A 52 Week Autobiography Through Music_Week 8_The Kinks from Pancycle on Vimeo.

The Kinks were one of the first bands for whom I developed a real infatuation. I listened to the handful of Kinks records that I owned pretty religiously for a while when I was around 14. I must have been responding to the influences of certain relatives as I am pretty sure I was the only one of my group of friends at the time that had any interest in the Kinks.

Not surprisingly I moved on to other music as there was just so much to discover at the time but as I listen now to the records I had when I was young I hear what attracted me to their music - it was mostly the stories. Ray Davies wrote very unique songs that were quite unlike anything else other people were writing. I had the impression that these songs were meant to accompany some kind of play. The Kinks were playful in a way that other bands of the time were not - I couldn't imagine anyone else singing a tune like "Have a Cuppa Tea".

Now it is time for me to go through the catalogue and hear all the albums I missed when I was younger. As I did last week I am including a Spotify playlist below. These are just a few songs I thought to put up on the spur of the moment. You are certainly invited to look the Kinks on whatever streaming service you prefer and listen for yourself to this great and influential band.