Post by Guest In Black on Jul 7, 2007 9:34:41 GMT -5
One of the main features in the new (Summer 2007) issue of The Hornsey magazine is a double page centre spread article 'Dedicated Followers Of Kinkdom' written by Olga. Text as follows;
A few weeks ago there was a bit of a kerfuffle when new owners took over The Clissold Arms in Fortis Green and rumours started that they wanted to dispose of The Kinks memorabilia collection. Local Councillor Matt Davies put us in touch with life long Kinks fan Olga Ruocco, who told tHM the full story.
The Clissold Arms in Fortis Green, East Finchley stands directly opposite number six Denmark Terrace, the family home of Fred and Annie Davies who had six daughters and two sons. The sons were Ray and Dave Davies who later formed The Kinks, a group that in the heyday of the 60s were mentioned in the same breath as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
A ban from playing in America in 1965 changed the course of The Kinks’ history and made them more a quintessentially English group. They are actually one of the few groups from that era whose original members are still living, and they were briefly reunited when The Kinks were installed into the UK Hall of Fame at Alexandra Palace in 2005. (They apparently celebrated afterwards with a curry in Muswell Hill). The band went through many incarnations before playing their last gig in 1996. They have never officially disbanded, although Ray and Dave have now pursued solo careers, and it is every Kinks fan’s dream to have the band reform once more.
When Ray set out on his solo career in 1995, he would frequently tell stories of his Dad’s favourite watering hole, The Clissold Arms. It was in this pub in December 1960 that Dave and Ray Davies made their first public appearance, a fact which was commemorated by a plaque given by CAMRA to John, the manager of the Clissold Arms, in March 2006.
An American, the late Professor Michael Kraus, a lifelong Kinks fan, decided that something ought to be put up in the pub to commemorate the Kinks link, and contacted Ray Davies’s production company, Konk, to see what could be done. This initiative resulted in a guitar (supposedly belonging to Dave Davies), a plaque, several publicity photos and vinyl singles being donated and hung on the walls.
Kinks fans from all over the world would visit the pub, take pictures of the memorabilia, and have a meal and a pint. I remember taking a South American fan along there and by chance meeting a Japanese girl. None of us could speak the others’ language, but we communicated by saying song titles and smiling!
The big event would be the drink there on the Saturday before the official fan club meeting on the last Sunday in November. Over the years this gradually evolved into a Kinksian jam session, which would last until the pub shut (and various strains could be heard down Fortis Green afterwards as people made their way to the tube). It was a peculiar sensation to be sitting singing Kinks songs in the pub opposite the famous Front Room, where Ray composed the early hits like You Really Got Me and All Day and All of the Night.
Unfortunately the pub closed last year, despite being one of the first pubs to receive a CAMRA Award for its links with pop music history. The previous landlords had always been sympathetic to the Kinks links (one even had Kinks song titles for some pub grub items), and we had hoped that this would continue. However in March this year the local newspaper reported that the new owner of the Clissold Arms wanted to change the whole ambience and turn it into a gastropub, and do away with the Kinks memorabilia, possibly selling it at auction.
When this news leaked out there was outrage in Kinkdom. The fury was spread world-wide. Arve and Kai, two Norwegian fans, set up a petition on their WhyKinks website and correspondence was flowing in fast and furious to the Muswell Hill Journal. Then two of us decided to set up a UK based petition, suggesting that the memorabilia either be donated to the Alexandra pub opposite (where Ray and Dave used to drink, leaving The Clissold Arms for their Dad), returned to Konk (from where it had originated at the suggestion of Michael Kraus), or given to the Official Kinks Fan Club to be auctioned for charity. The paper kept up the momentum with editorial as well as printing letters and emails, and then The Independent ran an article. The best help of all came when Ray and Dave themselves contacted the local paper expressing their sorrow and dismay that the Kinks memorabilia was going to be disposed of. Many Davies family parties had been held in The Clissold Arms, and the pub also featured in the song, Fortis Green, written by Dave Davies, so it was rather a kick in the butt for local heritage for the memorabilia to be treated in this manner.
The petition took off, and not only did members of The Kinks sign, but also their backing singers from the ‘70s, Julien Temple (who directed many of the Kinks videos) and other famous people including Ringo Starr and Peter Tork (using their real names), Marianne Faithfull, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden. The petition is still open having received 1180 signatures. Several papers mentioned the fight to save the Kinks Korner and we were contacting radio stations to get more coverage when we were told that the new landlords had no intention of getting rid of the memorabilia.
What the new landlords intend to do with it remains to be seen, but you can be sure that the fans will be keeping an eye on the pub when it re-opens later this summer. We are also hoping that we might be able to have our Kinksize session there in November. We have used two other pubs in North London, and although grateful for the help we have been given, we would rather celebrate in our “home”, the Clissold Arms, where we feel close to the close to the songs that have changed our lives.
