The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1962. The band's classic line-up comprised brothers Ray Davies (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and Dave Davies (lead guitar, vocals), Pete Quaife (bass), and Mick Avory (drums, percussion). Emerging during the height of British rhythm and blues and Merseybeat, their breakthrough third single, the Ray Davies-penned "You Really Got Me" (1964), became an international hit, topping the charts in the United Kingdom and reaching the Top 10 in the United States. Other early hits included "All Day and All of the Night" (1964), "Tired of Waiting for You", "Set Me Free", "See My Friends", and "Till the End of the Day" (all 1965). They were part of the British Invasion of America until several problems during their 1965 American tour led to them being banned from touring there for several years.
The Kinks' music drew from a wide range of influences, including American R&B and rock and roll initially, and later adopting British music hall, folk, and country. Beginning with the late 1965 Kwyet Kinks EP, the band gained a reputation for reflecting English culture and lifestyle, fuelled by Ray Davies's observational and satirical lyricism, and made apparent in albums such as Face to Face (1966), Something Else by the Kinks (1967), The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968), Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) (1969), Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One (1970), and Muswell Hillbillies (1971), along with their hit singles during this period, including "Dedicated Follower of Fashion", "Sunny Afternoon", "Dead End Street" (all 1966), "Waterloo Sunset", "Autumn Almanac" (both 1967), "Days" (1968), and "Lola" (1970). After a fallow period in the mid-1970s, the band experienced a revival with their albums Sleepwalker (1977), Misfits (1978), Low Budget (1979), Give the People What They Want (1981), and State of Confusion (1983), the last of which produced one of the band's most successful US hits, "Come Dancing".
The Davies brothers remained with the band throughout its history. Quaife briefly left the band in 1966 and was replaced by John Dalton, though Quaife returned by the end of that year before leaving permanently in 1969, once again being replaced by Dalton. Keyboardist John Gosling was added in 1970, with this line-up remaining in place until 1976. After several changes during the late 1970s, the line-up stabilised in 1979 with the Davies brothers, Avory, bassist Jim Rodford, and keyboardist Ian Gibbons. Avory left in 1984, after which the band underwent a few more personnel changes before giving their last public performance in 1996 and breaking up in 1997 due to creative tension between the Davies brothers.
The Kinks are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. They have had seventeen Top 20 singles and five Top 10 albums in the UK, and five of their singles reached the Top 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Additionally, nine of their albums charted in the Top 40 of the US Billboard 200. Four Kinks albums have been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and the band has sold over 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 2005. In addition, groups such as Van Halen, the Jam, the Knack, the Pretenders, Green Day, Queens of the Stone Age, and the Romantics covered their songs, helping to boost the Kinks' record sales. In the 1990s, Britpop acts such as Blur and Oasis cited the band as a major influence.
History Formation (1962–1964)
The Davies brothers, Ray and Dave, were born in suburban North London on Huntingdon Road, East Finchley, the youngest and the only boys among their family's eight children. Their parents, Frederick and Annie Davies, moved the family to 6Denmark Terrace, Fortis Green, in the neighbouring suburb of Muswell Hill. At home, the brothers were immersed in a world of varied musical styles, from the music hall of their parents' generation to the jazz and early rock and roll their older sisters enjoyed. Both Ray and his brother Dave, younger by almost three years, learnt to play guitar, and they played skiffle and rock and roll together.
The brothers attended William Grimshaw Secondary Modern School (later merged with Tollington Grammar School to become Fortismere School), where they formed a band, the Ray Davies Quartet, with Ray's friend and classmate Pete Quaife and Quaife's friend John Start (although they would also be known as the Pete Quaife Quartet if the bass player landed a gig for them instead). Their debut at a school dance was well received, which encouraged the group to play at local pubs and bars. The band went through a series of lead vocalists, including Rod Stewart, another student at William Grimshaw, who performed with the group at least once in early 1962. He then formed his own group, Rod Stewart and the Moonrakers, who became a local rival to the Ray Davies Quartet.
