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The iconic British rock band, The Kinks, are often cited as one of the most important and influential rock bands of all time.
Their first hit, You Really Got Me, in 1964, broke new ground with driving power chords and Dave Davies’ distorted guitar sounds, and created a template for many bands to follow in a rock and roll development which led variously to heavy metal, new wave and grunge.
Later work saw the band’s style change to more melodic songs, highlighting Ray Davies’ lyrical and observational skills in songs like Sunny Afternoon, Dead End Street and Waterloo Sunset.
Although the band’s popularity in the UK waned in the 1970s, they found new commercial success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and returned to the UK top 20 in 1983 with Come Dancing. The Kinks continued as a recording and gigging band until 1996, when the Davies brothers went their separate ways with solo careers.
During the band’s 32-year career, there were some changes in personnel, Pete Quaife, the original bassist, was replaced by John Dalton in 1969, and keyboard player John Gosling was added in 1970. Following the two Johns’ departure in the late 1970s, Jim Rodford became the Kinks’ bassist (after a short tenure by Andy Pyle) and Ian Gibbons took over on keyboards. Original drummer Mick Avory left the band in 1983, to be replaced by Bob Henrit.
The Kast Off Kinks formed in 1994 to keep the music playing on, and it is what the name implies - the original line-up consisted of the band that played Lola (apart from Ray and Dave), together with singer/guitarist Dave Clarke. The current line-up is the band that played Come Dancing, still with Dave Clarke covering for the Davies brothers.
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