“THE Kinks are still alive in my head,” Ray Davies tells Uncut. Although dormant since 1996, lately, it transpires, his old band have been in his thoughts a great deal. 2023 marked 60 years since Ray, his brother Dave and bassist Pete Quaife’s played their first fledgling gigs, before adopting the name of The Kinks and recruiting drummer Mick Avory in 1964.
This year, two compilations have been released spanning The Kinks’ first decade of wondrously tender, hilarious and heartbreaking songs: The Journey – Part 1 and this month’s Part 2. With input from Dave and Mick, Ray has typically shunned the usual greatest-hits comp, instead reassembling their career as the time-spanning saga of an alter ego he calls the Journeyman.
This new framing emphasises the conceptual work Davies favoured on albums like Schoolboys In Disgrace (1975) and in particular Preservation Act 1 (1973) and its double-album sequel Preservation Act 2 (1974). Act 2 was among Davies’ most challenging work, where the forces of progress concreted over his beloved Village Green in a dystopia of Orwellian conformity and dodgy music hall dictators. With typical ambition, Ray has effectively spent 2023 turning The Kinks’ whole early career into a concept album.
“I wouldn’t call it a concept,” Davies demurs.
“More like emotional surgery…”
Something similar is planned for The Kinks’ prolific past 20 years of UK obscurity and huge US success. “It’s in discussion at the moment – we have to sort out various things,” Davies reveals.
“I’d like to do something weird and wonderful with it. I’ll
