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keefriffhard4life
i'll believe it when I see it

Absolutely. More hot air from Ray. Nonsense ! They've left it too late anyway ......

With all due respect, Dave is past it ...

As Adrian-L and Silver Dagger mention, if you wanna get as close to a Kinks performance as you're ever likely to, the go see the Kastoff-Kinks. The band is made up of former Kinks members, and they're great !

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]

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HMS

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WorriedAboutYou
A reunion at this stage would not only be pointless, but humiliating and depressing for everyone involved.

I absolutely agree.
The Kinks are forgotten by the general public. They would have to play for a handful of fans in some tiny spot in Soho. The Kinks were always dwarfs compared to the Stones, Beatles, The Who. A couple of good songs they had, but so did the Searchers.

For a few years ('64-'68) they weren't exactly dwarves, I think they had about as many hits as the Stones and Beatles during that period (give or take a few).

A Kinks reunion would be huge news, but at this point I doubt it'll happen. Not even any smoke recently to that fire.

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SomeGuy

For a few years ('64-'68) they weren't exactly dwarves, I think they had about as many hits as the Stones and Beatles during that period (give or take a few).

Indeed. Like the Stones or The Who they were part of the "british invasion". But for the Stones and The Who this was only a starting point, for The Kinks however it turned out to be a dead end street. Their career in the 70s was a full catastrophe (at least sales-wise).

The 70's era for the Kinks was when they were on RCA and they seemed to have no management whatsoever and the results showed at least in the sales department. Many fans love the rock opera era of the Kinks.

In 1976 they signed with Arista and Clive Davis took a hands on interest in them. What followed was:

1977 Sleepwalker
1978 Misfits
1979 Low Budget
1981 Give the People What they Want
1983 State of Confusion

This 6 year stretch re-established the Kinks as an arena act that sold LP's.
They were a staple in my Midwest area on tour from 1977 thru 1989.

The run commercially was pretty much over by 1990. They always have made high end music and thoughtful LP's. I believe that history will be very kind to the Kinks as we approach 2030, 2040 etc..

I don't want to get into comparisons but I think the record shows the Kinks had quite a bit of commerical success and have been quite influential.

The Kinks had a bunch of Top 10 singles in 1965 -- You Really Got Me, All Day and All of the Night, Tired of Waiting, plus four other that were hits just in the UK.
They had four top 10 singles in the UK in 1966 and 1967 -- Waterloo Sunset, Dead End Street, Sunny Afternoon, Autumn Almanac.
Most of those songs continued to get play on AOR stations since then.
At that point they were probably selling as many 45s as the Stones, definitely more than the Who.
They fell off the map in the U.S. in 1968, but in 1971 came back with Lola, a top 10 hit. Lola also became a mainstay of US FM stations ever since.
Then they did their Preservations, show-biz albums and basically disappeared again.
In 1977, Ray decided to turn them into an arena rock act again and they put together three succesful albums -- Misfits, Sleepwalker and Low Budget. That culminated with a live double album in 1980, One for the Road, which was the No. 11 album for the year according to Billboard.
In 1982, the put out Come Dancing, which was a top 10 hit, probably their biggest-selling record ever.
As timmyj3 says, they were a staple of Midwest rock and roll in the late 70s, early 80s. They figured out that to sell records in the U.S. it takes touring and persistence. (England is a smaller market and you can get popular in England quicker).
They largely stopped selling records after that, but as far as influence, many New Wave or alternative rock act since then have covered them or cited them as an influence. Ray has done a number of interesting side projects in the past 20 years.
In 1996 Ray was the first to perform on VH1 Storytellers and basically wrote the template for that type of show.
At the 2012 London Olympics, Ray played Waterloo Sunset, which some thought was the high point of the closing ceremonies.
Really a career with ups and downs and many interesting paths taken, with Ray maturing nicely into a kind of grandfather to today's rock and roll.

Forgot about One for the Road! Really nice live LP! It was a commercial success and even had a VHS tape as well. Going off memory here.

Let's face it, Ray ,Dave and Mick are all in the same age group as Mick ,Keith, Charlie and Ronnie.

Not nearly the same income coming in, but I'm sure Ray and Mick are doing alright.
Ray has done alright the past few years with the great stage show, 'Sunny Afternoon', and Mick does O.K. with his gigs with The Kast Off Kinks.
Not sure about Dave though, but I'm sure he is doing fine.
Have to say ,it is great to look back at Daves' great performances with The Kinks.
Ray wrote most , if not all (I may be wrong)of the Kinks songs and that should be remembered as well.
I loved seeing 'Sunny Afternoon' about ten times and had the pleasure of having a very short chat to Ray Davies outside the theatre at one show, but have regrets that I never made the effort to see The Kinks when they played at my home town of Kingston,SW London area back in the 60's when I was a youngster.
The Stones, The Beatles, The Who , The Kinks and loads of other U.K. bands were my faves back then …………………… and still are.

