Computer Age

The Kinks
Celluloid Heroes

I talk to many people in music, and removing a small group of friends Rock fans like me, no one seems to know the Kinks, occasionally departs from the theme music of 60 and 70, and everyone is talking about The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, etc. .. but nobody seems to consider that in many respects is the best rock band in history, the inimitable awesome and Kinks.

This story begins in a humble and populous district of London, Mushwell Hill, Raymond and Dave Davies are the only male offspring in a large family full of women, the two brothers were also small for the family, with only three years apart between them but with a huge age difference with regard to his sisters. The childhood of the brothers Davies will elapse in a house full of people, with his parents, his sisters and their brothers-in-law, all living in the same house, spread out over all the attention to small.
In the living room of the old house had a piano, and the two brothers enjoyed the frequent family gatherings around him, is playing songs and stories were fun, we can say that safely counted setbacks, the children of Ray and Dave was quite pleasant.
Despite the fact that the two brothers had almost the same age, did not develop among them a relationship of friendship, each spent time with different people in the family (there were spoiled for choice) and rarely coincide in their games, in these years forged the legendary love-hate relationship of the brothers Davies, a relationship based on mutual admiration between them but also the envy and rivalry.
Although not share too many things, the two brothers soon developed a great love for music, both began to play instruments while discovering the blues songs that came slowly across the Atlantic, soon began to act together with his family and The next step was to form his own band to act on garitos premises.
That first formation of the band, with Dave, Ray and a friend of both, Peter Quayfe, was taking various names before the adoption of The Kinks and was slowly gaining notoriety in the local circuit of clubs, but often acted as simple band accompaniment of other local musicians.

Soon the roles of all the musicians were defining and Ray began to compose and sing their songs, while Dave was developing a powerful and dynamic style with his guitar, both were together at the family house to compose, and in one of these meetings emerged a song that would change forever the fate of the band and that would leave a deep imprint on popular music of the twentieth century. Legend has it that Dave was going at that time experimenting with his amplifiers to get more volume, connecting more with each other. One afternoon Ray came with the chords of "You Really Got Me" started playing the piano, Dave came up with his guitar and amplified rasgeó those same chords, days later, Ray had already prepared the letter. Both realized right away that they had created something big, not because it was wrong from that moment began to rain offers from record companies and promoters who wanted to have the Kinks in their actions.
The rise in the lists of "You Really Got Me" was simply unstoppable, and the band counted for the first time with the resources to continue creating songs, they did not take long in coming; between 1964 and 1965 the Kinks recorded two albums full ( "The Kinks "And" Kinda Kinks ") and countless singles, while frantically began to turn around Europe.
At this early stage the Kinks were a group really wild, because root of the frenetic pace of concerts beginning to emerge as the first friction between the group members, especially between the two brothers that starred truculentas sometimes fights on stage.
In 1965 the group first visited the United States offering a series of concerts, concerts on a few occasions ended in real battle royal, in addition, the acitud of group members at that time was, so to speak, little sociable, especially that of a Dave Davies who was devoted to systematically destroying the hotels where they train and bronzes went to the minimum time.
As a result, but was never clarified the exact reason, the Kinks were banned for activity in the U.S. for four years. This prohbición marked the coming of the band, since it automatically left out of the U.S. market and the margins of all the musical currents that would emerge in that country over the last years of the'60s. This ended almost definitely with the commercial aspirations of the band, which he saw as his records were becoming less popular, although this did not influence the quality of their new songs, but rather the contrary, in the period 1965 to 1969 the Kinks gave their best works.

Published in 1966 came "Face to Face", one of the key discs of his time, a record that broke with the usual theme of simplistic pop of the times by adding a series of detailed portraits of characters in British society, all this reflected in a few songs from a typical structure, addressing new and unpublished sound recordings, adding unusual instruments like the clavichord in subjects such as "Rosey Will not You Please Come Home" or "There's Too Much On My Mind"
"Face to face" had a discreet host commercial, and was widely criticized for his record company who thought that these songs are far away from the pattern of "You Really Got Me" and his rebellious image profitable and contestatory.
Despite these setbacks, the Kinks felt good its evolutionary line and the following year delivered a record even less assimilated by the company: "Something Else", an album that left even more varied now clear that Ray Davies was not a typical composer, in this record are all kinds of songs addressing issues such as unusual in the great "Two Sisters" more than an obvious metaphor of envy between Ray and Dave, or the sarcastic "David Watts," where Ray arremete with its unique and sharp irony against London's a dandy of the time.
In this record, Dave Davies, always overshadowed by the irrepressible talent of his brother, delivered one of his early compositions, the great "Death Of A Clown".

The next disc from Kinks, released a year later, is considered by much of the criticism as the best work of the band, and one of the key pieces of pop of 60, is "The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society ", a monumental double album where all the virtues mentioned above operate at its full explendor. A disc absolutely round without a single item of filler that shows even more nuances in the literature of Ray and sharp in the records of the band. All topics are impeccable, but to name any talk about the beautiful "Days" or "Monica" or the sensational "Picture Book", "Big Sky" or "Sitting On The Riverside."
After Village Green, the Kinks released yet another album of all time for his company, Pye, another superb album called "Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire" that continue despite the sublime line of its previous work either worked too well at the level of sales. In this disc are incredible songs such as the savage "brainwash" the strange "Australia" or the delicious "Shangri-La". The Kinks had already reached a level of excellence absolutely overwhelming.

In 1970 he spent several things reverted to change the course of training, the first is the end of the veto in the United States, which allowed them to return to give performances in that country almost five years later, upon arrival they found the Kinks enjoyed a position of considerable prestige in that country, with legions of fans who came almost to fanaticism.
That same year, the Kinks released "Lola", a strong theme about a transvestite who was an immediate success and overwhelming. the resulting album, "Lola vs. Powerman & the Moneygoround, Part One" at last allowed them to return to the charts with an album curiously clearly inferior to those previously commented, despite having the luxury items such as "Apema" "Top Of The Pops," or that "Lola".

