The Kinks

The kinks, featured the Davies brothers, Ray and Dave DaviesThe Kinks in their hunting jackets on London TV. (L to R) Dave Davies, Pete Quaife, Mick Avory and Dave Davies.

The Kontroversial Kinks, one of the forerunners of the English Invasion, and one of the longest lasting bans to emerge.

The Kinks were part of the original English Invasion, following The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and The Who in the first wave. The line-up then was the two Davies brothers, Dave and Ray, plus Mick Avory on the drums, and Peter Quaife on bass Formed in December 1963, (but they had been doing the rounds with other bands since ’62) as The Ramrods then The Ravens. Sometime in 1962, they were playing gigs as back up singer to a singer named Robert Wace. Robert gave up singing and started managing the band.

Another TV show by the Kinks in their early days.The Kinks, updating their outfits, on yet another English TV appearance. Drummer Mick Avory, guitarist main songwriter Ray Davies, bassist Peter Quaife, and guitarist Dave Davies


Soon, Larry Page spotted them, changed their name to The Kinks, and introduced the red hunting jackets and signed them to Pye records.

After a couple of singles ignored by the record buyers, the hit with the classic” You Really Got Me”, produced by Shel Talmy, which made the No. 1 spot in August 1964.

Next “All Day and All of the Night” released in November of that year, reaching No. 2. A similar gutsy guitar riff with strong vocals.

The band became notorious for on stage fights between the brothers Davies. Ironically, the Davies Brothers became the only consistent members through the bands 35-year career. They were banned in Denmark after an audience riot at the Tivoli Gardens.

1965 saw the Kinks in the Top 20 5 times, best performers being “Tired of Waiting for You”, in January reaching No. 1, and the rocking “Till the End of The Day” getting to number 9, in December.

The Kinks, one of the most enduring and versatile bands to come out of the British invasion

In early 1966, Ray Davies song writing took a dramatic change. His lyrics began to incorporate social comment, leaning somewhat towards a music hall style.

This led to the “Village Green Preservation Society”, “Arthur, or The Decline and Fall of the British Empire”, and of course, “Lola vs Powerman and the Moneygoround Pt 1, from which came the bands anthem, “Lola”.

This resulted in “Dedicated Follower of Fashion”,(Number 4 UK Feb 66) having a dig at the trendy London trendies, and “Sunday Afternoon”  (No.1 June 66) a swipe at the upper classes.

“Dead End Street”, (No 5 December 66), “Waterloo Sunset” ( No 2, May 67) and “Autumn Almanac” (No.3 October 67).

Things went quiet for the Kinks then, Dave did his own thing with “Death of a Clown”, and Ray was not getting on with Pye Records. Pye were only interested in hit singles, Dave wanted to get into albums and quality music.

John Doulton took over the bass in March 1969, and in May,1970 John Gosling was added on keyboard.

Goslings keyboard adding a new dimension to the guitar-based sound that had been the backbone of the Kinks 1960s hits,and added depth the eccentric visions of the leader and main songwriter Ray Davies. He was central to the band establishing a new fanbase in the US. Gosling made his Kinks debut on the 1970 album "Lola Versus Powerman" and the Moneygoround", Part One" – the band’s eighth studio LP – by auditioning on the demo for “Lola,” He appeared on notable albums such as "Muswell Hillbillies" and "Everybody’s In Show-Biz" plus the 1977 set that became their highest-charting in the US to that point, "Sleepwalker". He left after 1978’s Misfits.

I caught the Kinks in Adelaide, 1965, complete in hunting jackets, where they played on the same bill as The Honeycombs, Tony Shevaton and top of the bill Manfred Mann.

 

The Kinks, part of the original English Invasion, and outlasted the many of their contemporaries.The Kinks 70's line up. (L to R) John Gosling, Mick Avory, John Dalton, Dave Davies and Ray Davies

The Kinks have had five Top 10 singles on the US Billboard chart. Nine of their albums charted in the Top 40 In the UK, they have had seventeen Top 20 singles and five Top 10 albums. Four Kinks albums have been certified gold by the RIAA and the band have sold 50 million records worldwide. Among numerous honours, they received the Ivor Novello Award for "Outstanding Service to British Music". In 1990, the original four members of the Kinks were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as well as the UK Music Hall of Fame in November 2005. In 2018, after years of ruling out a reunion due to the brothers' animosity and the difficult relationship between long time drummer Mick Avory and Dave, Ray and Dave Davies finally announced they were working to reform the Kinks, with Avory also on board. However, comments made by each of the Davies brothers in 2020 and 2021 would indicate that in the years since the initial announcement, little (if any) progress has been made towards an actual Kinks reunion for a new studio band album.