The Kinks enjoyed their biggest selling records from 1977 to 1983. mainly in the US. Also a #1 hit in my country with the live Lola single in 1980. This period is my favourite, really, although of course their 60s run is timeless.
Ray Davies didn't have to share his writing credits (he's Jagger/Richards or Lennon/McCartney rolled into one as it were) so I'm sure he did well for himself. I was in London in 1990 and The Kinks happened to be playing there just a day after we were leaving again (alas, but I saw them a few other times, before and after) and what stuck in my mind is, at this absolute low point in their career, how terribly expensive tickets were! I think 75 pounds or so, in 1990!

Perhaps they should do a new LP and call it SHOT IN THE LEG.

More talk. I guess Dave Davies just spoke with Rolling Stone yesterday which is leading this charge. Basically says "we've been recording for a few years. Some songs have Mick Avory, some have Bob Henrit. No bass player yet. They are demos."

[www.rollingstone.com]

Other news in it is an Arthur 50th Anniversary Box Set is virtually done and due out in October. Thats cool.

“This has really been going on for a couple of years,” Dave Davies told Rolling Stone via phone on Tuesday.
“We keep going backwards and listening to a lot of old stuff. Some of that is very good, and some of it needs a bit of work.”

Sound like the supposed new Stones album!
Might sound farfetched. but we might hear new Kinks music before any new Stones music.

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

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GasLightStreet
Perhaps they should do a new LP and call it SHOT IN THE LEG.

oh man thats good !!

well it wasnt so good to Ray Davies at the time..

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duke richardson

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GasLightStreet
Perhaps they should do a new LP and call it SHOT IN THE LEG.

oh man thats good !!

well it wasnt so good to Ray Davies at the time..

It might be great publicity. No black eye for New Orleans, that's just normal.

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GasLightStreet

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duke richardson

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GasLightStreet
Perhaps they should do a new LP and call it SHOT IN THE LEG.

oh man thats good !!

well it wasnt so good to Ray Davies at the time..

It might be great publicity. No black eye for New Orleans, that's just normal.

Q: What did Ray say when he got shot?

A: "You Really Got Me!"

I first got into the Kinks via Van Halen with You Really Got Me and then Where Have All The Good Times Gone. Bought the double live album as well as the one with Come Dancing.

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mosthigh

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GasLightStreet

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duke richardson

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GasLightStreet
Perhaps they should do a new LP and call it SHOT IN THE LEG.

oh man thats good !!

well it wasnt so good to Ray Davies at the time..

It might be great publicity. No black eye for New Orleans, that's just normal.

Q: What did Ray say when he got shot?

A: "You Really Got Me!"

Ha Ha. Ray's book "Americana" takes you through the entire experience very graphically. He was not given a fair shake by New Orleans. His injury and recovery (both physical and mental) were horrific. Highly recommend.

I’ve always wondered what happened to The Kinks’ record-sales in the U.K. after around 1970. Their LP’s stopped charting all together. How can a group suddenly go from regularly having top-ten singles and LP’s, to barely registering in their home nation? Especially, considering they’re so London-centric.

maybe due to age the Kinks could open for the who and the stones - 40 min set and a couple of new songs when everbody goes for a beer and a piss

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HMS

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SomeGuy

For a few years ('64-'68) they weren't exactly dwarves, I think they had about as many hits as the Stones and Beatles during that period (give or take a few).

Indeed. Like the Stones or The Who they were part of the "british invasion". But for the Stones and The Who this was only a starting point, for The Kinks however it turned out to be a dead end street. Their career in the 70s was a full catastrophe (at least sales-wise).

Give the People What they Want and State of Confusion sold well and they toured pretty big shows in the 80s. 1979's live One For The Road was also significant.

Don't pontificate if you don't actually know what you're talking about.

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Big Al
I’ve always wondered what happened to The Kinks’ record-sales in the U.K. after around 1970. Their LP’s stopped charting all together. How can a group suddenly go from regularly having top-ten singles and LP’s, to barely registering in their home nation? Especially, considering they’re so London-centric.

The Kinks always tried to be out of fashion, during a time when Hendrix, Page and their kind were the new trend, extensive soloing, loud and all. The Kinks, instead, made totally uncommercial music, music hall style with subtle, reflective lyrical allusions. Nobody was interested at the time. As the 70s progressed they went on to make concept albums that were musically not very appealing to any audience (and lyrically not their best work either I must say). No one was interested in that either. After that the socalled arena rock, or 'American' period of The Kinks started, and that was never popular in the UK, I don't think. From the mid-80s on Ray Davies sort of distanced himself from that period and tried to make more European sounding music again, but probably he was too late really, the band had gone out of fashion (note the irony

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bleedingman
Ha Ha. Ray's book "Americana" takes you through the entire experience very graphically. He was not given a fair shake by New Orleans. His injury and recovery (both physical and mental) were horrific. Highly recommend.

