History Music / TheKinks

[[caption-width-right:350:The classic line-up, from left to right: Dave Davies, Ray Davies, Mick Avory, and Pete Quaife.]]

[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tkinks.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:340:The classic line-up, from left to right: Dave Davies, Ray Davies, Mick Avory, and Pete Quaife.]]

The Kinks were an English rock band, one of the "Big Four" [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion British Invasion]] bands of TheSixties (along with Music/TheBeatles, Music/TheRollingStones, and Music/TheWho) and LongRunners, having experienced a career's worth of highs and lows before finally throwing in the towel in 1996. While they have had many members, their most famous line-up was composed of vocalist[=/=]guitarist[=/=][[IAmTheBand mastermind]] Ray Davies, his vocalist/guitarist brother Dave Davies, bassist Pete Quaife (left in 1969, died 2010), and the former (albeit briefly) drummer of Music/TheRollingStones, Mick Avory (who left in 1984).

* OneManSong: "David Watts", "Plastic Man"

* OneManSong: "David Watts"

* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: ''Kinda Kinks'', ''Kwyet Kinks'', ''The Kink Kontroversy'', ''The Kink Kronikles''...

* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: ''The Kink Kronikles'', ''The Kink Kontroversy'', ''Kinda Kinks''...

The Kinks began their career as a bluesy, hard-edged mod-rock band, gaining success with their loud, memorable hits "You Really Got Me", "All Day and All of the Night" and "Tired of Waiting for You", which set them up as a band to contend with and provided endless inspiration to future genres like GarageRock and PowerPop. Their rowdy live shows got them banned from America until 1969, though arguably it ultimately served them well, encouraging [[IAmTheBand Ray Davies]] to write songs that emphasised their essential Britishness and tended to a more nostalgic and pastoral feel than their States-struck contemporaries.

They changed gears in 1965, diversifying away from [[Website/{{Cracked}} scrotum-grinding guitar anthems]] to experiment with other genres like folk, music hall, country and blues-rock, resulting in a more laid-back sound. It was also around this period that Ray developed his now-famous lyrical talent. This period saw the release of songs like "Dedicated Follower of Fashion", "Sunny Afternoon" and "Waterloo Sunset", culminating in ''Music/TheKinksAreTheVillageGreenPreservationSociety'' and ''Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)''.

The band changed once again in TheSeventies, exploring a more theatrical, campy sound. This only worsened their declining popularity; however, the resulting {{concept album}}s are starting to garner some reappraisals. They then restyled themselves as an arena rock band in 1976. Lucky enough to be synchronised with the PunkRock explosion and some successful covers of their songs by {{Punk|Rock}} and {{New Wave|Music}} bands, The Kinks rode their second wave of popularity until the early '80s, culminating when their single "Come Dancing" became a worldwide smash in early 1983. They then went back to being a cult band before calling it quits in 1996. However, in 2018, Ray Davies [[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/06/26/ray-davies-kinks-officially-getting-back-together/ announced]] plans for a new Kinks album with Dave Davies and Mick Avory.

Admired for their melodic mastery of pop, their enormous variety of styles, the insight and wit of their lyrics, and their huge influence on almost all subsequent bands (Music/TheJam, Music/{{XTC}} and Music/{{Blur}} are amongst their most fervent supporters) that cultivated any sort of outsider underdog image.

* SpotOfTea: Whole songs are written on the subject, particularly "Afternoon Tea" and "Have A Cuppa Tea".

* AntiChristmasSong: "Father Christmas" (1977) is about a gang of bitter poor children who mug a guy playing Santa, demanding not toys but money ("Give all the toys to the little rich boys").

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* SelfDeprecation: A book written about the beginnings of the Kinks ‘X-Ray’ featured scenes with a researcher interviewing an elderly Ray Davies, portrayed as an unpleasant, senile, bigoted, homophobic DirtyOldMan. The author of this book was Ray Davies himself.

* SoundEffectBleep: That "OH NO!" scream right before the guitar solo in "You Really Got Me" was overdubbed by Ray to try and [[SiblingRivalry drown out Dave telling him]] [[PrecisionFStrike to fuck off]] and let him play his guitar solo in peace.

-->'''Dave Davies:''' Ray is a vain, egocentric, narcissistic arsehole, [but] I won't have anybody call him that except me. Because I love him to death. He is my brother.

