The Kinks

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The Kinks

Years active	1963–1996
Origin	London, England
Genre(s)	Rock
Label(s)	Pye, RCA and Arista Records
Members	Ray Davies Dave Davies Jim Rodford Bob Henrit Ian Gibbons

The Kinks are a British rock group. They first gained prominence in the mid-1960s and became one of the most influential groups of British rock and the "British Invasion" of America, and today are credited as founding fathers of genres as diverse as Britpop and heavy metal. Originally consisting of lead singer/guitarist Ray Davies, lead guitarist Dave Davies, drummer Mick Avory and bassist Peter Quaife, the core of the group over the years has remained the brothers Davies. For a brief period in the mid-'60s, the band rivalled The Rolling Stones as the second most popular British group behind only The Beatles, but internal squabbles and an untimely ban from touring the United States eroded their popularity on both sides of the Atlantic just as the group was reaching its artistic peak. They experienced popular revivals in the '70s and '80s but never again regained the critical acclaim of their 1960's output.

1 History
2 Influence
3 Line-ups
- 3.1 1964-1984
- 3.2 1984-1996
4 Discography
5 Sources
6 External links

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History

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Early Years (1963-1966)

Ray Davies

Ray (b. 21 June 1944) and Dave Davies (b. 3 February 1947) were born and raised in the Muswell Hill area of London, England. In their teens, the musically inclined brothers played in various local bands both together and separately, performing English skiffle, rock & roll, and American-influenced rhythm and blues. Eventually, Dave Davies began a new group with schoolmate Peter Quaife on bass. The fledgling combo asked Ray to join, and he agreed. By the summer of 1963, the group (then called the Ravens) playing with drummer Mickey Willet, were struggling to make it big in the exploding British pop and rock scene. Eventually, a demo tape reached producer Shel Talmy, an American expatriate under contract to Pye Records. Talmy helped the group land a contract with Pye in 1964. Before signing to the label, the Ravens replaced drummer Willet with Mick Avory, who had a short tenure with Rolling Stones a couple of months before that and who would be solid-standing member for the group with the volatile Davies brothers for the next 20 years.

The group recorded their debut single in January 1964, a version of Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally". At the urging of their manager Larry Page of Page One Records, the group changed their name to The Kinks just before their single's release. The name is thought to refer to the style of "kinky" boots and clothing then in fashion, partly thanks to the Avengers television series. The group had chosen the "Long Tall Sally" because The Beatles had recently covered it to impressive success, but The Kinks' version failed to chart. After their second single, the Merseybeat-styled Beatles imitation "You Still Want Me", fared even worse than its predecessor, Pye Records was on the verge of dropping them; the band was made aware that the next single had to succeed.

That next single, "You Really Got Me", proved to be a monumental breakthrough. Written and pushed through a difficult recording process by Ray Davies, the song and its style were instant and huge successes and have proved immensely influential. Harder-edged than the group's first two singles, and indeed anything in pop music at the time, Ray's menacing, sex-charged lyrics and insouciant delivery and Dave's furious guitar sound (harnessed after slashing the speaker cones of his amplifier) became the blueprint for the Kinks' trademark early sound. In the years and decades since, thousands of groups have used the song's distorted, heavy, and simple power chords as a foundation. "You Really Got Me" reached number one in the UK within a month of its release; released on the Reprise label in the U.S., the single peaked at number seven. This career-saving success established Ray Davies as the main songwriter and de facto leader of the group from this point forward. A follow-up single in a similar vein, "All Day and All of the Night," was released late in 1964 and became another smash UK hit, rising all the way to #2; it also became their second #7 Billboard hit in America. "Tired of Waiting for You," a softer ballad, became their second chart-topper in the UK, and their biggest US hit yet (#6), solidifying the group's early popularity in both countries. During this time, the group released two albums (The Kinks and Kinda Kinks) and several EPs and headlined tours around the world.

