There's been a lot of murmuring lately about a possible Kinks reunion. Much of this murmuring has come directly from the head Kink himself, Ray Davies. There's a very nice article about Ray on CNN's website, here's the link to it:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/27/ray.davies/index.html#cnnSTCText
So, will the reunion actually happen or not? I've been hearing rumors ever since I became a dedicated follower of the Kinks in 2006. And in reading a book about the Kinks, (called "The Kinks") I discovered that Ray has been essentially saying the same thing about a possible reunion since at least 2001-2002. Which begs the question, is this just a ploy of Ray's for more publicity? Since Ray must know in his heart of hearts that he alone will never be able to generate the publicity that "The Kinks" name generates, (he must be the least famous frontman in all of rock and roll) he keeps bringing up the subject, while he knows full well it will never happen. That's the cynical viewpoint, anyway. I'm all for Ray getting all the publicity he can get, since I don't think it's possible for the Kinks to ever become overrated, since they're about the most underrated band in the history of the world. But I do wonder if a Kinks reunion is actually feasible. Dave Davies hasn't performed live since his 2004 stroke, and I've read that original bassist Pete Quaife is on dialysis. That doesn't seem to bode well.
I would love to see the Kinks reunite, because I've never seen them live, (I've only seen Ray solo) and it would sell more of their records, and make them some more money. And in my opinion, if you're Ray and Dave, you deserve all the money you can get. I'm sure they're both doing okay financially, but my point is, the Kinks have been so underrated and undervalued for so long, if they want to take a victory lap, they deserve it. God save the Kinks!
Oh, please don't get your hopes up, Mark -- Ray just mentions these things in interviews and journalists get all excited. But I sincerely doubt his brother Dave would ever agree, and without Dave it's not the Kinks.
ReplyDeleteAnd Ray's solo career is going so well right now, with this brilliant new Working Man's Cafe album -- why would he need to revive the Kinks?
We do need a time machine, though, so we can all go back and have Kinks memories of our own. I only saw them in concert once and it was unforgettable.
I'm with Holly on this, I'm afraid. Stroke...dialysis machine...although I'd love to believe it's true, I don't hold out much hope.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I absolutely agree that it's totally a long shot for Ray and Dave to reunite. It would be cool, but if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. And because Ray wrote and sang nearly all the Kinks' songs, seeing him solo is pretty close to seeing the Kinks.
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad the way the Kinks just faded out, without really having a last burst of glory, but it fits with their whole history. They never did anything the easy way!