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The Kinks

Kinks, The

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Ray Davies

Report and Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 4 November 1967

THERE is something of the smoking volcano about Ray Davies. Six foot of suppressed quietly spoken, quietly smiling and quietly watching! It is what some ...

The Kinks: One For The Road (Arista)

Review by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 26 July 1980

WITH ITS predecessor Low Budget having finally catapulted The Kinks into the American Top Ten after what seems a lifetime of cult status, what could ...

The Kinks : Remembrance Of Kinks Past

Retrospective and Interview by David Dalton, Gadfly, March 1999

TAKE A LOOK at that face, the face of Ray Davies, it's the classic Dickensian mug, the face of a silent movie comedian, a vaudevillian, ...

Audio interviews

The Kinks' Ray Davies (1992)

Interview by Ira Robbins, Rock's Backpages audio, 23 January 1992

The King Kink on politics; songwriting (and titling!); cover versions of his songs; on Joe Meek and Noel Coward; on Chrissie Hynde, and on living with his songs for so many years.

File format: mp3; file size: 49.5mb, interview length: 54' 07" sound quality: ****

The Kinks' Dave Davies (1992)

Interview by Ira Robbins, Rock's Backpages audio, 18 February 1992

The Kinks' other brother on new album Phobia; the early days as the Ravens; his relationship with Ray, and Ray's relationship with Chrissie Hynde; and favourite covers of Kinks songs, and his favourite guitar players.

File format: mp3; file size: 34mb, interview length: 37' 04" sound quality: ** (phoner)

Ray Davies (2006)

Interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages audio, February 2006

The King Kink on getting shot in New Orleans, his relationship with brother Dave, his childhood and upbringing, and on songwriting and lyrics, plus so much more.

File format: mp3; file size: 56mb, total interview length: 58' 21" sound quality: ****

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A Kookie Day with the Kinks

Report by Sylvia Stephen, Fabulous, 4 July 1964

"WE'VE GOT a day off tomorrow," Pete (the kink!) said, washing his hair between shows at Brighton. "Why don't we go to Battersea Park Fun ...

The Kinks: They Livened Up The Champagne Circuit

Profile by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 15 August 1964

LOOKS LIKE the Kinks are on the way to the charts at last — with, incidentally, a chance to make impact on the American scene. ...

'You Really Got Me' Was a Jazz Song! Say the Kinks

Profile and Interview by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 4 September 1964

'YOU REALLY Got Me', the Kinks third disc and first hit is now number 2 in the charts. But the story behind it is strange ...

The Kinks: Kinks

Review by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 3 October 1964

HOT NEW KINKS L.P.! ...

The Kinks: 'All Day And All Of The Night'/'I Gotta Move' (Pye 15714)

Review and Interview by uncredited writer, Beat Instrumental, November 1964

TWO ORIGINAL numbers from Ray Davies, Kinks' lead singer and rhythm guitarist — and the top side could well prove at least as big as ...

The Kinks' Peter Quaife

Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 2 April 1965

THERE IS a touch of the "Paul McCartneys" about Peter Quaife of the Kinks. Like Paul he plays bass, and like Paul he is the ...

The Beatles, The Rolling Stones et al: NME Poll Winners' Concert, Empire Pool, Wembley, London

Live Review by Keith Altham, Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 16 April 1965

IT WAS THE GREATEST POP SHOW ON EARTH ...

The Kinks: Kinks' Ray Davies

Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 16 April 1965

RAY DAVIES is the King Kink. He composed all their hits and although there is no official leader in the group, Ray is the driving ...

Hey GENE, Read This!

Interview by Nancy Lewis, Fabulous, 24 April 1965

GENE HAS been working very hard editing this issue, but he found out there was still some blank space. So when he stepped out of ...

The No.1 Boys

Interview by Sylvia Stephens, Fabulous, 15 May 1965

Who are the girls in the lives of the chart topping boys? Who are the girls who know them, who have encouraged them, who have ...

The Kinks: Kinks Back To Abnormal

Report and Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 11 June 1965

FOLLOWING Dave Davies' recent cymbolic headache and the Kinks withdrawal from their tour, there's been wild speculation about their future. I met them last Friday ...

When Kink sees psychiatrist guess who asks the questions!

Interview by Maureen Cleave, The Evening Standard, August 1965

THE KINKS have been successful for a year now. They appeared last August at a time when everybody said there would be no more groups ...

