Dave Davies
Dave Davies was born on 03/02/1947 in Muswell Hill, London. His full birth name was David Russell Gordon Davies. He was the youngest of eight children, which included six older sisters and an older brother. Davies first started playing skiffle, but soon changed to the electric guitar and played rock. Dave, his brother Ray and their friend Pete Quaife would jam together in the front room of their house.In 1963, Dave formed a band with Pete Quaife called The Kinks. Dave's brother Ray joined soon after. The drummer Mick Avory also joined. The band would often change their bassists and keyboardists. The Davies brothers and Avory would stay as steady members of the band.
In 1964, The Kinks had their first hit with "You Really Got Me". The chords for the song had been written in the Davies family front room. The song was one of the first appearances of guitar distortion in popular music. Dave used a razor blade to slit the speaker cone on his Elpico amplifier to create the song. The song was the third song that the band had released. The previous two recordings did not chart. They had a three single contract with Pye Records and needed the song to be a hit to get another contract. Pye refused to pay for a studio for the song as they didn't like it, so the band had to find money from elsewhere to record it.
In the next two years, The Kings released three albums and several EPs. They toured with the likes of the Yardbirds and Mickey Finn. Dave Davies and Avory frequently fought. In May 1965, during a gig at the Capitol Theatre, Cardiff a fight broke out on stage. It ended with Davies insulting Avory before kicking over his drum set and Avory responding by knocking Davies out with his hi-hat stand. Avory would later claim it was part of a new act in which the band members would hurl instruments at each other.
In the late 1960s, The Kinks moved away from their traditional R&B/Blues sound to a more reflective style of music as Ray Davies songwriting skills developed.
In July 1967, Dave Davies released his first solo single called "Death of a Clown", which had The Kinks play as his backing band. Previously, Dave had only released his own compositions on B-sides for the Kinks, with Ray composing the majority of The Kink's songs. In November 1967, Dave Davies released the solo single "Susannah's Still Alive". It reached #20 on the Melody Maker Chart. A new LP was planned called "A Hole in the Sock Of". The next two singles, "Lincoln Chart" and "Hold My Hand" failed to chart and the LP was cancelled. The songs already recorded for the LP were released in 2011 on the compilation called "Hidden Treasures" by Andrew Sandoval.
In 1968, The Kinks released "The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society", which failed to chart internationally.
In 1969, The Kinks released the album "Arthur" which only received modest commercial success.
In 1970, The Kinks released the single "Lola" which was a hit and followed by the concept album "Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One".
In 1971, The Kinks released the Americana album "Muswell Hillbillies".
The next five albums "Everybody's in Show-Biz", "Preservation: Act 1", "Preservation: Act 2", "The Kinks Present A Soap Opera and Schoolboys in Disgrace" failed to gain commercial and critical success.
During the 1970s, Dave Davies started several solo albums, but he failed to retain enough enthusiasm to finish the projects. He would be the produce and engineer at the Kink's studio, Konk, for the likes of Claire Hamill and Andy Desmond.
In 1977, The Kinks left RCA Records and joined Arista. They changed to a five-piece group, getting rid of the backing vocalists and brass section that had accompanied them previously. Also in 1977, they released the album "Sleepwalker", which was a commercial and critical success.
In 1978, The Kinks released the album "Misfits".
In 1980, Dave Davies released the solo album "Dave Davies (AFL1-3603)". It reached number 42 on the Billboard Chart.
In 1981, he released the solo album "Glamour" which reached number 152 on the Billboard Chart.
In 1982, The Kinks released the single "Come Dancing" which thanks to a music video reached number 12 on the UK charts. It was their highest ranking hit since "Tired of Waiting for You" in 1965.
In 1983, Dave Davies released the solo album "Chosen People" but it failed to chart on the Billboard 200.
In 1984, The Kinks released the album "Word of Mouth", which was the last album for Arista. It was also the last album with Mick Avory in the band. There had been growing animosity between Avory and Dave Davies. Bob Henrit came in as a replacement. Avory would continue to be involved as a producer at Konk Studios.
In 1985, The Kinks changed to MCA records in the US and London records in the UK.
In 1986, The Kinks released the album "Think Visual".
In 1989, The Kinks released their last album for MCA the album "Uk Jive".
In 1990, Davies was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with the rest of The Kinks.
In 1993, The Kinks released their final studio album "Phobia" with Columbia Records. It peaked at number 166 on the chart.
In 1994, Columbia Records dropped The Kinks. The band released the album "To The Bone" on the small independent label Grapevine Records.
In 2002, Dave Davies released his solo album in 20 years the album "Bug".
In 2004, Davies suffered a stroke whilst exiting a lift at Broadcasting House.
By 2006, Davies had recovered enough to walk, talk and play guitar.
In 2007, Dave Davies released the solo album "Fractured Mindz".
In 2013, he released the album "I Will Be Me".
In 2015, he released the solo album "Rippin Up New York City". In December that year, Ray Davies joined Dave on stage to perform "You Really Got Me" at Dave Davie's concert at Islington Assembly Hall. It was the first time in nearly 20 years that they had performed together.