Throughout the years, Ray Davies was interested in the world of television and theater, working in several areas of the BBC, one of those projects was the idea of the film "Percy", an absurd story about an eschatological man who loses his penis, the film went without penalty or by the glory worthy lockers and lost into oblivion were it not for that burned Kinks entire soundtrack, contributing some subjects such as "God's Children," "The Way Love Used To Be "or" Moments "which are among the best of his repertoire.
This soundtrack, released in 1971 was the group's last recording for Pye, started the'70s and the Kinks, tired of the apathy and indifference of the executives decided to change of scenery and punch by RCA, a company that offered them more commercial support and promotional.
The formation of the Kinks had remained practically unchanged in all these years, with the two brothers Davies as leaders and with absolute Quayfe Peter and Mick Avory in their roles as bassist and drums respectively, Quayfe left the band in 1969 and was replaced by John Dalton, and early'70s the band began to add vocals and wind sections in their direct and in her recordings.
In 1971 he was leaving published "Mushwell Hillbillies," his first work for RCA that marked a significant step forward in the sound of the band, adding elements of country music and even touches of music hall in a disc rather than symbolically significant that was presented as a return to the roots, a return to its origins. In this disc are another handful of classics like "20th Century Man," "Holiday" or "Alcohol".

The already indicated interest to Ray Davies in the world of television, serials, drama and entertainment of all kinds would result in successive years in a series of cutting conceptual albums that were not properly understood by either the public or by critics but contain more than moments of excellence. In "Everybody Is In Showbiz," published in 1972 and introduced some elements of this trend to later be developed more thoroughly, this is an atypical album, with popular themes of the band live and unreleased tracks from fairly quality, highlight the beauty and majesty of "Celluloid Heroes" and "Sitting In My Hotel", two issues with the unmistakable tone of melancholy Ray Davies.

The series of conceptual disc starts with "Preservations," "Preservation Act 1", published in 1973 and "Preservation Act 2" published in 1974, these albums Ray Davies presents a delirious story by chapters on Flash, a landowner who wants capitalist take power, and Mr. Black, a leading socialist which aim to prevent and oppose him. "Preservation" is a seemingly simple story of class struggle that is very complicated thank you very much to the imagination of ardent Davies, in any case, despite the fact that the concept of the play was not very well treated, these two discs contain another good selection of songs impeccable, pop-oriented, but without entering into other complex terrain less traveled. These discs are definitely little commercial and perhaps the newcomers to the work of the Kinks should begin by other details in your catalog.

In 1975 he published "Soap Opera", another concept album that was originally devised for a series on the BBC that never took place, the idea here revolves around a rock star of the media (perhaps a self portrait of himself Ray Davies) believes that can turn a mediocre people into stars, which changes his life with that of a simple worker to demonstrate how simple it is to succeed ... until it gives headlong with the stark reality and routine. In the usual brilliance of Davies lirica add here that there are a number of items, and unpayable really cool, like the original "Everybody Is A Star (Starmaker)", "When Work Is Over" or the fantastic "Holiday Romance."
It goes without saying that the disk was not well received by critics and even today is one of their worst discs in question. At the level of sales does not work too well and his company began to show signs of impatience. Relations between the group members, especially between the two brothers, not just passing on his best moment since Dave believed all this mistaken line of conceptual albums and wanted a return to primitive rock from its inception.

The next step seemed to give the reason for Dave, because "Schoolboys In Disgrace" (1975) is a disc much more rock-oriented, despite being a new concept album (a disc on the education theme, no less).
This time the songs are much more direct than in previous work, much more aggressive and dynamic, almost like a return to its early days. We find memorable songs that will become from here on classical concerts as "The Hard Way", "I'm In Disgrace" and the monumental "Headmaster".
For the concerts of this tour, the Kinks returned to their basic guitar, bass and drums and left a scene dressed as schoolchildren, offering the most powerful of his repertoire.
This line back to its origins more wild rockers and will continue in their next jobs, and for his new company, Arista.

The two albums following "Sleepwalker" (1977) and "Misfits" (1978) are considered the best recorded by the Kinks in the entire decade of the 70s, a new moment of fulfillment of a composer Ray Davies in a state of grace and a band that sounds here as a real steamroller. Both discs are round and absolutely impeccable, but worthwhile to highlight themes for its perfection as "Life On The Road" or "Sleepwalker" and the first "Rock and Roll Fantasy" or "Hey Fever" in the second, songs that are among what Best of all its catalog.
The Kinks ended the 70 delivering a new album ( "Low Budget") and with forces still left over, after twenty years of career, to continue on the road. In 1980 he left published "One For The Road", a document revealing that shows the tremendous strength of the live band.

Although 80 were productive years for the band, delivering a total of seven new studio album until "Phobia," his latest album, we do not have space here to detail each of these jobs, even if it must be said that the level of these recordings, but not sublime, but it remained significant.
Highlight the strength of the themes contained in "Give The People What They Want" or the particular irony that flooded the courts of "Word Of Mouth," disks that Ray Davies continued to show his incomparable talent in a few letters and always vibrant compositions and intelligent.

These few data I managed to summarize in this special are broadly the powers of a band that in its own right has always included among the best in history. Ray Davies has written one of the most glorious pages of rock, portraying, with his unique sense of humor, with his keen intelligence, the lives of ordinary people like us, becoming humble and gray stories in glorious songs immortal. because as he said himself Ray "There are stars in every city, In every house and on every street, and if you walk down Hollywood Boulevard, their names are written in concrete."