Kinks' Room Had Iron Gates!

Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 20 August 1965

BACK FROM a weekend trip to Germany at London Airport on Monday, I met four hungry Kinks — three pale (Dave, Ray and Pete) and ...

Kit Lambert: The uncovering of the Who and where...

Interview by Maureen Cleave, The Evening Standard, 20 November 1965

KIT LAMBERT and his partner Chris Stamp manage the Who and the Merseybeats. Chris Stamp is Terence Stamp's brother, more handsome but less photogenic. ...

New Sounding Kinks

Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 24 December 1965

WHEN I SAW Kink Ray Davies last week he was wearing a blue suit, white ankle socks and a weak smile. He was playing a ...

On Christmas Eve... RSG Goes Out of its Mind!

Report by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 24 December 1965

Reports KEITH ALTHAM who previews the show ...

Rave City 66: Groups On The Go Choose The Swingingest Scenes

Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 15 January 1966

And does it prove that what Manchester is today, London can be tomorrow? ...

Kinks Go For Spider Sound

Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 21 January 1966

THE MYSTERIOUS Spider Korner who plays "seven" string guitar and "roams the world", is the musical influence behind the Kinks' next single, Dave Davies revealed ...

Citysongs

Essay by Paul Williams, Crawdaddy!, March 1966

ROCK 'N' ROLL songs, according to a joke now about ten years old, have three types of lyrics: a) I love my baby, b) my ...

Putting You Straight About The Kinks

Interview by Dawn James, Rave, March 1966

If you'll allow us to call 'Putting You Straight About The Kinks' a new angle, then this is a new angle on the Kinks! ...

Kinks Don't Mind 'Formby Quartet' Tag

Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 18 March 1966

IN A LARGE WHITE house in East Finchley with an orange door (which he says is "red"), in a room with orange walls and an ...

The Kinks: Kinks Keep To Humour On Discs

Report and Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 17 June 1966

WHAT with the new tattooed Kink; Ray Davies sniffing aesthetically into a brown paper bag; Bongo drums, metronomes, flute pumps and golf balls being bandied ...

The Kinks: Kinks Calm Over No. 1 News

Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 8 July 1966

RAY DAVIES lifted the plastic lid covering his salad and viewed the mayonnaise disgustedly. "Oh, no – I hate ketchup!" he sighed and probed disdainfully ...

The Beatles: Revolver (Parlophone)

Review by uncredited writer, Disc and Music Echo, 30 July 1966

RAY DAVIES reviews the BEATLES LP: 'Really, it's a load of RUBBISH' ...

Summertime Songs on the Heat Parade

Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 28 August 1966

THIS SUMMER may rank along with most Christmases for the number of seasonal records it has produced — every radio station's hit list is loaded ...

Hit Parader's Letter From London

Column by Miranda Ward, Hit Parader, October 1966

A FEW WEEKS ago when I met the KINKS for a drink, PETE QUAIFE ruined my stockings! The pub was crowded and in the crush ...

The Kinks: Kinks Have Problems

Report and Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 3 December 1966

CONSIDER, if you will, the disturbing fact that Ray Davies wants to be Walt Disney; Dave Davies is turning into a saxophonist; Pete Quaife is ...

The Kinks: Future Of The Kinks

Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 31 December 1966

BUSY DOING "nothing much" just prior to Christmas was Kink Mick Avory (an occupational hazard with this group at present) at his home in West ...

Loraine Alterman on Records

Review by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 1 January 1967

Face to Face With the Kinks' Pop Satire ...

The Kinks: Face to Face

Review by Paul Williams, Crawdaddy!, March 1967

IF YOU ARE not a Kinks fan, you are either a) uninformed, or b) not a Kinks fan. If it's the latter, there's nothing you ...

Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Them, Beach Boys, Kinks et al: Singles Reviews

Review by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 6 May 1967

A multitude of newies this week including Presley, Dylan, & Beach Boys ...

This Week's Singles: The Kinks, Jimi Hendrix, Beach Boys et al

Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 6 May 1967

SUBTLE KINKS HEADING FOR CHART SUCCESS ...

Dave Davies: "I'm Not Good Enough To Go Solo"

Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 12 August 1967

DAVE DAVIES tells Alan Walsh ...

Loraine Alterman on Records: New Albums from Vanilla Fudge, Big Brother et al

Review by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 3 September 1967

Vanilla Fudge: Exciting Album ...

