It is with great sadness that I report that Dave Davies of The Kinks has suffered a stroke that has left him partially paralyzed. Earlier this year, the older Davies brother, Kinks lead singer Ray, was shot. The culprit, surprisingly, was not his combative younger brother Dave but a thief in New Orleans. These guys make Noel and Liam Gallagher look like the model of brotherly love.

It's been a tough couple of years for classic rock. Beatle George Harrison and Who bassist John Entwistle have passed, Ron Wood of The Rolling Stones is in rehab, and now a stroke has sidelined Dave Davies--perhaps for good. In the next few years, we will lose more rock heroes--particularly since many of them overlooked the Atkins Diet in favor of the Acid Diet.

The Kinks are perhaps the most under-appreciated rock band. If they didn't invent the power chord or feedback, they pioneered their use along with The Who, The Yardbirds, and other second-wave British Invasion bands. "You Really Got Me" and, especially, "All Day and All of the Night" rank up there with "Satisfaction" and "My Generation" among the seminal records of the mid-1960s.

What distinguishes The Kinks from many of the early rock acts that continued past the '60s is that they never really became a "greatest hits" touring act--perhaps to their financial detriment--and stayed relevant. In the '70s, they released "Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy," "Celluloid Heroes," "Lola," and a multitude of other great tracks. "Come Dancing" was a staple of early MTV, and a case can be made that the golden age of The Kinks was the early '80s. Their 1981 offering, Give the People What They Want (buy it here), is a must-own for any real rock fan.

Perhaps the reason The Kinks are no longer commonly spoken of in the same breath as Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones is that their uniquely Anglophilic vibe is not as accessible to American audiences. The love of Old England shines through on one of my favorite Kinks tracks, and one of the few where Dave Davies sings lead: "Living on a Thin Line." Davies laments: "All the stories have been told/About kings and days of old/But there's no England now." No Dave, there's not. There's just an amorphous European superstate, of which England is a part.

"Rock bands come, and rock bands go," Ray Davies informs the crowd on the live album One for the Road (buy it here). "But rock 'n' roll will last forever." Let's hope so. Get well Dave Davies.

Dan,

I'm so glad you wrote this and reminded me of one of the best British rock and roll bands of the 60's and early 70's. They truly stood out among the British invasion bands.

With all of the musical choices available and the technological bombardment that allow us access to a myriad of new music sources, some very great fare slip through the cracks.

The Kinks are a fine example of this.

By some cooincidence, I was actually thinking about them the other day and was considering finding a good 'best of' cd for my collection.

But then, real life issues took over and I forgot.

In particular, their live album from the early 70's was particularly good. Great live rendition of Low Budget.

Their penchant for writing almost exclusivly about the British experience is probably the reason why they are the band that time forgot, but their songs and sound have influenced some of the best bands of the current and past Brit-pop scene. Their influence on bands like The Jam, Blur, Ocean Colour Scene, and Oasis can be found in uniquely "british" albums like "Modern Life is Rubbish" and "Parklife." Both by Blur, and both rank high in Brit-rock journalists best albums of all time. The Kinks left a big influence on the Jam. And just as The Kinks have been obscured by the Rolling Stones' and The Who's of their time, The Jam have likewise been obscured by The Sex Pistols' and The Clashes of their time. The Jam's songs are strongly influenced by the Kinks' Ray Davies and many echo the youth angst and lower-middle class strife found in such Kinks songs like "Father Chrismas"..... "give us some money, we'll beat you if you make us annoyed."

Pick up "Come Dancing with the Kinks, The Best of the Kinks 1977-1986." Like you said, they stayed relevant in the '70's and '80's and this is a nice collection of that time period.

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/k/kinks/father_christmas_crd.htm

It is very sad that Dave and Ray Davies sibling dispute has lasted over three decades. It is more disturbing and upsetting to here from a couple of blokes close to the Davies family that Ray has been sitting by Dave's beside and poking him with a stick for days. All the while giggling because Dave can not respond or acknowledge his brother's activities due to his condition. Ray is a pretty twisted bloke.

I think 'twisted' is the correct term and mental condition that you so appropriately apply Nigel.

Most siblings have their negative moments and some do downright hate each other. But, when the chips are down, I've found that in a great majority of the cases, blood is thicker than water.

In the case of the Davies brothers, it sounds like more of a severe mental condition that has trancended beyond even as strong emotion as hate.

Don't know how it gets that way, but it's way wrong.

Especically for two guys who shared so much of their very productive and famous lives.

Sad stuff.