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Boozy, woozy success
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Rock revisited The Kinks cocked a snook at the establishment
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Messy musicianship The Kinks have acquired a reputation of a cheerfully boozy live band
Ray Davies was attending art school when he joined his younger brother Dave’s band, The Ravens, in 1963. In short order Ray took over the group and renamed it ‘The Kinks’.
He retained bassist Pete Quaife and recruited Mick Avory to play drums. With this line-up 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. 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 (Who’ll Be the next in line) and ballads (Set me Free”).
In 1966 The Kinks brought forth two singles of pointed satire, A Well Respected Man and Dedicated follower of Fashion that indicated the personal turn Ray Davies’ songs were taking. Their next issue, The Kinks Kontroversy, though containing another hard rock hit Till the end of the Day, was increasingly introspective, with songs like I’m on an Island. Also that year, an appearance on an American TV show resulted in a problem with the American Federation of Musicians that wasn’t resolved until 1969 and prevented the group from touring the U.S. for some time. Sunny Afternoon from ‘Face to Face’ was their last hit of that period.
During their years of U.S exile, Ray composed the first of many concept albums, (The Kinks Are) The Village Green Preservation Society, an LP of nostalgia for all the quaint English customs (such as virginity) that other bands rebelled against. The Kinks next concept album, Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One, was built around the story of trying to get a hit record. Lola, undoubtedly the first rock hit about a transvestite, reached #9. It was the groups first Top LP since 1966’s The Kinks Greatest Hits.
The Kinks acquired a reputation as a cheerfully boozy live band. Their performances were known for messy musicianship and on stage arguments between Ray and Dave Davies, while Ray clowned with limp wrists and sprayed beer at the audience. This was chronicled on Everybody’s in Show-Biz, a double album split between Ray Davies’ first road songs and a loose live set.
A. GEORGE ANTONY
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