1- The Kinks were formed by the Davies brothers, who generally do not get along. Their family structure may have something to do with it: Ray and Dave Davies were the 7th and 8th children in their family. The first six were girls.
2- In 1969, The Kinks wrote one of the first rock operas: Arthur, or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire. It was released the same year as the Who’s more successful Tommy, so many have forgotten about it.
3- The Kinks were active for 32 years from 1964 to 1996, releasing 28 regular albums in the UK (24 studio, four live),and 30 in the USA (24 studio, four live, two compilation).
4- Ray Davies had an affair with Chrissie Hynde. They have a daughter, Natalie.
5- The group opened 1965 with their first tour of Australia and New Zealand, with Manfred Mann and the Honeycombs
6- Early names were The Ravens and The Bo Weevils. The Kinks is based on the word “Kinky,” which they heard on the TV show The Avengers.
7- The Kinks are regarded as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the 1960s and early 1970s
In 1965 they embarked on their first American tour. It was a disaster, with erratic bookings and a great deal of conflict within the band. Along the way, they incurred the wrath of the musician’s union, which refused to work with the band, effectively keeping them out of America until December, 1969. This tanked their sales in that country and kept them from performing at Woodstock.
8- The Davies brothers were born in suburban North London on Huntingdon Road, East Finchley, the youngest, and only boys, among their family’s eight children
9- Ray Davies was shot in 2004. While visiting New Orleans with his wife, a mugger stole her bag. Davies gave chase and the perpetrator shot him in the leg, causing severe injuries.
10- Stephen Thomas Erlewine called The Kinks “one of the most influential bands of the British Invasion”.
11- Rodford had been a member of Argent and helped refine the messy, booze-infested live shows for which the Kinks had become known during most of the Seventies. Later member Henrit had also been a member of Argent.
12- “You Really Got Me”, a Ray Davies song, influenced by American blues and the Kingsmen’s version of “Louie Louie”
13- Ray Davies has dabbled in film throughout his career, primarily in the ’80’s. In 1986, he was in the movie Absolute Beginners. He also worked on One For the Road and Return to Waterloo. Dave Davies was also in One For the
Road.
14- They were ranked 65th on Rolling Stone Magazine’s “100 Greatest Artists of All Time” list
Avory almost joined the Rolling Stones. He played with them at a few early live shows.
15- The satirical single “Sunny Afternoon” was the biggest UK hit of summer 1966, topping the charts and displacing the Beatles’ “Paperback Writer”
16- Ray Davies’ sister Rene died the day he turned 13. She gave him his first guitar that year as a birthday present.
17-The Kinks started out playing the then popular R&B and blues styles; then, under the influence of The Kingsmen’s “Louie Louie” recording, developed louder rock and hard rocksounds — due to their pioneering contribution to the field, they have often been labelled as “the original punks”
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