In honor of Peter Quaife, a Kinks thread

[alkeiper]

Everyone knows the Beatles and Stones. I'm a huge fan of the Kinks but when I mention them in conversation, most people I talk to are barely aware of their catalog, let alone what a wonderful band they were in their prime. Most of their songs that get attention are their mid-60s hits like "You Really Got Me" and good songs like "Sunny Afternoon" and "Waterloo Sunset." But they had a killer run of albums in the late 60s that seem to completely fly off the radar historically. If there was ever a band that had the pulse of how the world REALLY operated, it was the Kinks. Of course the band fell way off the tracks by the mid '70s and became an embarrassing shell of themselves.

The Kinks - Do You Remember Walter

The Kinks - Arthur

 

[Kinetic]

The relative obscurity to American audiences of much of their best 60s material is due to a touring ban that stretched from shortly after their initial breakthough all the way to the Lola album. I'd definitely argue that the Kinks's run of great singles and albums in the mid-to-late 60s is easily the equal of both the Beatles and Stones, and a damn sight better than the Who's. Tragic that they got so bad so fast after Muswell Hillbillies.

 

[Sesquipedaliantique]

Yeah, they're my favourite 'British Invasion' band aside from The Beatles. A few years ago I raised K-Tic's ire by referring to their best singles as 'paper-thin exercises in quirky pop'. Sorry!