If you don't know who Ray Davies is, here is Wikipedia's official definition:
Raymond Douglas "Ray" Davies
born 21 June 1944) is an English rock musician. He is best known as
lead singer and songwriter for The Kinks, which he led with his younger
brother, Dave. He has also acted, directed and produced shows for
theatre and television. Since the dissolution of the Kinks in 1996, Ray
Davies has embarked on a solo career as a singer-songwriter.
Ray Davies is mostly known for being in The Kinks, one of my all-time favorite bands. It's just something about The Kinks that drives me crazy (in the a good way!) and I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the way all of their songs describe traditional British life (See my post on it here) or how they just seem so... British. I love the Brits more than anything; My time in England was the best five days of my entire life.
The Kinks in particular love expressing how traditional they are to their British lifestyles. Many of their songs have a clear basis: "On Saturdays I do this, on Sundays I do this, I'm British, and I love it." And let's face it; The Kinks are smart motherfuckers!
"With the over-population and inflation and
starvation and the crazy politicians, I don't feel safe in this world no
more." - The Kinks, Apeman
"The wonderful world of technology, napalm, hydrogen bombs, biological warfare." - The Kinks, 20th Century Man
"The wonderful world of technology, napalm, hydrogen bombs, biological warfare." - The Kinks, 20th Century Man
The Kinks were the ultimate mods, but even when mod culture started to fade around 1967, they embraces psychedelia in both their clothing and musical style. These guys stayed together until 1996, when they disbanded simply because they weren't making enough money, which is rather unfortunate. They have more talent than pretty much all of the artists of 1996!
Unfortunately 8Tracks wasn't working today, so here are a few of my favorite Kinks tunes.
4. Apeman
i hate to be a nit picker, but the kinks never embraced psychedelia! dave davies may have dressed quite the eccentric fop, but very few kinks songs could be considered 'psychedelic'.
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