Dave Davies

Based on their huge chart success and concert drawing power, in early 1965 the Kinks were in league with The Rolling Stones as the main competitors behind The Beatles as the top UK popular music acts. But at this time the group also began to exhibit the career-spanning traits that would alienate them from mainstream audiences and the music industry. These were the personal and creative tensions and internal discord of the group (particularly between the Davies brothers and drummer Avory with the younger Dave), a genuine combative rebelliousness against the expectations of popular celebrity culture, and Ray Davies' affinity for idosyncratic, unfashionable musical styles, which would begin to burgeon a couple years hence. Ironically, many of these alienating traits would endear the Kinks to their future cult following.

Throughout 1965, the group continued recording, performing, and touring the world at a relentless pace. At the conclusion of their Summer 1965 American tour, the Kinks were banned from re-entering the United States by the American Federation of Musicians Union for "unprofessional behavior", after ugly conflicts with the American tour promoters over money and performance venues. For four years, the Kinks were prohibited from returning to the U.S., cutting off the group from both the world's largest music market, and, more significantly, the American counterculture of the late 1960s, which was reverberating both in the music world and beyond. Consequently, Davies' rapidly growing songwriting skills relied more on English influences, such as music hall and English folk, than the rest of his British contemporaries. At this time, Davies also became embroiled in bitter legal disputes with the group's management and with his music publishing company that would drag on through the rest of the decade.

By early 1966, the relentless pressures and mayhem of the previous two years had taken a toll on the group. Ray Davies suffered a nervous and physical breakdown, and spent several months recuperating and writing new songs, with a stand-in filling in for some live shows. Quaife was also forced to leave the group for much of 1966 after an automobile accident, returning by the end of the year. Some legendary onstage fights also erupted; in the most notorious incident, in early 1965 at a gig in Cardiff, Wales, the normally placid drummer Mick Avory attacked Dave Davies on stage with the hi-hat pedal of his drum kit, after Dave kicked his bass-drum for a revenge for a previous night fight, then Avory fled into hiding for days to avoid arrest.

By this time Ray Davies' songwriting grew tremendously, and featured increasingly idiosyncratic, traditionalistic, and distinctly British trends, both musically and lyrically. The stylistic changes were first evident in late 1965, with the appearance of the singles "A Well Respected Man" and "Dedicated Follower of Fashion", and a number of tracks on the transitional album The Kinks Kontroversy. These demonstrated the progression in Davies' songwriting from hard driving rock numbers towards his own unique brand of social commentary, observation, compassionate satire, and idiosyncratic character study, all with an increasingly English flavor.

In commercial terms, The Kinks were beginning to feel the effects of the United States ban. They had lost some of the traction they'd started to get in America with their first three international hit singles, each of which reached the Billboard Top Ten. Between mid-1965 and mid-1966, they had a further five Billboard Top 40 hits. While this is an impressive figure for any group, not one of the singles peaked in the Top 10, well off the pace of their auspicious start. Their biggest American hits of the period were "A Well Respected Man" at #13 and "Sunny Aftertoon" at #14; the other three singles didn't enter the Top 20. The banished group was soon effectively locked out of the American charts altogether; they would not have another Top 40 hit until 1970. The Kinks never topped the U.S. charts (coming closest twice #6 rankings for "Tired of Waiting for You" in 1965, and "Come Dancing" in 1983), and overall, would have just five Top Ten singles in America — only 2 following the spring of 1965.

In the UK, however, the group was still going strong, for the time being. After the follow-up to "Tired of Waiting for You", March 1965's "Ev'rybody's Gonna Be Happy", peaked at #17, the group rattled off a daunting string of nine consecutive top 10 hits of increasing sophistication and idiosyncracy, beginning with "Set Me Free", "See My Friends", "Till the End of the Day", and "Dedicated Follower of Fashion". Of particular note is July 1965's "See My Friends". Peaking at #10 on the UK charts, "See My Friends" was a hypnotic, droning track inspired by the chants of local fishermen Ray Davies heard during a brief stopover in Bombay en route to Australia. It is today considered one of the first forays into Eastern music by Western pop musicians, predating The Beatles' "Norwegian Wood" by nearly half a year. Following "Dedicated Follower of Fashion" was their third and last UK chart-topper, June 1966's "Sunny Afternoon".

