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Post by HollyH on Jul 31, 2013 17:06:06 GMT -5
July 26, 1993 -- With the departure of keyboardist Mark Haley, the Kinks persuade Ian Gibbons to rejoin the band for the Phobia summer US tour. Though Haley only resigned two weeks ago, by tonight Gibbons is back up to speed, and ready to play in the tour's opening gig, at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York.
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Post by HollyH on Jul 31, 2013 17:06:50 GMT -5
July 27, 1979 -- With the US Low Budget Tour in full swing, the Kinks play to a crowd of some 9,500 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, out on Long Island in Uniondale, New York. "The Kinks are once again able to communicate the wild, electric spirit of rock 'n' roll that they first generated in 1963," writes the reviewer for Record World.
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Post by HollyH on Jul 31, 2013 17:08:01 GMT -5
July 28, 1970 -- The Kinks release their new single, "Lola," in the US. While the B-side for the UK single (released on June 12) was "Berkeley Mews," for the North American version the B-side is "Mindless Child of Motherhood." Already up to #2 in the UK (#1 on some charts), the single shoots up to #9 in the USA. The Kinks have made up for lost time, and their American comeback is now in high gear.
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Post by HollyH on Jul 31, 2013 17:11:32 GMT -5
July 29, 1975 -- The Kinks convene informally at Ray Davies' house in Surrey to rehearse for the imminent recording sessions for their new album Schoolboys in Disgrace. After rehearsals, the rest of the band heads off for two weeks of summer holidays while Ray hunkers down for a fortnight of serious songwriting. By the time the band reconvenes at Konk, he will have some 30 songs ready to select from.
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Post by HollyH on Jul 31, 2013 17:12:35 GMT -5
July 30, 1966 -- A crowd of 6,000 attending the Bumper Beat Bar-B-Q in Pinhoe, Devon, boos the Kinks after they arrive 2 hours late to perform as the last act on this outdoor five-act show. Because the concert must stop at midnight, the Kinks begin at 11:45pm and finish ten minutes later.
The story eventually comes out: England was playing West Germany in the World Cup Final, and the band stayed in London to watch the telecast of the championship match. The underdog England team and their supporters -- who have adopted the Kinks' "Sunny Afternoon" as their unofficial theme song -- have plenty to rejoice about, as they defeated West Germany to take the World Cup title.
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Post by HollyH on Jul 31, 2013 17:13:52 GMT -5
Nowadays they could have watched the game on their phones on the way down and still made the show in time!
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Post by HollyH on Jul 31, 2013 17:14:29 GMT -5
July 31, 1964 -- The Kinks make their second television appearance, on ITV's Ready Steady Go programme. They give a live performance of the bluesy "Got Love If You Want It," then lip-synch their upcoming single, which will be released in four more days: "You Really Got Me."
The earth is about to move.
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Post by HollyH on Aug 1, 2013 20:51:10 GMT -5
August 1, 1995 -- The Kinks play the second night of a two-night stand at the Westbury Music Fair on Long Island, New York -- the final stop on their US tour. Dave's final encore number is "Good Golly Miss Molly," a song that he sang back in 1961 when the very first Kinks line-up began performing. The band celebrates the end of the tour with a party in New York City; the mood is jubilant.
Little does anyone realize that this will be the Kinks' last tour, and their next-to-last appearance ever in the USA.
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Post by HollyH on Aug 2, 2013 22:59:36 GMT -5
August 2, 1964 -- At the Gaumont Cinema in Bournemouth, the Kinks perform in the next-to-last spot on the bill, right before the headliners -- the Beatles. The Kinks deliver such a great performance, they outshine the Fab Four -- and the Beatles are definitely irked. A few months later, when the Beatles go on before the Kinks at the NME show, the Beatles make sure to turn in a blow-out performance that the Kinks cannot top. As John Lennon tells them, leaving the stage, "There's yer payback for Bournemouth."
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Post by HollyH on Aug 3, 2013 10:01:45 GMT -5
August 3, 1967 -- Dave Davies lip-synchs his solo hit single "Death of a Clown" on Top of the Pops. For the occasion, he goes to a theatrical costume shop and rents an elaborate gold brocade cavalier's costume, right down to the frilly lace jabot cascading down his front. "Death of a Clown" soon rockets to #3 on the UK singles charts.
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Post by HollyH on Aug 4, 2013 14:07:35 GMT -5
August 4, 1964 -- The Kinks release their new single, "You Really Got Me" -- a song which has already been a crowd favorite at their live gigs. Written by the band's lead singer Ray Davies, the song was recorded twice, until the band got it just the way they wanted. (See July 12th above.) The Kinks had to fight their record company to release it, but with Pye already cooling towards them, they know they need a hit now or never.
The song outperforms all expectations, zooming to #1 in the UK, and breaks them into the US market as well, hitting #7. The Kinks express has left the station....
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Post by HollyH on Aug 6, 2013 9:40:21 GMT -5
August 5, 1979 -- The Kinks play an afternoon show (4:30 pm) at the Music Inn in Lenox, Massachusetts, with the Ian Hunter Band opening. Some concert shots from this show, taken by Lauren Recht, are later used for the One For the Road album sleeve.
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Post by HollyH on Aug 6, 2013 9:41:39 GMT -5
August 6, 1965 -- The Kinks record several songs for the BBC Radio programme You Really Got... -- "You Really Got Me" (a natural fit for this show!), "Hide and Seek," "Never Met A Girl Like You Before," "This Strange Effect," "Milk Cow Blues," and "See My Friends." The show will be broadcast on 30th August.
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Post by HollyH on Aug 7, 2013 11:48:18 GMT -5
August 7, 1993 -- Playing the Iron City Light Amphitheatre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Kinks have to compete with the nearby Pittsburgh Regatta Festival, which sets off fireworks in the middle of their set -- prompting Ray Davies to improvise a new song, "Regatta My *ss." Ray has kicked something in a fit of anger before coming on, thereby breaking a couple of toes, although -- in typical "the show must go on" spirit -- it'll be a few days before the Kinks decide to cancel the western half of the tour. Ray plays six more shows with the broken toes before throwing in the towel.
In a couple of days, opening act Aimee Mann will quit the tour at short notice, forcing to Kinks to scrounge for local bands to open their shows. Ah, life on the road.
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Post by HollyH on Aug 8, 2013 21:11:22 GMT -5
August 8, 1978 -- Up until now, the Kinks' opening acts on this tour -- the second leg of the US Misfits Tour -- have been Blondie and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. Tonight at the Springfield Civic Center Arena in Springfield, Massachusetts, a new act opens for the Kinks: an emerging Boston-area band called the Cars.
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