Artist Spotlight: The Kinks

Every so often I will spotlight a different Classic Rock band/artist for a various number of reasons. The reason I have chosen the Kinks is because I have really been digging them lately and I think it's a shame that most of their best work goes mostly unnoticed now-a-days. Sure, everyone has heard You Really Got Me and Lola, but I wouldn't even rank those songs in the top 5 of their best songs. Other than the Beatles and maybe a couple of other bands, I believe the Kinks had the best string of albums in the mid and late 1960's. In their early days they released a number of great songs the include "You Really Got Me," "All Day And All Of The Night," "A Well Respected Man," "Tired Of Waiting For You," "Till The End Of The Night," and "Dedicated Follower Of Fashion" among others. After their 1965 Summer US tour, they were banned from touring in the States for four years by the American Federation of Musicians. This took a huge toll on the Kinks popularity in the States during the height of the British Invasion. The best and most creative period of the bands career began with the release of the single "Sunny Afternoon" in June of 1966. Their first great album, "Something Else by The Kinks" was released in September 1967. The album produces a handful of strong songs that include "David Watts" and "Death of a Clown," but the best song by far on the album is "Waterloo Sunset." This song is widely regarded as the groups best song. In November of 1968 the band released what I consider to be their greatest achievement: "The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society." At the time of its release it was greatly overshadowed by the Beatles White Album (which was released on the same day). The album was largely ignored by the public and critics at the time of its release but it slowly started to gain a cult status and you can now find it on almost everybody's list of Greatest Albums of All Time. The Kinks would then go on to release to more great albums: 1969's "Arthur" and 1970's "Lola." The former contains the songs "Victoria" and "Shangri-La", with the latter producing the mega-hit "Lola" and "Apeman." 1971's "Muswell Hillbillies" is a favorite among Kinks fans and "Everybody's In Show-Biz" contained the song "Celluloid Heroes" in 1972. The bands popularity dipped in the mid-1970's but had a little resurgence in 1977 with the song "Father Christmas" off the album "Misfits." The Kinks last popular album came in 1983's "State of Confusion" which spawned the hit single "Come Dancing." Personal differences between brothers Ray and Dave Davies disintergrated the band, and they haven't played together since 1996.

Here are some of my favorite Kinks songs that I think are definitily worth listening to:

All Day And All Of The Night, A Well Respected Man, Sunny Afternoon, Deadend Street, David Watts, Waterloo Sunset, Days, Village Green Preservation Society, Lola, Apeman, Celluloid Heroes, Father Christmas