One of the more prolific bands of the British Invasion were The Kinks, led by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They recorded some 25 albums between 1964 and 1996 and had five Top Ten singles and nine Top 40 albums in the US, and 17 Top Twenty singles and five Top Ten albums in the UK. While their albums were critical successes, they weren’t especially bestsellers, especially as their albums became more conceptual and focused on English culture and lifestyle. Nonetheless, Ray Davies’ songs have been covered by bands such as The Pretenders, Van Halen, and The Knack, and several British pop bands in the 1990’s credit them as a major influence.
Our first song today is “Sunny Afternoon,” from 1966. It reached #1 on the British charts and #14 in the US.
And our second song, “Dedicated Follower of Fashion,” also from 1966. It reached #4 in the UK and #36 in the US.
The band split up in the 1990’s, but still operates a YouTube channel and a website, and has presences on Facebook and Twitter. A number of their albums have also made it to YouTube, uploaded by fans; definitely worth a listen.
The Kinks, your Two for Tuesday, February 24, 2015.
The Sound of One Hand Typing 
Love the Kinks. “To the Bone” is such a good album my father stole it off of me… TWICE!
Alex Hurst, A Fantasy Author in Kyoto
A-Z Blogging in April Participant
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I remember the Kinks, Sunny Afternoon, is one of my favorites.
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They had a lot of good songs that charted, but they were a band you never thought of. I associate them more with the early 1970’s than the British Invasion, but most of their success in the US was in the 1960’s.
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One of my favorites of that era. They could rock, but they were good at social commentary as well.
Arlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Tossing It Out
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Their social commentary came at the expense of their commercial success, but they did all right considering. And Ray Davies was a hell of a songwriter.
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Gosh, I always seem to overlook the Kinks, though they have a couple of songs I like. If my older brother didn’t play a band’s music, then I wasn’t exposed. He played everybody I think. Enjoy your evening, John. (smile)
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I remember them more from the 1970’s than as a British Invasion band, but they were part of that initial wave, and when I started going through their singles releases, it dawned on me that they had been quite active.
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