The Mugwumps: The Mugwumps; The Kinks: Something Else by the Kinks

Review by Geoffrey Cannon, The Listener, 14 September 1967

(2019 note) Here is the first of the three pieces I wrote for The Listener, which started me as a rock writer. The second and ...

The Blues Project Live at Town Hall (Verve-Forecast); The "Live" Kinks (Reprise)

Review by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, December 1967

"LIVE" STUFF ...

Gene Pitney, Amen Corner, Status Quo: Lewisham Odeon/Kinks, Tremeloes, Herd: Walthamstow Granada

Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 13 April 1968

BOREDOM, HIGH JINKS AND CHAOS ...

The One-up Kink: Raymond Douglas Davies

Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 31 August 1968

RAYMOND DOUGLAS DAVIES, as he now insists on being referred to, is one who excels in the unexpected and the slightly bizarre. He is probably ...

The Kinks: The Village Green Preservation Society (Pye)

Review by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 21 September 1968

KINKS REMINISCING ON THE VILLAGE GREEN ...

20 Revolutionary Singles, as requested

Letter by Geoffrey Cannon, unpublished, 28 October 1968

25 FLORENCE TERRACE, FALMOUTH, CORNWALL TELEPHONE: FALMOUTH 1840 23rd October 1968 ...

The Kinks: The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society (Reprise); Cream: Goodbye Cream (Atco)

Review by John Mendelssohn, UCLA Daily Bruin, 9 April 1969

YEARS AGO, during what someone told me was the height of it all, Ray Davies was best known for the dozens of songs he wrote ...

The Kinks: The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society

Comment by Paul Williams, Rolling Stone, 14 June 1969

I CERTAINLY LOVE the Kinks; it's been fifteen months since I've had a new Kinks album in my hourse, and though I've been listening to ...

Styles of the City

Comment by Geoffrey Cannon, The Guardian, 19 August 1969

GEOFFREY CANNON ON POP MUSIC ...

The Kinks: Arthur

Review by Geoffrey Cannon, The Guardian, 3 October 1969

Arthur and the Empire ...

The Kinks: Arthur, or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire (Pye mono and stereo NPL 1837; 37s 5d)

Review by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 11 October 1969

KINKS WITH POP OPERA ...

The Kinks, Gypsy: Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 22 November 1969

England's Kinks Return After 5-Year Absence ...

Kinks

Report by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Free Press, 19 December 1969

LIFE WITH the stars, installment one; in which are discussed in seemingly random order that sometimes sorry, sometimes joyous live adventures of the, long-lost-and-presumed-forever-missing-from-America Kinks, ...

The Kinks: Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)

Sleeve notes by Geoffrey Cannon, Pye Records, Fall 1969

Update 2019. Arthur (the Decline and Fall of the British Empire), the Kinks's second song-cycle, was released half a century ago, in October 1969. It ...

The Record Rapper: All the way to the West, by God, Virginia (Like, how obscure is West Virginia, Santa Claus?)

Overview by Gary Lucas, Cogito, February 1970

DUE TO the recent rash release of a rasher of ratified British records, no less, this is more of the same (see last issue if ...

The Kinks: Lola Vs. Powerman And The Moneygoround (Part One)

Review by John Mendelsohn, Rolling Stone, 7 January 1971

SO, APPARENTLY having forgotten the Byrds' words of caution, you wanna be a rock and roll star, eh? Before you trade in your stereo components ...

The Kinks: A profile

Profile by Greg Shaw, Fusion, 19 February 1971

THE ORIGIN of The Kinks is nearly shrouded in antiquity – 1964, to be exact. There weren't many 'rock' groups around yet; just the Stones ...

The Kinks: Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygroround — Part One

Review by Dave Marsh, Creem, March 1971

WELL, ALL RIGHT. It took two months but I think I begin to understand the meaning of this album, which is that the Kinks understand, ...

The Kinks Draw An Unruly Crowd

Live Review by Mike Jahn, The New York Times, 1 April 1971

The Kinks: Philharmonic Hall, NYC ...

The Kinks: Muswell Hillbillies

Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 25 December 1971

SUPERSTARS may come and go but the Kinks keep marching on. They don't change as much as musical styles change around them; not for them ...

Kinks: Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut

Live Review by Jon Tiven, Phonograph Record, January 1972

POISON RING Records recording artists FANCY opened the show with their joy-evoking rock 'n' roll which is always something that I'm immediately susceptible to. ...

