Misfits was another commercial success for The Kinks, following the same trajectory as their previous album, but this time they even managed to score a Top 40 single (and sometime AOR-radio staple) A Rock & Roll Fantasy. Their label Arista was probably moderately pleased with the results; RCA, their previous label, must have been FUMING! I…
So it’s 1967. The so-called “Summer Of Love” is in full swing. Bands are taking advantage of new-found artistic freedom to explore their musical boundaries, and the shift from singles-oriented bands to album-based music is already in full bloom. Psychedelia is the order of the day, or so it seems anyhow. So what were The Kinks…
The Kinks’s previous album, the exquisite The Kinks are The Village Green Preservation Society, certainly didn’t deliver on the commercial front, did it? Never mind that it would go on to become the most acclaimed and biggest selling non-compilation album of their careers… Still, that must have smarted a bit for the Ray and the…
Muswell Hillbillies was the start of a new era for The Kinks, as they left longtime label Pye and signed with RCA. Emboldened by the commercial success of their previous album Lola v. Powerman…, they would release six albums with RCA that would go on to be commercially disappointing and critically quizzical, to say the least.…
“For me, Village Green Preservation Society is Ray’s masterwork. It’s his Sgt Pepper, it’s what makes him the definitive pop poet laureate.” — Pete Townshend, 2004 The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society (referred to as VGPS from here on) is the musical equivalent of the perfect trip to Disneyland. Warm and sunny weather with…