Sunday Morning Playlist: British Invasion - Page 6

5. The Kinks: You Really Got Me

From London, the Kinks have spent most of their latter-day career as vehicles for singer/guitarists Ray Davies and younger brother Dave. In the early days, they were augmented by bassist Peter Quaife (a schoolmate of Ray's) and drummer Mick Avory. The band's first single was recorded as The Ravens, a cover of Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally", in January 1964. The band changed names shortly before the single came out, and struck gold with their third single "You Really Got Me", which is built around Dave Davies' muscular power chord riff, one of the most memorable in rock history, and ultimately one of the most influential. The Kinks' early material ranges from similar hard rock numbers "All Day And All Of The Night" to gentle melodic pop "Tired Of Waiting For You". The Kinks' popularity in America rivaled those of the other British bands until the conclusion of the Kinks' 1965 tour, after which they were banned from re-entering the U.S. until 1969 for reasons that remain murky. After eight top-40 singles, the hits dried up until "Lola" in 1970. The late sixties were a fertile time for the band, however, resulting in their best work ever as Ray Davies began dabbling in social satire; in the late 1970's, after several years of very uncommercial concept albums, the band reinvented itself as a hard rock arena rock act and regained its commercial muscle. The band faded again after Word Of Mouth in 1984.

6. The Animals: It's My Life

The Animals were from the relative nowhere of the industrial coal-mining city of Newcastle, in Northern England, and took thier biggest cues from blues and r&b. The band's most notable assets were the deep, soulful, bluesy voice of Eric Burdon, who really did sound black, and the organ work of Alan Price; they were complimented during their classic period by guitarist Hilton Valentine, bassist Chas Chandler (who would become Jimi Hendrix' manager in 1967), and drummer John Steel. This lineup recorded their debut "Baby Let Me take You Home" and their big American breakthrough cover of "House Of The Rising Sun" the first blues-rock to reach #1 on the charts. A number of other hits including "Don't Let Me be Misunderstood" and "We've Gotta get Out Of This Place" followed, as did two excellent albums, The Animals, and Animal Tracks, but the band began to splinter. Price left, and embarked on a briefly successful solo career. By late 1965, the band was unhappy with the material producer Mickie Most was giving them; "It's My Life", a #7 hit, was their last under Most and their original record label. After a 1966 album for MGM, Animalism, Valentine and Steel departed; a new band was formed as Eric Burdon and The Animals that had a few more hits, including the psychedelic "Monterey" and "Sky Pilot" in the late 60's. The original Animals reuinted for albums-with-tours twice, in 1977 and 1983.

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