The Kinks are Underrated- Part II: 1970s Quiz

Answer: They were banned by the American Federation of Musicians, the musicians' trade union.

Controversy has surrounded this ban ever since it happened, and it was either a flagrant over-reaction, wholly justified, or somewhere in between, depending on who's telling the story. Without question, the Kinks' erratic behavior had a lot to do with it, but if substance abuse was the issue, the culprit was alcohol, not an illegal drug bust. The two Davies brothers argued and fought about everything even before the tour began, a situation which led to frequently uneven onstage performances, and which exasperated the other band members. During an earlier show in Cardiff, Wales on a brief May tour in the UK, drummer Mick Avery had bashed Dave Davies on the head with a metal drum pedal after Dave criticized his drumming and kicked over his drum set.

The US tour was poorly organized and advertised, and the US promoter Betty Kaye tried to cancel it, then refused to pay the band in cash, as had been agreed upon. This further antagonized bandleader Ray Davies in particular, who reacted with hostility toward the lukewarm crowds during the shows. In Sacramento, the band performed only a 45 minute jam of "You Really Got Me" and then left the stage. They backed out of a show in San Francisco, leading Kaye to file a formal complaint with the Musicians Union. The tour's nadir came in Los Angeles on July 2nd, where the group was to tape a TV segment. They were accused of being late, and in the ensuing row, a TV company executive supposedly called the band "a bunch of pimply-faced commie wimps," and insulted the whole British Empire. Fisticuffs ensued.

After the tour, the AFM (union) issued the ban. No doubt it badly hurt the Kinks' commercial viability and greatly curtailed their ability to stay connected with their American fans, and make new ones, during those key years of the late Sixties.

Answer: Lola

The good news about the United States ban was that it focused Ray Davies more on his songwriting and studio recording techniques. In reality, it was only some of the American audience who lost touch with the Kinks; the group continued to be internationally viable, producing solid albums as they moved from being mostly hard rockers to a much wider repertoire of songs. Davies was finding his voice as a social commentator.

With the mega-hit "Lola," from the 1970 album "Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround," the Kinks were back on the scene in every sense. Ask a Rock & Roll music fan today to name a Kinks song, and this one tends come up first. The smoky tale of an encounter with a transvestite in a bar captures the Kinks' essence and lives up to the "classic" label. The song was controversial for two reasons. The subject matter caused some UK stations to fade out the record before the end supposedly revealed Lola's true identity as a man. Australia eventually banned it in December of 1970 for a brief time because of content. In the UK the song came in for more arcane scrutiny. The rest of the first line is "...where you drink champagne and it tastes just like Coca-Cola." Because of BBC laws concerning product placement, for the single released in the UK the group had to record another version where "cherry cola" was substituted for "Coca-Cola."

Answer: Muswell Hillbillies

The album's title track has Ray proudly and defiantly celebrating his roots as a "Muswell Hillbilly boy." The brothers grew up in the Muswell Hill section of North London, and it was there they formed the band. The album was a commercial disappointment after the success of "Lola," failing to chart in England and reaching only Number 48 position in the USA. However, music critics and hard core fans for the most part loved it. Ray Davies was honing his message. The album effectively and honestly distilled the angst of regular people trying to make a go of life in the increasingly complicated and technological late 20th century ("Here Come the People in Grey" and "20th Century Man'); and at the same time it good-naturedly satirized British society ("Have a Cuppa Tea" and "Skin and Bone").

By the way, the picture on the album cover is the Archway Tavern in Islington, a few kilometers from Muswell Hill. Because of the Kinks connection, the pub and the building became something of an historic landmark in the 1980s. Local district officials would like to see the presently shuttered location, which had a brief recent interlude as a live music venue, reopened as a public house.

Answer: Greta Garbo, George Sanders, Marilyn Monroe

"Don't step on Greta Garbo as you walk down the Boulevard..."
"If you covered him in garbage, George Sanders would still have style..."
"But please don't tread on dearest Marilyn/ Cause she's not very tough/ She should have been made of iron or steel/ But she was only made of flesh and blood"

These are just a few lines from this magical, mournful ode which encapsulates Ray Davies' experience on the Hollywood Boulevard "Walk of Fame" while visiting Los Angeles. Listen for yourself and see whether you agree that Davies masterfully, succinctly summed up the Hollywood star ethos in a six minute rock and roll song. Also mentioned are Rudolph Valentino, Bela Lugosi, Bette Davis, and Mickey Rooney.