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"Golden Age" (1966-1972)

Peter Quaife

"Sunny Afternoon" became the anchor and template for the group's first major artistically successful album, Face to Face, which also marked the departure from the hard-rocking phase of the Kinks' career. One of the first concept albums, Face to Face displayed Davies' now prolific and inspired songwriting skills. A collection of cutting narrative songs, many about everyday people and their small-scale dramas and failures, the album ranked as one of the best of the landmark musical year of 1966. The social commentary single "Dead End Street" was released at the time of Face to Face, and became another big U.K. hit. For the two years following the release of Face to Face, the Kinks scaled back live performances in the UK and Europe and focused on extensive studio recording, a trend they shared with the other big British groups at the time (who were similarly burned out by the breakneck 1964-1966 touring period). But the Kinks also became notorious in 1966 for cancelling or skipping appearances to which they were booked, which contributed to their declining commercial viability over the next few years. By late 1968, they were appearing in rather embarrassing venues, such as public parks, package tours for mostly teenage audiences, and cabaret clubs.

But this period also yielded their greatest, most enduring studio work. In May 1967, they returned with "Waterloo Sunset," a striking ballad that reached number two in the U.K. in the spring of 1967. Released in the autumn of 1967, the excellent songs on the album Something Else By The Kinks continued the musical progressions of Face to Face, but without the stronger thematic consistency of that album. Dave Davies also scored major chart success with "Death of a Clown", cowritten with Ray and recorded by the Kinks, but released as a Dave Davies solo single before re-appearing on Something Else. After this album was recorded, Ray assumed studio production responsibilities for the group from former producer Shel Talmy.

Despite the Kinks' tremendous musical growth and artistic success in the studio, their chart performance in the UK and Europe began to stagnate as the tastes of the pop world rapidly changed in late 1967 and into 1968. Something Else sold poorly (in part because it was released on the heels of a budget-priced Kinks greatest hits album), and the Kinks rushed out a new single, "Autumn Almanac", which became another big U.K. hit for the group. But "Wonderboy", an ill-considered single released in the spring of 1968, was the first release not to crack the Top Ten; its failure instigated a precipitous decline in the group's commercial popularity in the UK, much like the one they had experienced in America a year earlier.

Mick Avory

Throughout 1968, Davies doggedly continued to pursue and perfect his pop songwriting style, at the same time rebelling against the heavy demands placed on him by the Kinks' management and record label to keep producing commercial hit singles. The Kinks recovered somewhat with "Days", a #12 U.K. hit in the summer of 1968, but the group's commercial decline was made evident by the failure of The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society. Released in the late autumn of 1968, this concept album was the culmination of Davies' nostalgic tendencies. A stunning collection of thematically related vignettes assembled from songs written and recorded over the previous two years, the album lacked a commercial single and was sorely out of touch with the social, heavy rock, and psychedelic music popular at the time. Because of the American ban, the group had been isolated from many of the changes--musical and otherwise--taking place in the States, and this album was completely at odds with all that was currently popular everywhere in the world. While commercially unsuccessful, it was well-received by the new underground rock press, particularly in the U.S., where the Kinks' status as a cult group began to grow. It is now considered as one of the band's finest albums.

Major changes occurred in the group in the wake of the album's release. Bassist Peter Quaife had grown tired of the group's direction and the dominant role of Ray Davies, and resigned in March 1969, being replaced by John Dalton. Dalton had temporarily replaced Quaife in 1966, and was now brought back permanently. Dave Davies recorded a stockpile of his songs with the Kinks for a solo album in this time, but he lost confidence after the failure of the followup singles to "Death of a Clown", and the intended album was never released. In 1968, Ray Davies also began composing and recording music with the group for television and film projects, fulfilling a long-standing ambition to diversify into these media; this would lay the foundation for future efforts such as Arthur, Percy, and their elaborate stage shows of the early 1970s.