The Kinks: Muswell Hillbillies

Review by Metal Mike Saunders, Rolling Stone, 3 February 1972

CAN YOU TELL the Kinks apart in the picture on the cover of their new album? No, of course. Except for Ray, they all look ...

Badfinger/The Kinks: Berkeley Community Theatre

Live Review by Greg Shaw, Phonograph Record, April 1972

IT WASN'T YOUR usual Berkeley concert, the type you'd hear, say, Joy of Cooking at. I can't imagine where they came from, but sprinkled liberally ...

Bickershaw

Report by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 13 May 1972

Maybe if you're young enough, from a dreary home environment with nothing but a soul destroying future, then maybe you could enjoy a festival like ...

The Kinks: The Kink Kronikles

Review by Metal Mike Saunders, Rolling Stone, 25 May 1972

IN THE VERY first paragraph of his liner notes to The Kink Kronikles, John Mendelssohn emphasizes the Kinks' position as an underdog band. Perhaps even ...

The Kinks: Rainbow Theatre, London

Live Review by Danny Holloway, New Musical Express, 28 October 1972

THE KINKS returned to their native stomping ground, North London, on their Rainbow gig last Saturday night. At first without the brass, they plunged awkwardly ...

The Kinks, Lindisfarne: Kennedy Centre, Washington DC

Live Review by Jerry Gilbert, Sounds, 18 November 1972

ON THEIR day the Kinks are one of the most compelling bands in Britain, and the most uncomplimentary appraisal is that Ray Davies has probably ...

The Kinks, Mom's Apple Pie: Felt Forum, New York NY

Live Review by Dan Nooger, The Village Voice, 23 November 1972

OVER THE past three years, Ray Davies and the Kinks have acquired a reputation for drunkenly inept live performances. But their appearance at the Felt ...

The Kinks: Drama On The Village Green

Report and Interview by Danny Holloway, New Musical Express, 3 February 1973

IN A SMALL tearoom in BBC's Shepherd's Bush Theatre, Ray Davies sits resting between rehearsals for an In Concert TV show which will eventually hit ...

Ray & Iggy: A Pair of Rock Aristocrats

Profile by Lillian Roxon, New York Sunday News, 8 April 1973

IN THEIR own ways, they are both aristocrats. Last week belonged to both of them, with Ray Davies and the Kinks playing two colleges in ...

The Kinks: Thank you for the days, Ray

Report by Roy Hollingworth, Melody Maker, 21 July 1973

ROY HOLLINGWORTH adds a sad chapter to the Kinks chronicle ...

Wet City: Sly and Company Live in London

Report by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 21 July 1973

LIKE THE WEATHER, the music at London’s White City on Sunday was a mixture of fair and foul. ...

Ray Davies: Doggie Tricks And Bizness Licks

Interview by Andrew Tyler, New Musical Express, 13 October 1973

THIS IS THE TRUE STORY of a street dog and his best friend – an incorrigible pair who get to see each other only on ...

The Kinks: Preservation Act 1

Review by Ken Barnes, Rolling Stone, 14 February 1974

THE KINKS traditionally stand as preservers of the eternal verities of their Village Green, fighting off the depredations of predatory capitalists in their dapper demolition ...

The Kinks: Preservation Act I (RCA LPL1-5002)

Review by Gary Lucas, Zoo World, 28 February 1974

MUCH HAS been written concerning Ray Davies fragile state of mind with all its eccentric manifestations and how it seems to correlate to his songs, ...

The Kinks; The Butts Band: The Palladium, London

Live Review by Chris Salewicz, New Musical Express, 22 June 1974

GIVE THE Kinks album a review and you bear the responsibility for Ray Davies' crying for the next three days, I'm told. ...

The Kinks: Preservation Act 2

Review by Ian MacDonald, New Musical Express, 3 August 1974

THE MAIN OBSTACLE between a rock song-writer and Major Form (as ye olde musickologists have it) is Objectivity. ...

The Kinks: The Preservation of Ray Davies

Live Review by Kris DiLorenzo, Good Times, 7 January 1975

It's Only Showbiz, But He Likes It ...

The Kinks: The Kinks Live at Kelvin Hall

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 16 August 1975

IT'S AMAZING. BY now, Pye must've incorporated virtually every track The Kinks ever cut into one or other of their multifarious compilation albums, and in ...

