1964. One of the iconic guitar riffs of rock n' roll, along with their "All Day And All Of The Night"

Some consider this the "first hard rock song." 1964, this blew people's minds, and shaped so much of what other bands would do in the next few years, including the Who and the Beatles.

The groundbreaking guitar solo comes from a 17 year old Dave Davies. An amazing moment in rock history.

That crazy 20 second guitar solo was revolutionary.

1964 ya'll!! Way ahead of their time with this thundering guitar riff. That's 17 year old Dave Davies on guitar, and older brother Ray on vocals. Ray ended up being one of the greatest songwriters of his generation. Late 60's early 70's they were totally in their own lane, but hugely influential. Amber would love "Days" or "Waterloo Sunset" both are beautiful heartfelt songs you will never forget.

The Kinks are one of the underrated "British Invasion Bands" of the 60's

Some essential Kinks would be "Sunny Afternoon", "Waterloo Sunset" and "Victoria", a couple of my personal faves though are "Days" and "Apeman". Pretty amazing songwriter, Ray Davies.

You won't find a bad song by the Kinks! They just get better and the lyrics are great. They came with the first wave out of England!

The Kinks' Lola is another iconic song that just never gets old.

"A Well Respected Man" and "Come Dancing" are two other Kinks songs--with "Lola" a must. Amber will be in shock when she listens to the lyrics for "Lola".

There used to be a question everyone was asked: Beatles or the Stones; well, for me the answer was always The Kinks. Somebody has already listed my favourites of theirs but this is not far behind, kerk

The Kinks, with their riffs, were helping lay down the foundation for punk rock 10 years later.

The kinks influenced a ton of artists. They have a wide ranging catalog of very good songs. Van Halen did a cover of this on their debut album and at some point you have to check that out. The reason you have Beatles vibes as they were part of the British invasion they came along somewhere after the stones. More Kinks to check out: Lola, Superman, Captain America, Destroyer, Around the Dial, All Day and All of the night, Celluloid Hero’s, etc. Ran from 60’s through the 80’s

The Brit Invasion knocked American pop off the charts, and the Kinks were among my favorites all time. Try the Zombies and others.

Ah, The Kinks. One of the great underdog bands (never, ever punch a union member), they invented the power chord and had a career trajectory similar to that of The Who: Cultural artifacts who withstand the test of time...!

Glad you did the Kinks, one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Part of the early British Invasion groups of the sixties. The group was built around the Davies brothers, Ray and Dave. Ray was the genius composer and the younger brother Dave was lead guitarist and singularly responsible for creating the distorted power chord sound by razoring his amp's speaker cone. Important because it laid the foundation for heavy metal. the Kinks released 28 albums to date and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. Ray incorporated many differing styles into his songwriting and as a result much of their discography may sound eclectic but has produced some of the greatest rock songs from the 60's, 70's and 80's. They also were wonderful to watch in performance, at least when the brothers weren't actually fighting onstage. Some of the more memorable songs aside from You Really Got Me include: All Day and All of the Night, Victoria, Dedicated Follower of Fashion, Sunny Afternoon, Well Respected Man, Waterloo Sunset ( one of the prettiest rock songs ever penned), Lola, Come Dancing, Apeman, and the remarkable Everybody's in Show-Biz. The Kinks were a major influence on almost every rock group who came later and who based their work on catchy riffs. They remain active independently, although several of the original and subsequent members have passed, yet the brothers, and Mick Avory the drummer are very much alive yet haven't appeared together as the Kinks for years.

Lola, Dedicated Follower Of Fashion and Waterloo Sunset are a must after this which will give you an idea of the variety of their songs. Ray Davis was absolutely up there with Lennon McCartney as premier British songwriters. Certainly not one hit wonders.

You must do "Waterloo Sunset" by The Kinks, one of the best pop songs ever written

