The Kinks - British Invation/Rock&Roll
25. Nov. 2006

Another week has past and time for another band. This week I have chosen The Kinks, a brilliant band which all should enjoy. Now I have created a new system, I only post a few videos here with the best know songs but if you know them all or just want to here more then I created a playlist on YouTube and there's a link to it at the bottom of the page. Like some of you noticed last week was a lot of copy&past biography, I was to tired to do it myself, this week I have written everything myself and put a lot of work into it. This might however be the last band I do for about a month or until the exams are over so enjoy.

The center of The Kinks has always been Ray Davies (b. 1944), who wrote almost all of their songs, and his brother Dave Davies (b. 1947). They began jamming together in their teens and soon recruited Peter Quaife, a schoolmate of Ray. Quaife played guitar like both the Davies brothers but switched over to Bass. By 1963 they had recruited a drummer named Mick Avory and called them self The Ravens. They got a record-deal by 1964 but just before their first single came out, a cover of Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally", they changed their name to The Kinks. The single didn't chart, nor did the next one but their third single, "You Really Got Me" was a big hit. The next year they were recording at breakneck speed; they recorded 5 albums in 1965 but were also touring relentlessly, which caused much tension in the band.

By the end of their tour in America 1965 they were banned from re-entering the States by the American government for unspecified reasons. For four years, the Kinks were prohibited from returning to the U.S., which not only meant that the group was deprived of the world's largest music market, but that they were effectively cut off from the musical and social upheavals of the late '60s. Consequently, Ray Davies' songwriting grew more introspective and nostalgic, relying more on overtly English musical influences such as music hall, country, and English folk, than the rest of his British contemporaries.

By late 1967 the Kinks were, despite much musical growth, starting to slip on the charts. In spring 1968 there single "Wonderboy" was the first not to crack Top Ten since their single "You Really Got Me". Peter Quaife soon grew tired of the band's lack of success, and he left the band by the end of the year, being replaced by John Dalton.

In early 1969 the American ban was revoked and later that year they expanded their lineup with keyboard-player John Gosling. His first appearance was on the hit "Lola" and the following record Lola Vs. Powerman and the Money-Go-Round, Part One, released in 1970 was the bands biggest success since the mid-'60s.

In 1973, Ray Davies composed a full-blown rock opera called Preservation. When the first installment of the opera finally appeared in late 1973, it was harshly criticized and given a cold reception from the public. Act 2 appeared in the summer of 1974; the sequel received worse treatment than its predecessor. Davies began another musical, Starmaker, for the BBC; the project eventually metamorphosed into Soap Opera, which was released in the spring of 1975. Despite poor reviews, Soap Opera was a more commercially successful record than its predecessor. In 1976 the Kinks recorded Davies' third straight rock opera, Schoolboys in Disgrace, which had a harder rock-sound then the Kinks had made in a while.

In 1976 bassist John Dalton quit and was replaced by Andy Pyle, who soon left as well and Dalton returned.

Following the British tour of Misfits in 1978 Dalton left again, along with keyboard-player John Gosling. Jim Rodford on bass and Gordon Edwards on keyboards filled the gap for the U.S. tour.

In the late 70's, despite being great influence to the Punk-bands, the Kinks became more and more commercial but in 1983 everything changed for the Kinks. Ray Davies spent most of the year on a film project called Return to Waterloo, which caused considerable tension between himself and his brother. Instead of breaking up, the Kinks merely changed their lineup. But in this change Mick Avory, the band's drummer for exactly 20 years, was fired and replaced by Bob Henrit. Now the Kinks popularity started to slide significantly and apart from their next record, Word of Mouth, release in 1984, the band never released an album that could reach the Top 40.

The Kinks were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, but the induction did not help revive their career. The band's public profile began to rise in 1995, as the group was hailed as an influence on several of the most popular British bands of the decade, including Blur and Oasis.

You Really Got Me live, mid-'60s.

Lola. Watch the lyrics, they're great.

All Day and All off the Night live in the mid- or late '60s.

Sunny Atfernoon.

Waterloo Sunset.

If you want to see more then I have created a playlist in youtube. http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7160C38A91FD512C here you will find 22 great songs, arranged by how much I like them.
The playlist is;
The five songs above.
Set Me Free.
Dedicated Follower of Fashion.
'Till the End of the Day.
I Go to Sleep (was not able to find a Kinks version of this so I posted a Pretenders cover).
Come Dancing.
Well Respected Man.
Where Have All the Good Times Gone.
Destroyer.
David Watts.
Death of a Clown.
Father Christmas.
Superman.
Dead End Street.
Live Life.
Victoria.

Unfortunately I couldn't find the songs "Such a Shame" or "Never Met a Girl Like You Before" which I would have loved to put there as well, so if you can find them I advise you to listen to them as well.