The Kinks ( B24 )

The Kinks' allegiance to English styles was strengthened by the ban placed on them by the American Federation of Musicians. The ban cut them off from the American record buying public, the world's largest musical market, forcing them to focus on Britain and mainland Europe. The Kinks expanded on their English sound throughout the remainder of the 1960s, incorporating elements of music hall, folk, and baroque music through use of harpsichord, acoustic guitar, mellotron, and horns, and creating some of the most influential and important music of the period.

Beginning with Everybody's In Show-biz (1972), Ray Davies began exploring theatrical concepts on the group's albums; these themes became manifest on the 1973 album Preservation Act 1 and continued through Schoolboys In Disgrace (1976). The Kinks found little success with these conceptual works, and reverted to a traditional rock format throughout the remainder of the 1970s. Sleepwalker(1977), which heralded their return to commercial success, featured a mainstream, relatively slick production style that would become their norm. The band returned to hard rock for Low Budget (1979), and continued to record within the genre throughout the remainder of their career.

Legacy

The Kinks are regarded as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the 1960s and early 1970s. Stephen Thomas Erlewine called The Kinks "one of the most influential bands of the British Invasion". They were ranked 65th on Rolling StoneMagazine's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" list.

The Kinks are regarded as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the 1960s and early 1970s. Stephen Thomas Erlewine called The Kinks "one of the most influential bands of the British Invasion". They were ranked 65th on Rolling StoneMagazine's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" list.

Artists influenced by The Kinks include punk rock groups such as the Ramones, The Clash, and The Jam, heavy metal acts including Van Halen and Britpop groups such as Oasis, Blur and Pulp. Craig Nicholls, singer and guitarist of The Vines, described the Kinks as "great songwriters, so underrated". Pete Townshend, guitarist with the Kinks' contemporaries the Who, credited Ray Davies with inventing "a new kind of poetry and a new kind of language for pop writing that influenced me from the very, very, very beginning." Jon Savage wrote that The Kinks were an influence on late 1960s American psychedelic rock groups "like The Doors, Love and Jefferson Airplane".

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