "The Bo-Weevils", "The Ramrods", and "The Ravens" before "The Kinks" was chosen permanently.
- Dave Davies claimed two of his favourite songs by his brother, Ray, were "Dead End Street" and "Shangri-La".
- In a 1998 interview Pete Quaife said some of his favourite Kinks' songs were "Dead End Street", "Waterloo Sunset", Dave Davies's "Death Of A Clown", "Animal Farm" and "Wicked Annabella" (the latter of which he played two Bach-inspired bass solos).
- According to Ray Davies, legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix was a Kinks fan.
[edit] Cultural references
- Sleater-Kinney modeled the album cover of Dig Me Out after The Kink Kontroversy
- Dylan the rabbit covered You Really Got Me in the film, The Magic Roundabout
- Def Leppard did a cover of Waterloo Sunset on their 2006 cover album, Yeah!
- The Hanson Brothers covered "Victoria" (released on Mr. Right & Mr. Wrong CD) reworking the lyrics to sing the praises, or more accurately the lack thereof, of their hometown Victoria, British Columbia
- Little Angels covered Tired Of Waiting on their 1993 album, "Jam". A sprawling, over indulgent keyboard intro is cut short with the words, "Nah - sounds like Bon Jovi" before the band launch into a high powered rendition of the Kinks' hit.
- In The Simpsons, Marge listens to You Really Got Me played on a frying pan radio. The episode is The Canine Mutiny.
- In an episode of the animated FOX programme Futurama, Amazon Women in the Mood, space captain Zapp Brannigan sings (or rather speaks) a karaokee rendition of Lola in a space restaurant, but with the lyrics altered from "Lola" to "Leela" (i.e. instead of "L-O-L-A Lola" as in the original version, Brannigan sings "L-E-E-L-A Leela"). His singing is so horrific that all other restaurant attendees flee in escape pods.
- The electro-band Robots in Disguise have covered You Really Got Me on their album Get RID!.
- In Jason Mordaunt's 2003 novel Welcome To Coolsville[2], bandleader Slide Benson concludes a medley dedicated to another of the characters, who has recently undergone a sartorial make-over, with an orchestration of the opening line of The Kinks' 'Dedicated Follower Of Fashion'.
- In the hit ABC series, Lost, The Kinks song, "He's Evil" was sung by Charlie while he was fishing with Jin, in the episode The 23rd Psalm.
- A cover version of The Kinks' "See My Friend" was played during the second season finale of the UPN series Veronica Mars when Beaver jumps from the roof. It is performed by British band Gravenhurst.
- Several of The Kinks songs also feature in the cult Channel 4 comedy 'Green Wing'. "You Really Got Me was sung by Caroline in an effort to win over Mac, a massive Kinks fan, and "Tired of Waiting for You" was played at the beginning and end of series 2, episode 8.
- Songs by The Kinks have also figured prominently in The Sopranos. "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" plays during the closing scene and credits of the Season Five episode "Cold Cuts," and in the Third Season, the episode "University" features the song "Living on a Thin Line" during the first scene at the Bada Bing, and then again during the final scene, also at the Bada Bing.
- Green Day covered Tired Of Waiting For You. This tune is found on Shenanigans compilation and the Private Parts soundtrack.
- Green Day recycled the Picture Book riff for their smash hit Warning, taken from the same-titled album, strongly influenced by The Kinks' Village Green Preservation Society LP.
- American glam-rock female singer Suzi Quatro covered Tired Of Waiting For You for the If You Knew Suzi album.
- The all-female British post-punk band The Raincoats recorded a cover of the "Lola" for their 1979 debut album The Raincoats.
- Ray Davies produced the last album by The Turtles called Turtle Soap in 1969. The Turtles' members were hugely impressed with The Kinks' Village Green Preservation Society album and asked Ray for this collaboration. Turtle Soap turned to be a less commercially successful album than the predecessors, however received positive critical review. Ray also produced records by Claire Hamill (Stage Door Johnnies, which featured Mick Avory's drumming on a few tracks as well as a cover of "Celluloid Heroes") and the only album by Cafe Society, featuring future "Glad to be Gay" writer Tom Robinson. Both albums appeared on the Kinks' short-lived label Konk Records.[citation needed]
- The Kinks were once rumoured to have taken there name from a piece of graffiti found on a bench saying "Kinks JT".