If you would like more about all things Kinks related, visit kinks.it.rit.edu
A few weeks ago there was a bit of a kerfuffle when new owners took over The Clissold Arms in Fortis Green and rumours started that they wanted to dispose of The Kinks memorabilia collection. Local Councillor Matt Davies put us in touch with life long Kinks fan Olga Ruocco, who told tHM the full story.
The Clissold Arms in Fortis Green, East Finchley stands directly opposite number six Denmark Terrace, the family home of Fred and Annie Davies who had six daughters and two sons. The sons were Ray and Dave Davies who later formed The Kinks, a group that in the heyday of the 60s were mentioned in the same breath as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
A ban from playing in America in 1965 changed the course of The Kinks’ history and made them more a quintessentially English group. They are actually one of the few groups from that era whose original members are still living, and they were briefly reunited when The Kinks were installed into the UK Hall of Fame at Alexandra Palace in 2005. (They apparently celebrated afterwards with a curry in Muswell Hill). The band went through many incarnations before playing their last gig in 1996. They have never officially disbanded, although Ray and Dave have now pursued solo careers, and it is every Kinks fan’s dream to have the band reform once more.
When Ray set out on his solo career in 1995, he would frequently tell stories of his Dad’s favourite watering hole, The Clissold Arms. It was in this pub in December 1960 that Dave and Ray Davies made their first public appearance, a fact which was commemorated by a plaque given by CAMRA to John, the manager of the Clissold Arms, in March 2006.
An American, the late Professor Michael Kraus, a lifelong Kinks fan, decided that something ought to be put up in the pub to commemorate the Kinks link, and contacted Ray Davies’s production company, Konk, to see what could be done. This initiative resulted in a guitar (supposedly belonging to Dave Davies), a plaque, several publicity photos and vinyl singles being donated and hung on the walls.
Kinks fans from all over the world would visit the pub, take pictures of the memorabilia, and have a meal and a pint. I remember taking a South American fan along there and by chance meeting a Japanese girl. None of us could speak the others’ language, but we communicated by saying song titles and smiling!
The big event would be the drink there on the Saturday before the official fan club meeting on the last Sunday in November. Over the years this gradually evolved into a Kinksian jam session, which would last until the pub shut (and various strains could be heard down Fortis Green afterwards as people made their way to the tube). It was a peculiar sensation to be sitting singing Kinks songs in the pub opposite the famous Front Room, where Ray composed the early hits like You Really Got Me and All Day and All of the Night.
Unfortunately the pub closed last year, despite being one of the first pubs to receive a CAMRA Award for its links with pop music history. The previous landlords had always been sympathetic to the Kinks links (one even had Kinks song titles for some pub grub items), and we had hoped that this would continue. However in March this year the local newspaper reported that the new owner of the Clissold Arms wanted to change the whole ambience and turn it into a gastropub, and do away with the Kinks memorabilia, possibly selling it at auction.
When this news leaked out there was outrage in Kinkdom. The fury was spread world-wide. Arve and Kai, two Norwegian fans, set up a petition on their WhyKinks website and correspondence was flowing in fast and furious to the Muswell Hill Journal. Then two of us decided to set up a UK based petition, suggesting that the memorabilia either be donated to the Alexandra pub opposite (where Ray and Dave used to drink, leaving The Clissold Arms for their Dad), returned to Konk (from where it had originated at the suggestion of Michael Kraus), or given to the Official Kinks Fan Club to be auctioned for charity. The paper kept up the momentum with editorial as well as printing letters and emails, and then The Independent ran an article. The best help of all came when Ray and Dave themselves contacted the local paper expressing their sorrow and dismay that the Kinks memorabilia was going to be disposed of. Many Davies family parties had been held in The Clissold Arms, and the pub also featured in the song, Fortis Green, written by Dave Davies, so it was rather a kick in the butt for local heritage for the memorabilia to be treated in this manner.
The petition took off, and not only did members of The Kinks sign, but also their backing singers from the ‘70s, Julien Temple (who directed many of the Kinks videos) and other famous people including Ringo Starr and Peter Tork (using their real names), Marianne Faithfull, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden. The petition is still open having received 1180 signatures. Several papers mentioned the fight to save the Kinks Korner and we were contacting radio stations to get more coverage when we were told that the new landlords had no intention of getting rid of the memorabilia.
What the new landlords intend to do with it remains to be seen, but you can be sure that the fans will be keeping an eye on the pub when it re-opens later this summer. We are also hoping that we might be able to have our Kinksize session there in November. We have used two other pubs in North London, and although grateful for the help we have been given, we would rather celebrate in our “home”, the Clissold Arms, where we feel close to the close to the songs that have changed our lives.
If you would like more about all things Kinks related, visit kinks.it.rit.edu
KUDOS to OLGA! 