In late 1962, Ray Davies left home to study at Hornsey College of Art. He pursued interests in subjects such as film, sketching, theatre, and music, including jazz and blues. When Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated played at the college in December, he asked advice from Alexis Korner, who recommended Giorgio Gomelsky, the future Yardbirds manager, who put Davies in touch with the Soho-based Dave Hunt Band, a professional group of musicians who played jazz and R&B. A few days after the Ray Davies Quartet supported Cyril Stapleton at the Lyceum Ballroom on New Year's Eve, Davies, while still remaining in the Quartet, joined the Dave Hunt Band, which briefly included Charlie Watts on drums. In February 1963, Davies left Dave Hunt to join the Hamilton King Band (also known as the Blues Messengers), which had Peter Bardens as a pianist. At the end of the spring term, he left Hornsey College with a view to studying film at the Central School of Art and Design. Around this time, the Quartet changed their name to the Ramrods. Davies has referred to a show the fledgling Kinks played (again as the Ray Davies Quartet) at Hornsey Town Hall on Valentine's Day 1963 as their first important gig. In June, the Hamilton King Band broke up. However, the Ramrods kept going, performing under several other names, including the Pete Quaife Band and the Bo-Weevils, before (temporarily) settling on the Ravens. The fledgling group hired two managers, Grenville Collins and Robert Wace. In late 1963, former pop singer Larry Page became their third manager. American record producer Shel Talmy began working with the band, and the Beatles' promoter, Arthur Howes, was retained to schedule the Ravens' live shows. The group unsuccessfully auditioned for various record labels until early 1964, when Talmy secured them a contract with Pye Records. During this period, they had acquired a new drummer, Mickey Willet; however, Willet left the band shortly before they signed to Pye. The Ravens invited Mick Avory to replace him after seeing an advertisement Avory had placed in Melody Maker. Avory had a background in jazz drumming and had played one gig with the fledgling Rolling Stones.
Around this period, the Ravens decided on a new, permanent name: the Kinks. Numerous explanations of the name's genesis have been offered. In Jon Savage's analysis, they "needed a gimmick, some edge to get them attention. Here it was: 'Kinkiness'—something newsy, naughty but just on the borderline of acceptability. In adopting the 'Kinks' as their name at that time, they were participating in a time-honoured pop ritual—fame through outrage." Manager Robert Wace related his side of the story: "I had a friend[...] He thought the group was rather fun. If my memory is correct, he came up with the name just as an idea, as a good way of getting publicity[...] When we went to [the band members] with the name, they were[...] absolutely horrified. They said, 'We're not going to be called kinky! Ray Davies' account conflicts with Wace's—he recalled that the name was coined by Larry Page and referenced their "kinky" fashion sense. Davies quoted him as saying, "The way you look, and the clothes you wear, you ought to be called the Kinks." "I've never really liked the name", Ray stated.
Early years (1964–1966)
The Kinks' first single was a cover of the Little Richard song "Long Tall Sally". A friend of the band, Bobby Graham, was recruited to play the drums on the recording. Graham would continue to occasionally substitute for Avory in the studio, and he played on several of the Kinks' early singles, including the hits "You Really Got Me", "All Day and All of the Night" and "Tired of Waiting for You". Released in February 1964, "Long Tall Sally" was almost completely ignored, despite the publicity efforts of the band's managers. The group's second single, Ray Davies' original "You Still Want Me", was also passed over by the public.
The Ray Davies song "You Really Got Me", influenced by American blues and the Kingsmen's version of "Louie Louie", was recorded on 15June 1964 at Pye Studios with a slower and more produced feel than the final single. Davies, who hated the recording, feeling that the guitar was too buried and the echo too prominent, wanted to re-record the song, but Pye refused to fund another session; Davies was adamant, so Collins and Wace broke the stalemate by underwriting the session themselves. The band used an independent recording studio, IBC, and completed the recording in two takes on 15July. The single was released in August 1964; supported by a performance on the television show Ready Steady Go! and extensive pirate radio coverage, it entered the UK charts on 15August, reaching number one on 19September. Hastily imported by the American label Reprise Records, where the band was signed by executive Mo Ostin, "You Really Got Me" also made the Top 10 in the United States. The loud, distorted guitar riff and solo—played by Dave Davies and achieved by a slice he made in the speaker cone of his Elpico amplifier (referred to by the band as the "little green amp")—helped with the song's signature, gritty guitar sound. "You Really Got Me" has been described as "a blueprint song in the hard rock and heavy metal arsenal" and as an influence on the approach of some American garage rock bands. After its release, the Kinks recorded most of the tracks for their debut LP, simply titled Kinks. Consisting largely of covers and revamped traditional songs, it was released on 2October 1964, reaching number four on the UK chart. "All Day and All of the Night", another Ray Davies hard rock tune, was released three weeks later as the group's fourth single, reaching number two in the UK and number seven in the US. The group's first EP, Kinksize Session, and their next three singles, "Tired of Waiting for You", "Ev'rybody's Gonna Be Happy", and "Set Me Free", were also commercially successful, with "Tired of Waiting for You" topping the UK singles chart.