Also in 1969, the American ban upon the Kinks was finally lifted, leaving them free to tour the U.S. for the first time in four years. They returned to the U.S. in late 1969, but the concert scene was in the midst of a radical transition, from the teenage dominated audiences of the 1964-1967 period to the FM radio-inspired heavy rock scene of the 1970s. The Kinks' early shows after the return to the US were held in small venues (such as the Fillmore East, and local colleges and small clubs), and were highly undisciplined, as the group had to adapt to the changes. It took extensive touring in the US between 1969 and 1972 before the group developed a successful, disciplined stage act.

Before their return to the US, the Kinks released Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire). Like the previous three Kinks albums, Arthur contained clear British lyrical and musical themes, having been conceived as the score for a proposed television drama. It was a modest commercial success, and was particularly well-received by music critics in America, where it was very favorably compared to the contemporary album Tommy by The Who, even lauded as superior in some prominent articles. Significantly, it marked a major return to rock music for the group, which they had largely forgone since "Sunny Afternoon" in 1966. As they were recording the follow-up to Arthur, the Kinks expanded their lineup to include keyboardist John Gosling.

The first appearance of Gosling on a Kinks record was "Lola". Featuring a harder rock foundation than their records of recent years, and with the amusing theme of a mistaken romantic encounter with a transvestite, "Lola" was a much-needed worldwide hit and a concert favourite that served to revitalize the group's commercial viability (just as "You Really Got Me" had done six years before). Released in the fall of 1970, Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One was their most successful record since the mid-'60s in both the U.S. and U.K., helping the group become concert favorites in the U.S. In 1971 the group released Percy, a soundtrack album to a film of the same name. It is generally regarded as a lesser Kinks effort, and the group's US label Reprise declined to release it in America, precipitating a major dispute that contrubuted to the group's departure from that label.

After the group's contracts with Pye Records and Reprise expired in early 1971, they secured a five-album deal with RCA Records. Based on the success of "Lola", they received a million dollar advance, which they used to construct their own London studio (Konk) and gain more control from the constraints of their original 1960s management agreements. Released in late 1971, Muswell Hillbillies, the group's first album for RCA, marked a return to the nostalgia of the Kinks' late-'60s albums, only with more pronounced country and music hall influences. The album material was uniformly strong and critically praised, but it failed to be the commercial blockbuster RCA had hoped for. A few months after the release of Muswell Hillbillies, Reprise released the excellent double-album compilation The Kink Kronikles, which introduced the songs from the overlooked 1966-1970 period to American audiences. It outsold their RCA debut, and played a huge role in solidifying their cult status in the US.

In 1972 the group released Everybody's in Showbiz, a double record set consisting of one album of studio tracks (most prominently the excellent ballad "Celluloid Heroes", and the catchy "Supersonic Rocket Ship", their last UK Top 20 hit for over a decade) and another of live material. It signalled the beginning of Davies' overt fascination with theatrical concept albums and elaborate stage shows (facilitated in part by the staginess of the contemporary Glam Rock trend) that would dominate their career into 1975-1976. The album was a commercial and critical disappointment in the U.K., although it sold better in the U.S. This pattern would continue to play out over the subsequent decade, with the Kinks' popularity and sales steadily increasing in the US, and remaining stagnant in the UK.

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Failure of rock operas (1973-1976)

In 1973, Ray Davies dove headlong into the theatrical style, composing a full-blown theatrical rock opera called Preservation, a more ambitious outgrowth of the earlier Village Green Preservation Society concept. In conjunction with this project, Davies expanded the Kinks' lineup to include a horn section and female backup singers, essentially reforming the group as a theatrical troupe. But Davies also suffered serious drug and marital problems during this period which adversely affected the band. Coupled with Avory and Dave's alcoholic abuse and the latter's lack of enthusiasm for the theatrical style, the band's recorded and live output remained uneven, and their popularity eroded.