The Kinks: Schoolboys In Disgrace

Review by Ken Barnes, Phonograph Record, December 1975

RAY DAVIES' NEWEST philosophical treatise directs itself to the topic of education and schooldays nostalgia. While a plot of sorts is undraped at the beginning ...

The Kinks, Cockney Rebel: Beacon Theatre, New York

Live Review by Barbara Charone, Sounds, 13 December 1975

"45 MINUTES of something light and bouncy," Steve Harley promises the audience at the Beacon Theatre one brisk Friday night. Cockney Rebel launch into 'Mr ...

The Kinks: Schoolboys In Disgrace

Review by Miles, New Musical Express, 17 January 1976

I LIKE THE KINKS a lot, but have to say that this album is a pretty uninspired collection of product. ...

The Kinks: The Kinks Greatest – Celluloid Heroes (RCA)

Review by Barbara Charone, Sounds, 26 June 1976

THE RCA Years. The Seventies Kinks complete with horns and female singers. Part 1 – Fat Flabby Annie versus Mr. Black and the Starmaker. The ...

Ray Davies & The Kinks at 13

Interview by Barbara Charone, Phonograph Record, December 1976

LONDON – Ray Davies' tired eyes incredulously surveyed the scene before him. The view from the top was a familiar one. The sprawling greenery of ...

Jimmy Page Gives The Interview Of His Life

Interview by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, September 1977

A Three-Part Series — Part One: Pre-Yardbirds ...

Dave Davies: He Ain't Heavy, He's Ray's Brother

Interview by Jim Green, Trouser Press, June 1978

HORNSEY IS a sleepy working class neighborhood in the northeast of London, far removed from the teeming heart of the city. Not as far away ...

The Tom Robinson Band: Power In The Darkness (Harvest); The Kinks: Misfits (Arista)

Review by Dave Schulps, Feature, August 1978

"If left is right and right is wrong, you'd better decide which side you're on."– Tom Robinson ...

The Once and Future Kinks

Report and Interview by Fred Schruers, Rolling Stone, 2 November 1978

Untangling fourteen years of rock & roll fantasy ...

The Kinks, Herman Brood & His Wild Romance: Universal Amphitheater, Los Angeles CA

Live Review by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, 18 August 1979

Kinks Are Still Crowd-Pleasers ...

The Kinks: Low Budget (Arista)

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 8 September 1979

The Kinks and the ‘70s have not enjoyed the most harmonious of relationships. ...

The Kinks: Low Budget (Arista)

Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 29 September 1979

THE TROUBLE with Ray Davies is that since he forsook the stark, three-chord spleen of 'You Really Got Me' and 'All Day & All Of ...

The Kinks: Low Budget (Arista)

Review by Phil Sutcliffe, Sounds, 6 October 1979

FOR OLD codgers like me it’s very difficult to pin down reactions to albums by old codgers like the Kinks. These we have loved. ...

The Rise And Decline Of The Kinks

Profile and Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 6 October 1979

A CUT PRICE PERSON IN A LOW BUDGET LAND ...

Burbank Calling

Comment by J. Kordosh, Creem, July 1980

They were six fine English boys Who knew each other in Birmingham They bought a drum and guitar Started a rock-roll band. ...

The Kinks: One For The Road (Arista)

Review by Sandy Robertson, Sounds, 16 August 1980

THE KINKS' dilemma is one I'll take in preference to the one that concerns the Who, if only because leader Ray Davies isn't given to ...

Dave Davies Forgets About The Past

Interview by Fred Schruers, Rolling Stone, 13 November 1980

NEW YORK CITY — "Eyes can lie," warns Dave Davies in his song 'Visionary Dreamer'. "And sometimes words are oh so useless..." ...

Ray Davies

Interview by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, September 1981

MINNEAPOLIS: "It's like death in here," Ray Davies says, inauspiciously welcoming me into Marquette Inn room 1453. The shades are drawn, no lights are on. ...

Kinks Ray & Dave Talk To Chris Welch

Interview by Chris Welch, International Musician & Recording World, December 1981

HEARD THAT NEW BAND THE KINKS?That's how they like to think of themselves. And their fans feel much the same. They have only vague memories ...

Ray Davies Unravels The Kinks

Interview by Bill Holdship, Creem, December 1981

"I THINK ROCK music is just as important as painting." Ray Davies – musician, poet, humorist, social critic and leader of one of the world's ...