[[quoteright:330:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tkinks.jpg]]
[-[[caption-width-right:330:The classic line-up, from left to right: Dave Davies, Ray Davies, Mick Avory, and Pete Quaife.]]-]

The Kinks were an English rock band, one of the "Big Four" [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion British Invasion]] bands of TheSixties (along with Music/TheBeatles, Music/TheRollingStones, and Music/TheWho) and LongRunners, having experienced a career's worth of highs and lows before throwing in the towel in 1996. While they have had many members, their most famous line-up was composed of vocalist[=/=]guitarist[=/=][[IAmTheBand mastermind]] Ray Davies, his vocalist/guitarist brother Dave Davies, bassist Pete Quaife (left in 1969, died 2010), and the former (albeit briefly) drummer of Music/TheRollingStones, Mick Avory (who left in 1984).

* SoundEffectBleep: That "OH NO!" scream right before the guitar solo in "You Really Got Me" was overdubbed by Ray to try and [[SiblingRivalry drown out Dave telling him]] [[PrecisionFStrike to fuck off]].

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** "Lola" was censored by the BBC not for its lyrics about a sexual tryst with a transvestite, but for its use of the brand name Coca-Cola. This was duly changed to "cherry cola". Given that this occurs during the very first verse, maybe was it a case of CensorDecoy?
** Their next single, "Apeman", contains the line "the air pollution is fogging up my eyes". We know it sounds like "fucking". They know it sounds like "fucking". And whoever produced the album knew it sounds like "fucking", since they very clumsily reduce that solitary word's volume so it's barely audible. Ironically, while everyone involved claims it's definitely "fogging", this makes it harder to decipher whether Ray Davies does actually sing "fogging" or "fucking".
** Their single "Victoria" does the same thing on its last line, sung in such a way that you can't quite tell if it's "Victoria loved them all" or "Victoria fucked them all".
** From the references to the protagonists' lack of interest in girls ("All the girls in the neighborhood / Try to go out with David Watts / They try their best but can't succeed / For he is of pure and noble breed") to the use of "gay and fancy-free," "David Watts" repeatedly dances around the subject of its protagonist's homosexuality.

The Kinks were an English rock band, one of the "Big Four" [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion British Invasion]] bands of TheSixties (along with Music/TheBeatles, Music/TheRollingStones, and Music/TheWho) and LongRunners, having experienced a career's worth of highs and lows before throwing in the towel in 1996. While they have had many members, their most famous line-up was composed of vocalist[=/=]guitarist[=/=][[IAmTheBand mastermind]] Ray Davies, his vocalist/guitarist brother Dave Davies, bassist Pete Quaife (left in 1969, died 2010) and the former (albeit briefly) drummer of Music/TheRollingStones, Mick Avory (who left in 1984).

* TheWoobie: "Celluloid Heroes" depicts[[Invoked]] Creator/MarilynMonroe as this:

Admired for their melodic mastery of pop, their enormous variety of styles, the insight and wit of their lyrics, and their huge influence on almost all subsequent bands that cultivated any sort of outsider underdog image.

** David Watts is "so gay and fancy-free".

The Kinks began their career as a bluesy, hard-edged mod-rock band, gaining success with their loud, [[EarWorm memorable]] hits "You Really Got Me", "All Day and All of the Night" and "Tired of Waiting for You", which set them up as a band to contend with and provided endless inspiration to future genres like GarageRock and PowerPop. Their rowdy live shows got them banned from America until 1969, though arguably it ultimately served them well, encouraging [[IAmTheBand Ray Davies]] to write songs that emphasised their essential Britishness and tended to a more nostalgic and pastoral feel than their States-struck contemporaries.

* '''Dave Davies''' - guitar, backing and lead vocals, banjo (1964–96, 2018–present)
* '''Ray Davies''' - lead vocals, guitar, keyboard, harmonica, piano, mellotron, harp, harpsichord, organ, tuba, maracas, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, accordion, oboe, flute, synthesizer (1964–96, 2018–present)

* John Dalton - bass, backing and lead vocals (1969–76, 1978)

* '''[[Music/TheRollingStones Mick Avory]]''' - drums, percussion, tambourine (1964–84, 2018–present)

* OneWomanSong: "Lola"

* TheMovieBuff: Ray Davies actually went to film school and planned to make movies (so far he's made documentaries, including one on Thelonious Monk and another on the making of a tribute album to Music/CharlesMingus. Many of his songs feature movie references, most notably "Celluloid Heroes" and "Oklahoma USA" among others.