When the first installment – closer in spirit to vaudeville than to opera – appeared in late 1973, it received generally poor reviews, though its live performances fared better with the critics. Act 2 appeared in the summer of 1974; it faced a similar reception. Davies began another musical, Starmaker, for the BBC; the project eventually metamorphosed into Soap Opera, which was released in the spring of 1975. In 1976, the Kinks recorded the final theatrical work, Schoolboys in Disgrace. Compared with the previous three albums, the songs on Schoolboys were more independent from the album's concept, and they rocked harder than any of the RCA albums. From critical point of view, the theatrical concept albums now are viewed as rather self-idulgent, over-ambitious records, essentially a bridge between the next incarnation of the band.

Much of the improvement on Schoolboys was due to the bands' considerable growth as musicians: Dave Davies showed a dramatic emergence as an excellent, modern rock guitarist, and Mick Avory fleshed out his skills and become powerful and first-class drummer. At this time Ray also completely kicked his drug and alcoholic addictions, and with renewed energy started writing excellent mainstream rock songs again.

In 1976, the Kinks signed with Arista Records. With the encouragement of Arista management, they recast themselves back into a commercial rock group, stripping down to the five-person core group and jettisoning the extra personnel from the theatrical phase. Essentially, they abandoned the experimentation of the previous decade (both brilliant and otherwise), and picked up where they had left off in late 1965. Rock in general was in a back-to basics trend at this time, spearheaded by the Punk movement and the emergence of late 1970s "supergroups" (ironically, one the biggest of these, Van Halen, achieved their breakthrough with a powerful remake of "You Really Got Me", which in turn greatly boosted The Kinks' resurgence). With Davies' renewed creativity the band consequently bounced back on the record charts.

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Bouncing back to the charts (1977-1984)

John Dalton left the group near the completion of their debut Arista album and was replaced by Andy Pyle. Sleepwalker, the Kinks' first album for Arista, became a major hit in the U.S. As the group was completing the follow-up to Sleepwalker, Pyle left the group and was replaced by the returning Dalton. Misfits, the group's second Arista album, was also a U.S. success, although its recording was somewhat marred by the ever-present internal discord. After a British tour, Dalton left the group again, along with keyboardist John Gosling; ex-Argent bassist Jim Rodford and (with a short service by Gordon Edwards) keyboardist Ian Gibbons filled the vacancies. Despite the personnel changes, the group's recording and concert success continued to grow. With their well-honed stage craft and great repertoire, they were again beginning to play the large arenas in the United States.

As punk rockers like the Jam ("David Watts") and the Pretenders ("Stop Your Sobbing") and heavy metal acts like Van Halen ("You Really Got Me") were covering Kinks songs in the late 1970s, the group became more commercially successful with each release, culminating in the heavy rock and new wave sounds of Low Budget 1979, which became the group's biggest American success, peaking at number 11. Davies' wry songwiting skills hit their second commercial peak, as he crafted intellegent, polished, and commercially appealing songs like "Pressure", "A Little Bit of Abuse", "Catch Me Now I'm Falling", and the minor hit "(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman". A live album (their third) and video, "One for the Road", followed in 1980, and its success pushed their concert drawing power to a peak between 1981 and 1983. Dave Davies also took advantage of the group's improved commercial standing to fulfill his decade-long solo ambition, releasing a series of well-received albums on his own.

The Kinks' next studio album, Give the People What They Want, appeared in late 1981; the record peaked at number 15 and went gold. For most of 1982, the group was on tour. In spring of 1983, the swing-flavoured "Come Dancing" became the group's biggest American hit since "Tired of Waiting for You," thanks to the video's repeated exposure on MTV; in the US, the song peaked at number six, in the UK it climbed to number 12. The album State of Confusion followed the release of "Come Dancing", and it was another commercial success, peaking at number 12 in the US. At this time Ray Davies also became romantically involved with Pretenders leader Chrissie Hynde, herself a longtime Kinks fan, resulting in the birth of a daughter.