The Kinks' Resurgence Continues

Report and Interview by Fred Schruers, Rolling Stone, 4 February 1982

NINETY MINUTES after the Kinks' show at the Seattle Center Coliseum, Ray Davies is strolling out of a restaurant called Bob Murray's Dog House, a ...

Kinks: A Sad Kommentary

Comment by John Mendelsohn, Creem, August 1983

ASSUMING THAT A healthy percentage of it carried falsified ID, the average age of the audience at this year's Los Angeles Kinks concert might have ...

The Kinks: Kinks, Kinda Kinks, The Kinks Kontroversy and Face To Face

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 1984

NOT THAT any of this is actually important, but the kurrent kinks reissue programme abounds with small ironies. ...

Julien Temple: The Inner Temple

Interview by Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker, 1 December 1984

Wordsmith and sedentary snapper Adam Sweeting interrogates filmmaker and promo video master JULIEN TEMPLE... ...

Ray Davies Gets the Kinks Out Musically

Interview by Charles Bermant, The Globe and Mail, 6 December 1986

BY VIRTUE OF its title, The Kinks' new Think Visual album should have a more elaborate cover. Instead it is only an exaggerated supergraphic, with ...

Kontemplating the Kinks: Nothing's as Bad as Ray Davies Thinks

Interview by John Hutchinson, Musician, January 1987

RAY DAVIES, we've always been told, is quintessentially English. The classic Kinks songs of the '60s – 'Dedicated Follower Of Fashion', 'Sunny Afternoon', 'Waterloo Sunset' ...

The Kinks: Tales of Drunkenness and Cruelty

Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, September 1989

REAL LIVE EARLY '60's beat combos don't just grow on trees. As the greenhouse summer of '89 wears on, The Who and The Rolling Stones ...

The Kinks

Retrospective and Interview by Ira Robbins, Hall of Fame, 14 November 1989

In a packed concert hall somewhere, a delighted audience sings "L!-O!-L!-A!, Lola!" at full power while the song's author watches silently from the stage. ...

London: Ditty Old Town

Overview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 22 May 1993

From The Kinks to Carter, Bowie to Blur, the Small Faces to Suede, British pop groups have eulogised, mythologised, criticised, glamorised, immortalised, romanticised and agonised ...

The Kinks: Fraternal Disorder

Report and Interview by Jim Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 27 May 1993

IRELAND HAS the Troubles. England has the Brothers Davies and they, too, have their troubles. Both seem equally irreconcilable. ...

The Kinks

Guide by Fred Dellar, MOJO, March 1997

Every month we navigate the highwater marks, rapids and stagnant ponds of a prolific artist’s CD output, so you don’t have to. We begin with... ...

Ten Questions for Ray Davies

Interview by Chris Ingham, MOJO, April 1997

What's happening in Kink land? ...

Thank You for the 1/288th of the Day, Ray!

Memoir by Richard Riegel, Real Groove, April 1997

BACK IN OUR mid-1960s adolescence, my friend B. entertained a magnificently huge crush on Dave Davies of the Kinks. We were young Yanks in thrall ...

Ray Davies

Interview by Peter Silverton, Sunday Telegraph, 23 November 1997

When the news reached him, Ray Davies was sitting on the floor. ...

Kinks: The Singles Collection/Waterloo Sunset — The Songs Of Ray Davies

Review by Tom Cox, Uncut, December 1997

It's a shame about Ray: Classic chartbreakers and their creator's solo furrow ...

Kinks: Pye Label Reissues

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, June 1998

Ray Davies and Co's first five LPs ...

The Kinks

Retrospective by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 1998

MORE SEMINAL Englishness from the kings of Britpop ...

Preservation is packed with power

Live Review by Jim Sullivan, The Boston Globe, 5 October 1998

IT HAS BEEN Boston Rock Opera's mission, since its 1993 inception, to dust off, kick up, give respect to, and sometimes tweak the rock operas ...

The Kinks Online

Guide by Charles Bermant, The New York Times, 17 December 1998

THE KINKS ARE the only major British Invasion group aside from the Rolling Stones to continue to perform and record, and, like many musicians, have ...

The Kinks: Hellfire Club

Interview by Johnny Black, MOJO, September 2000

Their innocent exterior concealed a story of murder, family feuds and skullduggery. But between the fights and disasters, the Kinks cut some of the finest ...

