One of the most influential groups of the “British Invasion” of the sixties: Rock Legends, broadcast tomorrow at 24.10 on Rai 5 (then on Raiplay), offers a portrait of the Kinks. Their songbook boasts songs that entered the legend as “You Really Got Me” (considered by many to be the first hard-rock piece of history, released in August 1964), “All Day and All of the Night”, “Village Green”, “A Well Respected Man”, “Sunny Afternoon”, “Lola”, “Death of A Clown” and “Waterloo Sunset”.
Formed in 1963 to Muswell Hill, in northern London, by the brothers Ray and Dave Davies with his friend Pete Quaife, to which was added Mick Avory at the beginning of 1964, the English band quickly established himself as one of the epochal groups of the 60s, whose impact is still felt today all over the world.
The Kinks sold over 50 million records worldwide and their songs have been listened to more than a billion times; They obtained five top 10 US, nine Top 40 US, twenty -two British top 20 for individuals and EPs and six British top 10, with four certified gold discs albums. Among the numerous awards, they received the Ivor Novello Award for their “Exceptional contribution to British music” and were included in the “Rock & Roll Hall of Fame” and in the “UK Music Hall of Fame”. The legendary frontman Sir Ray Davies, award -winning, is widely recognized as one of the largest songwriter British.
Recently, the Kinks have returned to celebrate their 60 years with a new, rich publication. After the release of “The Journey – Part 1 (1964-1975)” – with successes such as “You Really Got Me”, “Waterloo Sunset”, “All Day and All of the Night”, “Supersonic Rocket Ship” and “Dead End Street” – Here “The Journey – Part 2”, the second celebratory collection of one of the largest British Rock groups of Always.
“The Journey – Part 2” was made available in 2CD, 2LP, digital and digital HD formats. Physical formats contain a booklet with photos of the band and notes Track-by-track Written by the original members Ray Davies, Dave Davies and Mick Avory, in which artists share their memories and intertwine them with the incredible history of Kinks.
This second exit, which like the previous one will be “thematic”: collects individuals, B-SIDEsongs from albums and, in particular, six new mixes by Ray Davies, three of whom are unpublished performance live recorded at the New Victoria Theater in London in 1975. The new digital single “Everybody's a Star (Starmaker) (Live, 2023 mix)”, which can be heard in the video clip below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymdd52eht7o
Among the songs present in this second collection we find: “Lola”, “Sunny Afternoon”, “20th Century Man”, “Dedicated Follower of Fashion”, “Till the End of the Day”, “A Well Respected Man”, “See My Friends” and “Everybody's a Star (Starmaker)”. On the occasion of the new release, a collection of official Kinks merchandising is launched, which represents the 60th anniversary of the group. The entire range of products is available on the backstreet website.
“I thought I knew everything about my songs – said Ray Davies – until I was given the opportunity to put this album together. The new tracklist allowed us to show a 'general picture' and to provide a more in -depth story about how our music has evolved. I learned a lot about myself in putting this record together”. His brother Dave Davies echoes him: “Another opportunity to listen to some of my favorite Kinks songs over the years. A perfect example of our varied and creative musical inheritance”. For Mick Avory, however, it is “an excellent selection of Kinks songs through the years, which will reserve pleasant surprises for the listener”.
The songs contained in “The Journey – Parts 1 & 2” were personally selected by Ray, Dave and Mick, according to themes inspired by their experiences and vicissitudes experienced on their common life journey as a band since 1963.
The songs contained in the collections are taken from the classic original Kinks albums, including: “Face to face”, “The Kink Kontroversy”, “Something Else”, “The Village Green Preservation Society”, “Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround”, “Muswell Hillbilies”, “Everybody's in Show-Biz” “Preservation Acts 1 & 2” and “A soap opera”.
All the songs were remastered by Kevin Gray at the Cohearent Studios in Los Angeles, with the supervision of Andrew Sandoval.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