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. An 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 acts such as David Bowie, the Who and even the Rolling Stones); also, the concert market for Kinks shows in the US had largely been played out by a decade of almost non-stop touring. But the internal strife in the group also reached a critical point now.

For the second half of 1983, Ray Davies immersed himself in an ambitious solo film project, Return to Waterloo, which caused considerable tension between himself and his brother. The Kinks also reshuffled their lineup. Ray Davies' best friend of the band - Mick Avory left. His working relationship with Dave Davies had reached a breaking point, reportedly Dave didn't want to work with Mick and unwillingly Ray had to chose side; also Avory was quite tired with the incessant break-ups, changes and sibling punch-ups within the band so with an agreement with Ray, the group's longest serving member and drummer assumed a management position at Konk Studios. Jim Rodford proposed his ex-Argent colleague - Robert "Bob" Henrit and since Henrit also played with Dave Davies on a couple of his solo records, he was the obvious choice.

By the time Ray finished production on Return to Waterloo and Avory's departure, who still provided drums on three tracks, the band recorded and released the album, Word of Mouth in late 1984. It was similar in tone to the last few Kinks records, but the songs lacked the heart, cleverness, and quality of the previous albums, thus it was a commercial disappointment. It was also partially due to the rhythm section of the album, whereas backed up by the talented and skilled Avory, in Word of Mouth was quite messy as ¹/³rd of the tracks were done with Mick, another with Henrit and another by drum machine. Intense squabbles over track selections for the album further strained the Davies brothers' working relationship. Following this album, the Kinks seemed to lose a creative edge that they never fully recovered, and they never again cracked the Top 40.

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Fall in popularity (1985-1996)

Word of Mouth was their last album for Arista Records. In early 1986, the group signed with MCA Records in the United States, London in the UK. Think Visual, their first album for their new label, was released in late 1986. It was a mild success but there were no hit singles from the record. The following year, the Kinks released another live album, appropriately titled The Road, which spent a brief time on the charts. Two years later, the Kinks released their last studio record for MCA, UK Jive, which was a commercial and critical failure. After this the same year, longtime keyboardist Ian Gibbons left the group.

The Kinks were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, their first year of eligibility, and all of the original members from the 1960s lineup were present. But the induction did not bring back to life their stagnated career. In 1991, a compilation of their MCA records, Lost & Found (1986-1989), appeared, signaling that their contract with the label had expired. Later in the year, the group signed with Columbia Records and released an EP called Did Ya, which didn't chart. Gibbons rejoined in 1993 and The Kinks' first album for Columbia, Phobia, arrived in 1993 to fair reviews but poor sales. In 1994, the group was dropped from Columbia Records, leaving the group to release the double live set To the Bone, which consisted of effective new treatments of many of their old hits, on independent labels in the UK and the US. (The US version of the album was substantially longer than the original British edition.)

Despite a lack of commercial success with new material, the group's profile rose again in the mid 1990s. After the Hall of Fame induction, the Kinks made some moves in the 'unplugged" direction and softened their live performances, giving sensitive treatment to little-played songs from their early career (such as "Days"). Also, several of the most popular Britpop bands of the decade, including Blur, Pulp, Suede and Oasis, cited the Kinks as a major influence on their careers. Particularly Blur frontman Damon Albarn and Oasis' chief songwriter Noel Gallagher several times both have stressed that the Kinks are one of the bands that made biggest impact on their songwriting as well as their developing as artists and musicians and respective bands' careers. Ray Davies also took his role and acted as a rock "godfather", while promoting his autobiography, "X-Ray", published in early 1995 in the UK. Dave Davies responded with his "Kink", published in the spring of 1996.