The Kinks first album, "The Kinks"

"Kinks"...

“Kinks”, the first of The Kinks LP’s, came out October 2nd 1964. It surprisingly received mixed

Reviews, among them” the album as lacking in consistency, commenting: "As R&B cover artists, the Kinks weren't nearly as adept as the Stones and Yardbirds; Ray Davies' original tunes were, "You Really Got Me" aside, perfunctory Mersey Beat-ish pastiches... [the] tunes that producer Shel Talmy penned for the group... were simply abominable."!!

Other critics were more positive, and it reached the top ten on the UK charts.

I thought it a great album, bought it strait away, and still play it.


Side One

  1. "Beautiful Delilah"
  2. "So Mystifying"
  3. "just Cant Go to Sleep"
  4. "Long Tall Shorty"
  5. "I Took My Baby Home"
  6. "I'm a Lover Not a Fighter"
  7. "You Really Got Me"

Side Two

  1. "Cadillac"
  2. "Bald Headed Woman"
  3. "Revenge"
  4. "To Much Monkey Business"
  5. "I've been Driving on Bald Mountain"
  6. "Stop Your Sobbing"
  7. "Got Love If You Want It"
kinksjourney1

The Journey Part 1.

Come for a 60 year celebration of the Kinks journey. Tracks are chosen by Ray Davies, Dave Davies and Mick Avory reflecting the trials and tribulations of their journey together.

SIDE 1


1. TILL THE END OF THE DAY (1965)

2. PRESERVATION (1974)

3. DAVID WATTS (1967)

4. THIS TIME TOMORROW (ALTERNATE TAKE, 2020 MIX) (1970)

5. A WELL RESPECTED MAN (1965)

6. MONICA (1968)

7. SCRAPHEAP CITY (1974)

SIDE 2

1. LOLA (1970)

2. SUNNY AFTERNOON (1966)

3. ANIMAL FARM (1968)

4. CREEPING JEAN (1969)*

5. TWO SISTERS (1967)

6. SEE MY FRIENDS (1965)

7. MONEY TALKS (2023 MIX) (1974)**

SIDE 3


1. RAINY DAY IN JUNE (1966)

2. DEDICATED FOLLOWER OF FASHION (1966)

3. WHERE ARE THEY NOW? (2023 MIX) (1974)**

4. WICKED ANNABELLA (1968)

5. SUSANNAH'S STILL ALIVE (1967)*

6. 20TH CENTURY MAN (1971)

7. SITTING BY THE RIVERSIDE (1968)

SIDE 4

1. NEW VICTORIA SUITE - EVERYBODY'S A STAR (STARMAKER) (LIVE, 2023 MIX) (1975)**

2. NEW VICTORIA SUITE - SLUM KIDS (LIVE, 2023 MIX) (1975)**

3. NEW VICTORIA SUITE - (A) FACE IN THE CROWD (LIVE, 2023 MIX) (1975)**

4. HOLIDAY ROMANCE (1975)

5. BIG SKY (1968)

6. GOD'S CHILDREN (1971)



kindakinks

"KINDA KINKS"..

Kinda Kinks, the second studio album by the band. It was released on 5 March 1965 in the United Kingdom by Pye Records.

Recorded and released within two weeks after returning from a tour in Asia, (when they visited Australia) Ray Davies and the band were not satisfied with the production.

"Kinda Kinks" was completed  and released within two weeks of their return, resulting in rushed production and, according to Ray Davies, the band was not happy with the result. Due to record company pressure, however, no time was allowed to fix in the final mixing of the album. Ray Davies has expressed his dissatisfaction with the final production not being up to standard.He stated later "A bit more care should have been taken with it. 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."

The album got to Number 2 on the New Musical Express charts.


Side one

  1. "Look for Me Baby" 
  2. "Got My Feet on the Ground" 
  3. "Nothin' in the World Can Stop Me Worryin' 'Bout that Girl"
  4. "Naggin' Woman" 
  5. "Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight" 
  6. "Tired of Waiting for You"

Side two

  1. "Dancing in the Street"
  2. "Don't Ever Change"
  3. "Come on Now" 
  4. "So Long" – 2:10
  5. "You Shouldn't Be Sad" 
  6. "Something Better Beginning" 


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