The Kinks are one of the bands from the British Invasion of the 1960s that displayed staying power. Although the popularity of their albums waxed and waned throughout the next few decades, they were able to make a large impact even into the ’80s, a time when many other bands who were contemporaries of theirs faltered.
Their catalog is packed with iconic songs. But you might be surprised at which of their songs did the best on the Billboard pop charts in America. Let’s look at the top five.
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“Lola” (No. 9 in 1970)
It’s one thing to be able to touch on a taboo topic in a song. But it’s another to be able to do it in a way that hits a nerve with the wider public, many of whom might not have been all that comfortable discussing that topic otherwise. That’s what The Kinks achieve with Lola, which most people hear as a song about a one-night stand with a crossdresser or a trans woman. Thanks to the sentence structure of the final line, the lyrics leave it open-ended. Anyway, “Lola” is more a character sketch of the narrator, a novice in the ways of the world who wants a companion to help steer him in the right direction.
“All Day and All of the Night” (No. 7 in 1964)
This song was so nice it paid off twice for the band. Allegedly, the royalties for The Doors’ song “Hello, I Love You” go to Kinks songwriter Ray Davies because of its too-close similarity to “All Day and All of the Night.” Of course, this song was similar in a lot of ways to “You Really Got Me,” the Kinks’ single that preceded it. It was a one-two punch that separated the band from most of their peers because of the potency of their attack. The funny thing is they largely dialed back the musical intensity from that point forth.
“You Really Got Me” (No. 7 in 1964)
You can say a lot of songs are influential in small ways. But how many songs have inspired a whole genre? That’s what “You Really Got Me” managed to do with garage rock. Without Dave Davies’ fuzzed-out licks, it’s hard to imagine homemade bands springing up all over the world like they did. The song proved power could win out over precision when it came to the musical approach. One wonders how history would have changed if Ray Davies stuck with his original idea and made the song into a jazzy, piano-based number.
“Come Dancing” (No. 6 in 1982)
From the album State of Confusion, this song openly embraces nostalgia within its lyrics. Which was ironic, because the sharp production kept the band very up-to-the-minute for 1982. There’s even a little bit of Dave Davies’ old guitar crunch in the instrumental breakdown. But what sticks with you are the details found in the lyrics, which come from the perspective of Ray Davies’ boyhood self as he recalls his older sister’s dance-hall days. Coupled with a fun video, “Come Dancing” brought a whole new generation to the wondrous music of this legendary band.
“Tired of Waiting for You” (No. 6 in 1965)
The Kinks had carved out such a niche for themselves with their groundbreaking, hard-rocking first two singles that they easily could have stayed on that path. But diminishing returns likely would have been waiting for them, especially as the formula for those two songs was copied by so many others. Instead, they needed to show they could change the pace effectively. “Tired of Waiting for You” accomplished that for them. Dave Davies’ pulse on electric guitar is still evident, but there’s plenty of space given to Ray Davies’ plaintive melody.
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