Originally called The Ravens The Kinks decided on their name during the profumo affair affecting the British Goverment in 1963. Discussions about "kinky sex" involving members of the establishment were all over the media, and The Ravens decided changing their name would give them some publicity. As a previous correspondent has stated when You Really Got Me was recorded Dave Davies had slashed the speaker cone of his guitar amplifier and got that crunchy fuzzy riff. This song has been cited as possibly the first heavy metal song, although Louie Louie by The Kingsmen (an influence on The Kinks and covered by them) is also cited. The Kinks were influenced by Chuck Berry and rhythm and blues music. After writing and recording several standard pop songs, Sir Ray Davies tried of it and wanted to write about what he observed around him. This is when The Kinks became more interesting. They recorded probably the first "raga rock" song (pop music influenced by eastern sounds and rhythms) See My Friend, a song widely acclaimed by Pete Townsend of The Who which influenced The Beatles to get a sitar, despite the song not using any Indian instruments. The Kinks then wrote and recorded more interesting and influential songs like A Well Respected Man (satirising an upper middle class man and the rigid class structure he comes from), Dead End Street (about working class poverty), Dedicated Follower of Fashion (satirising the shallowness of fashionable people in the swinging London of Carnaby Street and the Kings Road), Sunny Afternoon (inspired by a guitar player from Billy J Kramer and The Dakotas saying we may as well all give up now, when The Labour Party were elected in October 1964, and higher taxes were expected). The Kinks had brothers Ray and Dave Davies (one vocalist ,the other lead guitarist) chief members who had a very volatile relationship, often fighting with each other. It wasn't only the brothers that fought with each other, in one gig at Cardiff the drummer Mick Avory hit Dave Davies with a cymbal. Although not a one hit wonder in the USA the chances of The Kinks were severely diminished in the tour of 1965 when they fell out with a musician's union and were banned from touring the USA for 4 years. Sir Ray Davies had no interest in psychedelia and his music became more self consciously English. This is probably when he wrote his finest songs like Waterloo Sunset, Autumn Almanac, Days, and the albums became more thematic and interesting. Although unsuccessful at the time the albums The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur (or the decline and fall of the British empire) and Muswell Hillbillies are now regarded as classics, and were highly influential on a lot of British groups. Any of the songs I have mentioned are highly recommended. J and Amber should find them very interesting.

Kinks were a BIG influence in the formation of US Rock Music.

The year was 1964, when this song came out and the Beatles came to America. The British invasion had begun, no, their not a one hit wonder. Love you two. Peace!

“Come Dancing” is one of their best songs!

For anyone who doesn’t know the kinks oh man have you got a long wild road ahead of you . They have 30 albums and have been together as a band from 1964 till 1995 . Must listen to sunny afternoon and celluloid heroes and Waterloo Sunset are classic Kink songs

He wrote this song after researching the charts and seeing that songs with "You" and "Me" in the title did really well.

The Kinks are one of the most successful British rock bands of all time with 21 top 40 hits singles 13 of which reach the top 10 including three number ones. Some of this songs worth checking out include Waterloo Sunset, Tired of waiting for you, Sunny afternoon, All day and all of the night, Dedicated Follower of Fashion, Lola and Come dancing

Lol, you're funny, man. Acting amazed that Amber has heard this. This is one of the songs that kicked off the 60's British invasion. The Kinks are legendary, as is this song, along with many other Kinks songs. They are often credited with being a precursor to metal and punk. Respect, man. Respect.

Kinks are one of my very favorite groups!! They don't disappoint!!!

This is "a bit" more vicious than the Beatles!

"You Really Got Me" was written by Ray Davies, the Kinks' vocalist and main songwriter, sometime between 9 and 12 March 1964.

“Lola”, “All Day and All of the Night”, “Sunny Afternoon”. The Kinks had a unique sound that set them apart from the other bands. Their song “A Well Respected Man” was a commentary on the times.

They were friends & contemporaries of The Beatles. They have done many amazing albums/songs. This song is in a lot of movies. ☮️💟

The Kinks have been around since the 60's& are one of the most epic bands in rock history. They have too many hits to list but you should do their early hit "Lola" and then a later song called "Celluloid Heroes". That song will touch your soul & pull at your heart strings. Do a reaction on one of the live versions. You won't regret it.

Yes. VAN HALEN’s Fantastic cover of this song ... It actually started it all for Van Halen when they released their cover of this song in the late 70’s ..

The kinks started in the mid 60's and had their last big hit in the 80's. Generally considered the grandfathers of punk.

The Kinks - A “One Hit Wonder”… 😂 Ray Davies is one of the most iconic songwriters of rock/pop music. I love these reaction videos and how they turn on people to music they don’t know.

Could you imagine hearing this type of music on the radio? Years ago back in the 60s, this was one of the hottest bands! Their music was played all the time!

Now were talking! The Kinks! This is their original, garage band, pre-punk sound. They have so many different sounds. I won't even suggest a song because you can't go wrong with the Kinks. Do them all! One of the best. Love it!