Answer: Jack the Idiot Dunce

Students at an all boys English boarding school are not "politically correct," they keep it real, and so does this album. It burrows unflinchingly into different aspects of the maddening, exhilarating, humiliating roller coaster ride which probably characterized the school experience of Ray Davies. Or maybe he's just really good at translating imagination into song.

At any rate, the song in question is a good example of his compassion. Despite the cruel branding of Jack as an "idiot dunce" by the boys, at the end of the song, his whacked out dancing is so cool, all the girls dig him.

The idiot dunce is a star. Relating to, understanding, and humanizing those who are different is a recurrent theme in Davies' writing. Some critics branded this a "throwaway" album or at best lightweight fare with lots of "fillers," but I think they missed the point.

Answer: X-RAY

This book was written by Ray Davies and published in 1994, but calling it an autobiography is problematic. In a way it's more a work of fiction allowing the author to comment on real events he participated in, through the lens of his interpretation. A nineteen year old narrator tells the story by interviewing an aging ex-rock musician with a questionable memory.

This older man is obviously, at least in part, Ray Davies himself. A lot of the first section deals with Davies' well-documented struggles balancing the band's early success, the demands of the cutthroat music industry, and his copious personal demons. Of particular relevance to this quiz, the story includes lots of detail about the Kinks' split with Pye Records in 1971.

It also gives insight into Ray's difficulties as a young married band leader, somewhat envious of his brother's wild carousing, and has some interesting observations about Davies' contemporaries on the music scene, including John Lennon and the Rolling Stones. The book does not address post-1970s subject matter, so perhaps a sequel is lurking in the mind of Ray Davies.

Answer: Sitting in the Midday Sun

"Sitting in the Midday Sun" was penned by Ray Davies, recorded in June of 1973, and released soon after in both the UK and the US. The UK single was backed with "One of the Survivors" and both tunes were included on the "Preservation Act I" album, which is a great album, but was poorly promoted on both sides of the Atlantic and did not sell well. Davies' personal life was in turmoil at this time.

His wife Rasa had just left him, taking their children and leaving him despondent and suicidal, according to biographer Stuart Hinman, with supporting quotes from brother Dave confirming the circumstances.

The other songs were released in the 1960s.

Answer: 2014

The question becomes easier if you know the man's birth year and you're good at math, hence the hint about WWII. Sir Raymond Douglas Davies, CBE, entered the world on June 21, 1944, in Fortis Green, a ward in the northwest of London. He was at last granted this overdue recognition of his creative skill long after his contemporaries Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

This exclusive club honors popular songwriters across many genres, starting with the 20th century. It credits Davies with founding and leading "the most adamantly British of the Brit Invasion bands." In listing his many qualifications, the Hall's website mentions the Kinks' fourteen international top ten hits, Ray's two solo albums, three stage musicals, numerous collaborations with other musicians, and some of the many artists who have covered his songs. Joining Davies as a 2014 inductee was Donovan, another British Invasion era songwriter who is often underappreciated.

Answer: Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders

Bowie and Dave Davies have both acknowledged bi-sexuality, but Ray Davies has been married to three women, has never been linked to Bowie, and has never made any public pronouncement about being bisexual or gay. Hynde was a Kinks devotee in her teens, and her band The Pretenders released a successful cover of the Kinks' song "Stop Your Sobbing" in 1979, helping the burgeoning punk scene to recognize their commonality with the Kinks' brand of rock music. Subsequently, she orchestrated a meeting with Davies at a New York club, and they became an item. To quote Davies, "It was a good friendship for a few weeks, but that should have been it." Instead, they hung together through four stormy, alcohol fueled years, producing the aforementioned daughter, Natalie Rae in 1983, and having Hynde be named as the reason for Davies divorcing his second wife Yvonne.

They finally split up when Hynde married someone else while on tour in 1984.

Answer: "Sleepwalker", "Misfits", "Low Budget"

The Kinks ended their association with RCA Records in 1976 and signed with Arista Records. They made a conscious decision to move away from the opera-style theatricality of the "Preservation Act" albums earlier in the decade. Instead, they reverted to a basic five man band for live shows, played a more hard rocking, guitar driven style, and wrote and recorded in a similar vein. "Sleepwalker" (1977) was the first album for Arista and the last with John Dalton as bassist. "Misfits" (1978) included the hit single "A Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy." "Low Budget" (1979) was recorded in New York, and with the group firmly re-established as a Rock & Roll band, it became their best selling US album, peaking at number eleven on the album charts.

It featured the hit single "(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman." [The "Face to Face" group of albums were recorded in the '60s; the "Percy" group is from the early '70s; the "State of Confusion" group is from the 1980s]