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Split and solo work (1997-present)

The Kinks performed together for the last time in late 1996. The working relationship between the Davies brothers seemed to have broken down completely in early 1997. Talk of a Kinks reunion has circulated (including an aborted reunion of the original band members in 1999), but both Ray and Dave Davies have shown tepid interest in playing together again. One of Ray's projects has included a symphony commissioned by the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, and regular touring with his own backup band. Dave also toured and released solo work since the Kinks' demise. Ray was awarded a CBE (the rank below Knighthood) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004, for "services to music". A number of the Kinks' former supporting players, such as John Dalton, John Gosling and Mick Avory, also perform in Europe and the UK as the "Kast-Off Kinks". Ray also has been working a new album for years. Called The Tourist, it is scheduled for 2006. He embarked on another tour in October 2005.

Both Davies brothers suffered injuries in 2004. On January 4, Ray was shot in the leg while chasing thieves who had snatched the purse of his companion in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Dave suffered the more serious one in June 30 when he had a bad stroke in an elevator at the London offices of the BBC, where he had been promoting his latest solo album, Bug, he was hospitalised and released on August 27.

Ironically, Dave's stroke has caused a reconcilliation, with Ray reportedly working closely with his younger brother to regain his guitar skills. It seems that the two brothers are back to having a good relationship - something considered abnormal for two decades. "I'm spending lots of time with Dave," said Ray. "I'm coaching him along as best I can to re-learn the guitar. Actually, we're getting along better than ever. As soon as he can play guitar again, then it's back to the old hatred," he added, laughing, "It's the only thing that lasts." On this Dave responded jokingly on his web-site that it sounds like him "giving songwriting lessons to Ray".

Apparently, when Dave's stroke occurred, the two brothers were seriously considering a reunion to coincide with the 40th anniversary of their first number one hit "You Really Got Me". It remains to be seen if this reunion will come to fruition, due to Ray's tight touring schedule behind his new album and the on-going recovery of his brother.

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Influence

The Kinks performed and recorded together as a group for over 30 years. Their early incarnation as rebellious three-chord rockers provided a template for both punk and heavy metal, and their best albums (Face to Face, Something Else, Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur, Lola, and Muswell Hillbillies) remain unique examples of literate, creative pop music. The group also enjoyed a remarkable return to mass popularity from the mid-1970s to mid-1980s, with some highlight albums - Sleepwalker, Misfits, Give the People What They Want and State of Confusion. However, they never maintained the consistent popularity and commercial success of their major British contemporaries The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Who. This was due in large part to Davies' and the group's fierce creative independence and a disdain for popular music trends, particularly between the late 1960s and the mid 1970s. But the group has one of the most loyal cult followings of any popular music group, the critical regard for their large body of work is exceptional and they are cited as one of the most influential and important acts of the 20th century.

The Kinks have directly influenced many modern British and American rock acts and Davies has put his mark on the rock music, as one of the finest and most prolific songwriters. He is cited, among the greatest songwriters as Pete Townshend, Lennon/McCartney and Jagger/Richards. In an interview for "The History of Rock and Roll", Pete Townshend described The Kinks and Ray Davies particularly as a big influence: "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."

A long-awaited reissue programme of Kinks albums was undertaken by the Castle Communications label in 1998, and has continued under Sanctuary Records. The Kinks catalogue has been mercilessly and often badly reissued for many years, and even original releases were hampered by UK record company policies at the time (such as the desire to keep singles and albums as separate releases). The addition of many unreleased and bonus tracks helps make their best albums even more essential.

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Line-ups

The band changed many line-ups during the years, with Davies brothers and Avory remaining for most part of the band's history. However Ray explained that he doesn't fire bandmembers, rather than they leave: "I'd never fired anyone before. When someone in the nucleus of the band goes, I get upset... but now I'm used to people leaving me, I expect it every day."

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1964-1984

Vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriting: Ray Davies
Lead guitar, backing vocals, occasional songwriting & lead vocals: Dave Davies
Drums: Mick Avory

Bass guitar (1964-1984):