Artist:The Kinks
Song:Lola
Album:Lola vs The Powerman & The Money-Go-Round Pt. 1
The Kinks are one of the most enduringly popular of the British Invasion groups. They've had various members but the core has always been Ray & Dave Davies. Ray was born June 21, 1944 and Dave was born Feb. 3, 1947 in Muswell Hill, London. Like a lot of British Invasion groups, the Davies Bros. were heavily influenced by rock & roll and skiffle music. That's a British folk rock hybrid that was very popular in the late 50s. They called themselves The Ravens and in 1963 were discovered by Shel Talmy. He was a US producer under contract to the British Pye label. Their first single flopped and the group name was changed to The Kinks. You Really Got Me was their third single and it was released in the US on Reprise and was a top ten hit. The Kinks had several more hits but were banned from the US after their 1965 tour for unspecified reasons. Ray Davies' music started going more towards his folk roots and he started to add humour to his songs. The Kinks were petering out in 1968 but then the US ban was lifted. They added keyboard player John Gosling to the group and Lola was his first record. The song and album were big hits and revitalized the band. It's one of those songs that sounds as good today as it did in 1970. The Kinks signed a big contract with RCA in 1971 and continued to record for many years. These days, Ray & Dave Davies are iconic figures in British music and both appear on TV occasionally. Here are The Kinks performing Lola in 1970.
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