Larry Page: Kinky Music

Sleeve notes by Kieron Tyler, RPM Records, December 2000

KINKY MUSIC was originally issued on June 18, 1965, by Decca Records. The album included twelve instrumental interpretations of songs composed by Kinks Ray and ...

The Kinks: The Kinks BBC Sessions

Review by Jon Savage, MOJO, April 2001

NO DOUBT it's their sheer longevity, but The Kinks remain curiously undervalued: often cited as a key neo-Mod/Britpop inspiration – as if that's anything to ...

The Kinks: BBC Sessions 1964-1977

Review by Marc Weingarten, Rolling Stone, 24 May 2001

GOD BLESS THE BBC for dustingoff its rock archives and releasing them all on CD. This latest batch of goodies is a collection of performances ...

Take Me Back to Those Black Hills That I Ain't Never Seen: The Kinks Invent Alternative Kountry

Retrospective and Interview by Gary Pig Gold, fufkin.com, September 2001

"MUSWELL HILLBILLIES isn’t just a better country-rock album than anything by Wilco or Son Volt; It’s a better country-rock album than anything by the Byrds." ...

Ray Davies: Rocking My Life Away

Interview by Anthony DeCurtis, Rolling Stone, 29 March 2002

Lost Davies interview illuminates the "underrated" Kinks ...

The Kinks Face To Face with 1966: Where Have All the Good Times Gone?

Essay by Michael Baker, Perfect Sound Forever, April 2004

I. SENSE AND NON-SENSE ...

The New Naturalists: The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (Sanctuary)

Review by Jon Savage, MOJO, September 2004

Definitive 3-CD upgrade of the Kinks' 1968 classic, with the original album in mono/stereo, and a third disc of unreleased and/or hard-to-find material. Includes Mick ...

Ray Davies: Return To Waterloo/Come Dancing With The Kinks

Film/DVD/TV Review by Terry Staunton, Record Collector, November 2004

Double bill of Ray Davies' '80s video output ...

Ray Davies (2006) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Gavin Martin, Rock's Backpages transcripts, February 2006

This is a transcript of Gavin's audio interview with Ray. Hear the interview here ...

The Kinks: Tales of Ordinary Madness

Retrospective and Interview by Mark Paytress, MOJO, March 2006

It ain't easy being Ray Davies — the eternal malcontent, "control freak" and genius behind The Kinks. On the eve of a barnstorming solo comeback, ...

Ray Davies: Album By Album

Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, November 2007

"MY SONGWRITING has been my ally through life," Ray Davies muses, "because I ain't got much else." As the creative force behind the Kinks, Davies ...

The Kinks: The Making Of 'Waterloo Sunset'

Retrospective and Interview by Nick Hasted, Uncut, January 2009

The timeless 1967 hit, regarded by many as the most beautiful pop song every written, was something so personal that Ray Davies didn't even want ...

Dave Davies: The Dedicated Follower

Interview by David Cavanagh, Uncut, January 2012

Dave Davies swashbuckled his way through the '60s, a teenage musical revolutionary and provocative dandy about town. But in the early '70s, the Kinks guitarist ...

The dramatic ups and downs of Ray Davies

Interview by Rob Fitzpatrick, The Word, July 2012

RAY DAVIES is not an easy man to pin down. Our interview is planned for 5pm at a café in Highgate. No, hang on; it's ...

Ray Davies: A Complicated Life by Johnny Rogan

Book Review by Chris Charlesworth, Rock's Backpages, February 2015

WELL RESPECTED certainly but hardly a flower to be looked at and most unlikely to laze around in the afternoon, sunny or otherwise. The life ...

The Kinks: Sunny Afternoon: Harold Pinter Theatre, London

Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Just Backdated, 16 May 2015

A FEW WEEKS AGO Ray Davies was in the building that houses Omnibus Press to attend the launch of a book entitled 100 Years Of British ...

10 Unjustly Overlooked British Invasion Albums (1964–1966)

Retrospective by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, September 2016

SO MANY artists in the tsunami of music from the U.K. that flooded America in the mid-'60s went on to make extraordinary albums over a ...

The Kinks' Arthur: Its genius and its fate

Retrospective by Geoffrey Cannon, Rock's Backpages, October 2019

Arthur (the Decline and Fall of the British Empire), the Kinks's second song-cycle, was released half a century ago, in October 1969. It is now ...

see also Dave Davies

see also Ray Davies

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