UNITED KINGDOM: THE KINKS' LEAD SINGER RAY DAVIES PLAYS LIVE AT A RECORD SIGNING FOR THE GROUPS LATEST ALBUM 'TO THE BONE'

Record ID: 336609

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: THE KINKS' LEAD SINGER RAY DAVIES PLAYS LIVE AT A RECORD SIGNING FOR THE GROUPS LATEST ALBUM 'TO THE BONE'
  • Date: 12th March 1997
  • Summary: (MARCH 13) (RTV) DAVIES ARRIVING AT EMI RECORDS HEADQUARTERS DAVIES POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS DAVIES TALKING ABOUT HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS BROTHER JOURNALISTS LISTENING TO DAVIES REFERRING TO LIAM AND NOEL GALLAGHER DAVIES SAYS HE THINKS THE TROUBLESOME ONE (LIAM) IS THE "INTERESTING" ONE, WITHOUT THE TROUBLESOME ONE YOU WOULDN'T HAVE THE GUY WRITING THE GOOD SONGS.
  • Embargoed: 27th March 1997 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA164Y1BE9LEQA58GGNKIAJQO52
  • Story Text: The Kinks' lead singer and songwriter Ray Davies crossed the musical generations on Wednesday (March 12) when he joined Cathy Dennis in a rendition of the Kinks song "Waterloo Sunset" for fans at a London record shop.

    "Waterloo Sunset" was one of the Kinks' big hits in the Sixties, and in keeping with the London music scene's current admiration of hippy-era culture, Dennis recorded the song and had a recent top twenty hit.

    The Kinks seem set for a renaissance themselves, with a new album, "To The Bone" and an ongoing tour of the United Kingdom by Davies, whose one-man show documenting the rise of the band played to sold-out audiences in London.

    Davies was born in June 1944 - the shy seventh child of an extended family in Muswell Hill, London. Originally known as The Ravens, The Kinks were formed at the end of 1963 with Dave and Ray Davies, Peter Quaife and Mick Avory.

    "To The Bone" is a double album featuring 27 classic Kinks songs, which have been re-recorded either as live performances or "unplugged" (acoustic) versions. There are also two new songs on the album, the title track and "Animal".

    The Kinks' popularity peaked in the sixties and early seventies, with a series of hits such as "You Really Got Me", "All Day And All Of The Night", "Lola", "Sunny Afternoon" and "Apeman", all of which are included on "To The Bone".

    Contrary to popular belief The Kinks have rarely stopped working, releasing 25 albums and various compilations in their 23-year history.

    In scenes reminiscent of Beatlemania, one Kinks concert in Copenhagen in 1966 turned into a riot, as besotted fans tried to storm the stage and fought police.

    "They put my brother in jail for inciting a riot," Davies told Reuters, "quite right I say, as well".

    Ray Davies has a tempestuous relationship with Dave, who left the band at one point and has recently written a book revealing the love-hate feelings the brothers share.

    Several successful Britpop bands, such as Oasis, Blur and Pulp have cited the Kinks as a major influence on their music.

    Asked about parallels between the other famous siblings, Liam and Noel Gallagher of Oasis and the Davies brothers, Ray told a news conference that "the troublesome one" (Liam) was the "interesting one", adding that without him perhaps Noel would not be able to write good songs.

    Davies said that the angst caused by tensions with his own brother fuelled his own songwriting.

    "I don't think we'll ever stop making music together. It's just one of those things. As soon as we sit down to play together, all of the angst, all the badness goes away. It's only when there's a distance between us that people say we must hate each other. But I don't hate him any more than anyone else, or less", Davies said, breaking into his famous gap-toothed grin and chuckling.

    The brothers appear together in the video for "To The Bone", a song about a lonely hippy in the seventies whose girlfriend deserts him for the lead singer of the Kinks. The only thing she leaves for him are his memories and the Kinks album.

    The video shows Ray Davies in several different guises, past and present. He uses a similar device in his solo show, based on his autobiography "X-Ray", in which he plays an old man revealing the secrets of his life to a young journalist.

    Davies' personal life has not always been happy. When his marriage collapsed in 1973 he was hospitalised following a suicide attempt. A subsequent relationship with Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde also foundered. The band was dogged by unhappy alliances with a series of record labels.

    In spite of all that, the Kinks have survived.

    "Being creative has helped me through the bad patches, whether they be personal or professional," Davies told Reuters, "It's important to retain that edge of yourself. There's an edge of yourself when you write that nobody really gets to, and you don't get to it that often. You just get to it a couple of times in a year maybe, if you're writing. It's when you think 'Oh, nobody's said that before in the same way'. When that happens, all the tragedies in your life, all the failures you have at work disappear".
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