the KINKS were one of the most influential bands of the British Invasion.
Like most bands of their era, the Kinks began as an R&B/blues outfit. Within
four years, the band had become the most staunchly English of all their
contemporaries, drawing heavily from British music hall and traditional
pop, as well as incorporating elements of country, folk, and blues. Throughout
their varied career, the core of the Kinks remained Ray and Dave
Davies. In their teens, the brothers began playing skiffle and rock
& roll. Soon, the brothers recruited a schoolmate of Ray's, Peter Quaife,
to play with them. By the summer of 1963, the group had decided to call
itself the RAVENS and had recruited a new drummer, Mickey Willet.
Eventually, their demo tape reached Shel Talmy, an American record producer
who helped the band land a contract with Pye in 1964. Before signing to
the label, the Ravens replaced drummer Willet with Mick Avory. Before
their first single was released, the group changed their name to the Kinks.
"Long Tall Sally" was released in February
of 1964 and it failed to chart, as did their second single, "You
Still Want Me". The band's third single, "You
Really Got Me", was much noisier and dynamic, featuring a savage,
fuzz-toned two-chord riff and a frenzied solo from Dave Davies. "You Really
Got Me" reached number one within a month of its release. "All
Day And All Of The Night / I Gotta Move", the group's fourth single,
was released late in 1964. During this time, the band also produced two
full-length albums (The
Kinks and Kink-Size) and several EPs. The Kinks' next album, The
Kinks Kontroversy, demonstrated the progression in Davies' songwriting.
"Sunny
Afternoon / I'm Not Like Everybody Else" was one of Davies' wry social
satires and the song was the biggest hit of the summer of 1966 in the U.K.,
reaching number one. "Sunny Afternoon" was a teaser for the band's great
leap forward, Face to Face. They returned with "Waterloo
Sunset" in the spring of 1967.
Released in the fall of 1967, Something Else
continued the progressions of Face To Face.
Following the lackluster performance of Something Else, the Kinks rushed
out a new single, "Autumn Almanac".
Released in the fall of 1968, Village Green Preservation
Society was the culmination of Ray Davies' increasingly nostalgic
tendencies. Peter Quaife left the band by the end of the year, being replaced
by John Dalton. Before they began the 1969 U.S. tour, the Kinks released
Arthur (or the Decline
and Fall of the British Empire). 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."
Released in the fall of 1970, Lola Versus Powerman
and the Money-go-round,
Part One was their most successful record since the mid-'60s, helping
the band become concert favorites in the U.S. The band's contract with Pye/Reprise
expired in early 1971, leaving the Kinks free to pursue a new record contract.
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. A few months after the release of Muswell Hillbillies, Reprise
released a double-album compilation callled The
Kink Kronikles, which outsold their RCA debut. Everybody's
in Showbiz (1973) was a disappointment in the U.K., although
the album was more successful in the U.S. Act 2
appeared in the summer of 1974; the sequel received worse treatment than
its predecessor. Davies began a 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 commercially successful record. In 1976, the Kinks recorded
Davies' third straight rock opera, Schoolboys
In Disgrace which rocked harder than any album they released on RCA.
On Arista, the band refashioned themselves as a hard rock band. Misfits,
the band's second Arista album, was also a U.S. success. After a British
tour, Dalton left the band, along with keyboardist John Gosling; bassist
Jim Rodford and keyboardist Gordon Edwards filled the vacancies.
The group was becoming more blatantly commercial with each release, culminating
in the heavy rock of Low
Budget (1979), which became the group's biggest American success, peaking
at number 11. The Kinks' next album, Give
The People What They Want appeared in late 1981.
In spring of 1983, "Come Dancing" became
the group's biggest American hit since "Tired of
Waiting for You". State
Of Confusion followed the release of "Come Dancing," and it was another
success. Instead of breaking up, the Kinks merely reshuffled their lineup,
but there was a major casualty. Mick Avory, the band's drummer for 20 years,
was fired and replaced by Bob Henrit. Their new album, Word
Of Mouth, released in late 1984, was similar in tone to the last few
Kinks records, but it was a commercial disappointment and began a period
of decline for the band. In early 1986, the band signed with MCA Records
in the U.S., London in the U.K. Think Visual,
their first album for their new label, was released in late 1986. The following
year, the Kinks released another live album, appropriately titled The
Road. Two years later, the Kinks released their last studio record
for MCA, UK
Jive. During 1989, Ian Gibbons left the band. In 1991, a compilation
of their MCA records, Lost & Found (1986-1989),
appeared. Later in the year, the band signed with Columbia Records and released
an EP called Did Ya. The Kinks' first
album for Columbia, Phobia, arrived
in 1993. By this time, only Ray and Dave Davies remained from the original
lineup. In 1994, the band was dropped from Columbia Records, leaving the
group to release the live To The Bone
on an independent label in the U.K. |