- David Bowie recorded a version of Where Have All The Good Times Gone, it was included in Pin-Ups album. He also recorded "Waterloo Sunset" on the Japanese version of his "Reality" album, available as an import.
- The song Big Sky is covered by Yo La Tengo on their 1986 debut album Ride The Tiger, by the band Flop on their debut album Flop & The Fall Of The Mopsqueezer! in 1992, and by The Aquabats.
- The band Boss Hog covered I'm Not Like Everybody Else in 1996 for the film soundtrack of Suburbia on DGC Records.
- A Kinks tribute compilation entitled Give The People What They Want was released in 2001 on Sub Pop records. It includes such bands as Mudhoney, The Fastbacks, The Makers, Young Fresh Fellows, Mark Lanegan (of Screaming Trees fame) and The Fallouts. This song was also covered by Metal Mike Saunders of the punk rock band the Angry Samoans on his solo album compilation entitled Next Stop Nowhere on Triple X Records in 1994.
- The song "Everybody's gonna be happy" was covered by Queens of the Stone Age on their Songs For The Deaf album.
- The song "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" was used in a commercial for an IBM ad.
- The song "Till The End Of The Day" was covered by the Japanese cult band Shonen Knife on the 1996 album "The Birds And The B-Sides."
- Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine covered "Come Dancing" at one of their live shows.
- The U.S. Army and Marine Corps regularly use a modified version of "All Day and All Of The Night" as a marching cadence.
- Weird Al Yankovic performs a parody of "Lola" called "Yoda" on his "Dare to Be Stupid" album.
- The Black Keys covered "Act Nice and Gentle" on their record Rubber Factory
- The Kinks performing their song "Picture Book" was featured in an HP ad.
- The theme tune to Jam and Jerusalem (UK TV Comedy) is a version of The Kinks' The Village Green Preservation Society sung by Kate Rusby.
- The song "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" was covered by The Vulcan Dub Squad on their 2003 release This Nation's Saving Face.
- In Battlefield Vietnam, two tracks on the players radio are live versions of "All Day and All Of The Night" and "You Really Got Me", from an unknown concert.
- Weddings Parties Anything covered 'Misfits'.
- Fountains of Wayne covered "Better Things"; the song appeared on The Manchurian Candidate (2004).
- Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles sang "You Really Got Me" on the celebrity version of the ITV show X-Factor in 2006
[edit] References and notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h The Kinks Biography on All Music.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-21.
- ^ The Kinks Biography on RollingStone.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-21.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j The Kinks Biography on BBC Music.co.uk. Retrieved on 2006-08-21.
- ^ [http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Mick_Avory.html Mick Avory Biography on DrummerWorld.com]. Retrieved on 2006-08-24.
- ^ Michael E. Ross. "1964: Brits invade U.S. — no one can escape!", MSNBC, 2004-02-09. Retrieved on 2006-08-22.
- ^ a b Mark Paytress (March 2006). "Tales of Ordinary Madness". Mojo Magazine Issue 148.
- ^ Mick Avory Interview on RetroSellers.com. Retrieved on 2006-09-01.
[edit] External links
- Dave Emlen's Unofficial Kinks Web Site
- The Kinks Home Page - Brazil
- Official Dave Davies Web Site
- The Kinks at Nostalgia Central
- Mystery in the Wood - The Kinks Last Concert++
- The Class of 64 Featuring Mick Avory
- Song Facts on the Kinks hit song "Really Got Me"
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | English musical groups | Peel Sessions artists | Rock music groups | The Kinks | Musical groups established in 1964 | 1960s music groups | Music from London | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees | Pre-punk groups | Arista Records artists | People from London | Beat groups | Musical groups with siblings
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