Released in August 1964, the band's single, You Really Got Me, written by Ray Davies, topped the UK singles chart and peaked at number ten in the US, breaking them into the international market. Their blend of rock, blues, folk and country music made them one of the most influential bands of the decade.
After splitting up in 1996, reportedly due to continual disagreements between the brothers, the band has recently announced it is ready to reunite, after more than two decades apart. In a recent interview in August 2018, Ray Davies told the press that The Kinks were going back into the recording studio to make a new album.
Photo Credit: W. Veenman
Early years
Back in 1964, when The Kinks first formed, Ray Davies was 20 years old and his younger brother Dave was only 17. As the only boys in a family of eight siblings, they were born and brought up in London by parents, Frederick and Anne Davies.
They lived in a musical household, with their parents enjoying old-fashioned music hall entertainment and their six older sisters liking jazz and rock 'n' roll – hence, the boys’ varied tastes in music. They had played together in a band at school and were in various different groups in the early 1960s.
They decided to form The Kinks, with Ray on lead vocals and rhythm guitar and Dave on vocals and lead guitar. The other band members were Mick Avory on drums and percussion and bass guitarist Pete Quaife. They were often accompanied by session musician Nicky Hopkins on keyboard for their studio recordings.
The Davies brothers remained the nucleus of The Kinks for the band's 32-year career, while other band personnel changed over the decades. Reportedly, they chose the name because they wanted a gimmick that would get them noticed and thought "kinkiness" might be the answer. Their manager, Robert Wace, said a friend of his had come up with the idea.
However, the band members were apparently horrified and insisted they didn't want a reputation as being "kinky", although Ray Davies suggested it referred mainly to their "kinky" fashion sense. He later said he had "never really liked the name", although it has stuck for 54 years now.
Hit records
Following the early success of You Really Got Me, The Kinks released a succession of hit singles, including All Day and All of the Night, Set Me Free and Tired of Waiting for You. The mid to late-1960s were known as The Kinks' golden age, when Ray Davies' song writing style developed and changed.
The hard-driving rock of their early recordings was increasingly replaced by songs that were more of a social commentary, with tunes that were more pop than R&B, all with a distinctly English flavour.
Their single, Sunny Afternoon, knocked the Beatles' Paperback Writer off the top of the charts in the summer of 1966 and was the biggest hit of the year. Some of Ray's songs, including the November 1966 hit, Dead End Street, were said to be influenced by the "music hall" entertainment his parents had enjoyed when he was a child. It was described as a "kitchen sink drama".
Plastic Man
The Kinks closed the swinging sixties with their single, Plastic Man, which has perplexed music critics and fans for decades, as no-one is certain of the meaning behind the lyrics.
Written by Ray Davies, it was said to be a deliberate attempt at recording a commercially successful single - which sadly backfired because it contained the word "bum”, and this was enough for it to be banned by the BBC! Despite the ban, it charted at number 31 in the UK, although this was a far cry from their earlier success.
There have been various interpretations of the lyrics and whether they are directed at one person, or at society in general. The narrator describes a man who lives on the corner of the street, who is thought to be "helpful and sweet", but he adds, "No-one knows he really is a plastic man!"
The narrator declares "plastic people look the same". The obvious interpretation was that the song was describing false, phoney people and was a social comment on society in general. No matter what happened, a plastic person would never show their true colours.
However, it was also suggested that the song was specifically aimed at Paul McCartney of the Beatles, as he and Ray Davies reportedly had a long-running feud.
Deeper meaning
Some fans believed the lyrics may have a deeper meaning, alluding to John Lennon and Yoko Ono's artistic concept of "bagism", which was highly publicised in 1969. The term was used to describe anti-stereotyping and referred to the couple sitting at a press conference, wearing a shared giant plastic bag covering their entire bodies.
They explained it satirised prejudice and stereotyping, suggesting that instead of focusing on a person's appearance, others should listen to their message. If everyone wore a giant, shapeless, plastic bag, it would supposedly stop people from judging others by their bodily appearance.
It was suggested that the lyrics of Plastic Man (about how "plastic people look the same") referred to this concept, so that everyone would look the same on the outside if they wore a shapeless plastic bag.
Leaving people to speculate for ever more about their meaning, Ray Davies has never explained the lyrics or why they were written.
The Kinks today
After a successful 32-year career, The Kinks split up in 1996 and the band members focused on their solo projects, but this summer, Ray Davies, now aged 74, revealed they were going to reunite. In an interview on Channel 4, he said he was teaming up with his brother Dave and drummer Mick Avory to record a new album.
He said the reunion was inspired after watching rock and roll stalwarts The Rolling Stones on their recent tour, but he joked that a tour by The Kinks wouldn't be as "well organised" as the Stones' tour and they would most likely be playing in a local bar.
The Kinks released 24 albums in their heyday. Ray has also released six solo albums, including his most recent, the double album Americana, in 2017, followed by Our Country: Americana Act II earlier this year.
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