The Kinks first gained prominence in 1964 with their third single, the hit "You Really Got Me", written by Ray Davies. As their popularity increased, the group built up a distinctive look for themselves. The band's name came from their "kinky" dress sense of leather capes and boots worn on stage. The Kinks' original and best known line-up consisted of Ray Davies (lead vocals/rhythm guitar/keyboards), Dave Davies (lead guitar/vocals), Pete Quaife (backing vocals/bass guitar), and Mick Avory (drums and percussion). Following Quaife's departure in 1969, the band centred around the three remaining original members, with a frequently changing roster of bassists and keyboardists. In 1984, friction between Dave Davies and Mick Avory resulted in the latter's departure, leaving only the brothers from the original line-up. However, the increasingly deteriorating relationship between the Davies brothers, together with a string of unsuccessful records, led to the break-up of the band in 1996. In late 2008, Ray Davies confirmed that the band is condsidering reuniting and gearing for a possible new album and tour. In a recent interview with Paste magazine, Davies stated that he currently has four proposed new Kinks songs, which he called "the seed and core of a new record." "If we did a new studio record, it'd be a continuation of that journey, showing what we are up to as people. We've always written about who we are, our connection to the world" he said.
The band's early hard-driving singles set a standard in the mid-1960s for rock and roll, while albums such as Face to Face, Something Else, The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur, Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One and Muswell Hillbillies and their accompanying singles, are highly regarded by fans, critics, and peers, and are considered amongst the most influential recordings of the era. During the New Wave era, groups such as The Jam, The Knack, and The Pretenders covered Kinks songs and Britpop acts such as Blur, Oasis and Supergrass have cited them as a major influence. Many modern bands such as The Killers, The Libertines, Panic at the Disco and Franz Ferdinand acknowledge The Kinks and Ray Davies' songwriting skills. In the VH1 documentary HEAVY: the Story of Metal The Kinks are mentioned as one of the early bands that can be traced with a heavy metal sound.
As self-professed Kinks fan Pete Townshend said for The History of Rock 'n' Roll: "The Kinks were much more quintessentially English. I always think that Ray Davies should one day be Poet Laureate. He invented a new kind of poetry and a new kind of language for pop writing that influenced me from the very, very, very beginning."
From Wikipedia