Ray and the Kinks have really never gotten a fair shake their entire lives. Not saying how he was treated was correct, just saying its totally unsurprisingly given their history. I know they had a lot of success, but it seems they always did have a bit of a black cloud following them. I'm glad they persevered through it.

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Big Al
I’ve always wondered what happened to The Kinks’ record-sales in the U.K. after around 1970. Their LP’s stopped charting all together. How can a group suddenly go from regularly having top-ten singles and LP’s, to barely registering in their home nation? Especially, considering they’re so London-centric.

I think this is the thing with the Kinks: as mentioned they were always out of fashion. They were doing their own thing. They had big success in the 60s especially in the UK, but not really in the US. Then in the 70s, it seems like they purposely tried to be more American, in their very own Kinks way. Sleepwalker, to me, seems like an album thats trying to be an American hit, and it should have been. A lot after that all seemed like it was gearing towards American arenas, so it makes sense to me they got less popular in the 70s in the UK, because the music wasn't really geared towards them anymore. The Kinks kinda dismissed doing something genuine for success. And I don't think it was a bad call, but its why I feel they were never fully successful EVERYWHERE during any period of their career. Which is a tragedy, cause its all great music.

[www.instagram.com]
The Kinks’ Instagram site posted three blue screens today. ????

My guess would be promo for the soon-to-be-unveiled 50th Anniversary edition of ARTHUR or: THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

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HMS
Indeed. Like the Stones or The Who they were part of the "british invasion". But for the Stones and The Who this was only a starting point, for The Kinks however it turned out to be a dead end street. Their career in the 70s was a full catastrophe (at least sales-wise).

Sort of. If by catastrophe you include the following:

LOLA VS. POWERMAN AND THE MONEY-GO-ROUND, PART ONE peaked at #35 in the USA in 1970 and the single, "Lola" reached #9 in the USA. "Lola" and "Apeman" became rock radio staples.

While not a hit single, "Celluloid Heroes" from 1972 also became a rock radio staple.

SLEEPWALKER peaked at #21 in the USA in 1977 and the Christmas 1977 release, "Father Christmas" became a rock radio staple. The following year, the single "A Rock and Roll Fantasy" reached #30 in the USA.

LOW BUDGET peaked at #11 in the USA in 1979 and was certified gold (sales in excess of 500,000 copies) while the single, "(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman" became a rock radio staple.

Were they the level of The Stones? Of course not, but to state the 1970s were a full-on sales disaster for The Kinks is also not true.

If only.....I've seen Ray and Dave solo and loved both shows but to see the Kinks in concert is a BUCKET LIST item! I'll hold on to that slim bit of hope...I always felt the Kinks were tremendously UNDER-RATED....Waterloo Sunset indeed!

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Rocky Dijon
My guess would be promo for the soon-to-be-unveiled 50th Anniversary edition of ARTHUR or: THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

Arthur is their best I'd say.
It's definitely a highlight

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Whale

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Rocky Dijon
My guess would be promo for the soon-to-be-unveiled 50th Anniversary edition of ARTHUR or: THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

Arthur is their best I'd say.
It's definitely a highlight

Fantastic album, like its predecessor

It seems the Davies brothers are recording new songs together; Ray calls it "Project Kinks":

Ray Davies Talks ‘Arthur’ Reissue, ‘Project Kinks’ Reunion Project
by Andy Greene,Rolling Stone

The Davies brothers have been largely recording with drum machines to flesh out their demos, but Ray hopes to call in Kinks drummer Mick Avory soon, despite Avory’s famously combative relationship with Dave. “It was a childish spat,” says Ray. “I got them to say ‘hello’ last year. I want to get them in the studio together. I’m calling it ‘Project Kinks.'”

As of now, Project Kinks is short a bass player. Quaife died in 2010, and Jim Rodford, who played with them from 1978 to 1997, died suddenly last year. That does leave John Dalton, their bass player from 1969 to 1976. “I haven’t spoken to John about this yet,” says Davies. “I did see him last year, and I might reach out soon, perhaps November. Dave also has a couple of guys in mind that he likes. Right now, though, the songwriting comes first. This is a song project and keeping it in the family is something to enjoy.”

The Kinks haven’t played live in any capacity since splitting in 1996. A tour would be a huge moneymaker, but Ray is taking things one day at a time. “We have to make the record first,” says Ray. “But if we do play again, we’ll come to America. That’s another conversation though.”

Does all of this activity mean the Kinks are now officially back together? “The word ‘together’ is misleading,” says Davies. “We were never together. But we’re back to our dysfunction again.”

Full story: [www.yahoo.com]

As far as an album or tour goes, I will believe it when I see it, but it’s prokosing that they at least seem to be inching along. I can’t honestly imagine they’d sound very good these days, but I would love to see them to find out!