The Kinks

The Kinks were part of the British Invasion, and their early hits, "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night," paved the way for the power chords of the next decade's hard rock. But most of leader Ray Davies' songs have been elegies for the beleaguered British middle class, scenarios for rock theater, and tales of show-business survival. After their first burst of popularity, the Kinks became a cult band in the mid-'70s until, buoyed by the new waves rediscovery of the Davies catalogue, they returned to arenas in the 80s. In the 90s brothers Dave and Ray established more separate identities while the Kinks reputation remained secure. Ray Davies was attending art school when he joined his younger brother Daves band, the Ravens, in 1963. In short order Ray took over the group - renamed the Kinks - retaining bassist Pete Quaife and recruiting Mick Avory to play drums. With this lineup they released a pair of unsuccessful singles before recording You Really Got Me, a #1 hit in England that reached #7 in the U.S. in 1964. The following year All Day and All of the Night and Tired of Waiting for You both reached the Top 10 in the U.S. and set a pattern for future releases of alternating tough rockers (Wholl Be the Next in Line) and ballads (Set Me Free). In 1966 the Kinks released two singles of pointed satire, A Well Respected Man (#13) and Dedicated Follower of Fashion (#36), indicating the personal turn Ray Davies songs were taking. Their next album, The Kinks Kontroversy, though containing another hard-rock 45, Till the End of the Day (#50) was increasingly introspective, with songs like Im on an Island. Also that year, an appearance on the American TV show Hullabaloo resulted in a problem with the American Federation of Musicians that wasnt resolved until 1969 and prevented the group from touring the U.S. for some time. Sunny Afternoon (#14, 1966) from Face to Face was their last hit of that period. During their years of U.S. exile, Ray Davies composed the first of many concept albums, (The Kinks Are) The Village Green Preservation Society (1968), an LP of nostalgia for all the quaint English customs (such as virginity) that other bands were rebelling against. Dave Davies, who had been writing the occasional song for the Kinks almost from the beginning, had a solo hit in England with Death of a Clown, actually a Kinks song that he wrote and sang. More of Daves singles followed (Susannahs Still Alive, Lincoln County), none of which repeated the success of Clown. A planned solo album was recorded but released much later, in 1987, as The Album That Never Was. The Kinks next LP, Arthur, or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire, was, with the Whos Tommy, an early rock opera written for a British TV show that never aired. The Kinks next concept album, Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One (#35, 1970), was built around the story of trying to get a hit record. Lola, undoubtedly the first rock hit about a transvestite, reached #9. Lola was the groups first Top 40 LP since 1966s The Kinks Greatest Hits (#9). The group then left Reprise for RCA, continuing to work on concept pieces, once again without hits. Nevertheless it acquired a reputation as a cheerfully boozy live band; Kinks performances were known for messy musicianship and onstage arguments between Ray and Dave Davies, while Ray clowned with limp wrists and sprayed beer at the audience. This was chronicled on Everybodys in Show-Biz (#70, 1972), a double album split between Ray Davies first road songs and a loose live set. Concept albums became soundtracks for theatrical presentations starring the Kinks in the next years. Preservation Acts 1 and 2, Soap Opera (#51, 1975), and Schoolboys in Disgrace (#45, 1975) were all composed for the stage, complete with extra horn players and singers. For all of the elaborate shows, though, the albums werent selling. The Kinks left RCA and concept albums behind in 1976, and 1977s Sleepwalker hit #21 with its title track (#48). They finally scored a hit in 1978 with A Rock n Roll Fantasy (#30, 1978), off Misfits (#40, 1978). Low Budget (#11, 1979), aided by another successful 45, (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman (#41, 1979), became the Kinks first gold record since the Reprise greatest-hits collection of their early singles.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• The
• Kinks
• Ray
• Davies
• Dave
• Pete
• Quaife
• Mick
• Avory
• Classic
• Rock
• 60's
• Music
• Band

[jackflash1996]

@llPacciteXll tired of waiting for you

[llPacciteXll]

song? 1:31

[sbarr10]

This is a fantastic video.

I can't get enough of the megawattage behind Dave Davies' smile and his guitar virtuosity.

Nor will I ever tire of this geyser of music that continues to gush out of Ray to this day.

Nor will I ever take for granted Mick Avory's unflappable rhythm that matched that impassive facial expression, or Pete's bass, at times driving, at times wandering, at times wild ...

[alex2nd10]

Good job riley i like it.