Prima facie, an article about THE BEST KINKS SONGS OF ALL TIME would seem like a piece of cake. But the opposite is true. The trick was despairing over the songs I had to omit from THE BEST KINKS SONGS OF ALL TIME. In the end, while twenty tracks seems just about right – not too little and not too much. Which is to me, an indication of how much I value Ray Davies as a songwriter.
Together with brother Dave (lead guitar), Mick Avory (drums) and Pete Quaife (bass), The Kinks were sixties pop trailblazers, establishing themselves as one of the most influential bands of the rock era. Avory and Quaife would be replaced down the line, but the Davies brothers remained the core of The Kinks.
But back to an assessment of Ray Davies as songwriter extraordinaire. One key indicator is considering the vast number of Ray Davies songs that have been covered by stellar musicians. For example: David Bowie, Van Halen, The Stranglers, The Pretenders, Elvis Costello, The Jam, The Knack etc etc etc. The influence of Ray Davies and The Kinks is strong and pervasive in modern rock music.
These artists and bands – stars in their own right – have had no qualms in giving credit where it is due, demonstrating the weight of Ray Davies’ songwriting inspiration among the aforementioned stellar names.
So here we go – THE BEST KINKS SONGS OF ALL TIME – alphabetical order as is my wont.
“All Day and All of the Night”
“Apeman”
“Autumn Almanac”
“Better Things”
“Celluloid Heroes”
“Come Dancing”
“Dandy”
“David Watts”
“Days”
“Dead End Street”
“Dedicated Follower of Fashion”
“Lola”
“Sunny Afternoon”
“This is Where I Belong”
“Tired of Waiting For You”
“Victoria”
“Village Green Preservation Society”
“Waterloo Sunset”
“Well Respected Gentleman”
“You Really Got Me”
But seriously folks, you need Ray Davies/The Kinks in your lives right here and now. Probably the best songwriter in rock ever!
… still there’s more …