The Kinks are up there with the Beatles. I often refer to them as the 'dirty' Beatles. Their sound is so unique and Ray Davies is a genius. One of the great three from the UK The Beatles, Stones and The Kinks. They were massive in the 60's. Some great Kinks' songs are Autumn Almanac, Dedicated Follower of Fashion, Tired of Waiting, Sunny Afternoon, Waterloo Sunset and of course All day and all of the night. They were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

Ray Davies was a musical genius - with many hits that were all unique. Just imagine - you are a 13 year old kid in 1966 - hooked on pop music - then this hits you. You have never heard a riff before , or distorted guitar and then SMACK - this hits you _ right in the guts - and you think wow!!!!! I know - I was that kid and little could i imagine what was to follow…..the Beatles, Kinks, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Jefferson Airplane, Beach Boys, Tamla Mowtown, Stax Soul, British folk rock like Fairport Convntion ,,,,,,such eclectic influences……the Woodstock hit us!!!….followed by prog rock…….oh boy ….we were so privileged growing up to all this great music.

All day all of the night and sunny afternoon are also 2 great iconic Kinks songs

The Kinks Are Legendary Music Icons With Soooo Many Classics That There Are Almost Too Many To List.

The Kinks were one of those hugely influential bands of the 60's. They had a huge comeback hit in the 80's with their hits "Come Dancing" and "Do it Again." Do it Again is such an underrated banger.

I was on a school camp in Golspie in the North East of Scotland in 1966 and about 40 of us were walking down the main street singing " sunny afternoon" on a glorious sunny afternoon. The kinks were just magic. Lola is a must listen. Also as you are both teachers you should react to the police - " don't stand so close to me".

Another Kinks song you should definitely check out is "Come Dancing" not only does it have horns but it is an energetic rocking good song. While making you feel happy, it also has a bittersweet quality that really hits home when you discover the background for how Ray Davies came to write the song. It's a tribute to his older sister Rene, who gave Ray a guitar on his 13th birthday and then tragically died of a heart attack later that night when she was out dancing. It's still a fun song but now you will probably have tears as you listen to the lyrics. Thanks for your great reactions to some beautiful music.

Great choice. Very influential group. This song is actually from the 60's however Van Halen (with David Lee Roth) did an excellent cover of it in the late 70's. Perhaps that is the version Amber once heard.

Lola was a big hit for them, also I like Destroyer!! Absolutely one of the rowdiest shows we ever went to!!

Ray Davies is one of the all-time great songwriters, doesn't get enough credit. When you listen to this song, you hear the origins of garage band music (no, not the Apple software, the idea that anyone can meet up in their garage, plug in instruments, and just jam). Yep, precursor to punk. Also from The Kinks: "Lola" is required listening, from 1970. If no one hasn't already ruined it for you in the comments, the song lyric has such an edgy twist to it at the end, so ahead of its time. "Picture Book" was used in a TV commercial about 10-12 years ago and reignited some interest in The Kinks. That's a great song, worth listening to. And when I say Ray Davies is a great songwriter, that means he can explore more than one color in his style. One of the most gorgeous songs of this era is "Waterloo Sunset." Slow and mellow, it really transports you. Not sure why this band is mentioned in the same sentence as The Black Crows, except that the bands both featured brothers who were not always very nice to each other! Love your enthusiasm. You help me live these songs over again for the first time. Peace.

The Kinks were an R&B group from London that developed through the 1960s, as the beatles did, into many musical styles. Waterloo Sunset is one of the best singles ever written, but they also did comedy numbers... there is a huge back catalogue.

One of the most influential rock songs of all time. The birth of hard rock is this song. It even has distortion on the guitar before the pedals were invented. The Kinks changed the game. Massively underrated band. Nothing like The Beatles, by the way.

THE ZOMBIES "TIME OF THE SEASON" & "SHE'S NOT THERE"..ABSOLUTE CLASSICS.

The influence of You Really Got me can’t be overstated. The invention of the power cord

This was the first heavy rock band, to have there own style ,in the early 60s ,the band started out , a blues style , 🎸💯 Love from Scotland ❣️

great band...."Lola" is another classic from them!!

71 now I bought “ The Kinks “ LP in 1964 & never looked back ! Try “ Tired of waiting for you “ the guitar rift is just something else 👍

It was 1964 and set the tone for all rock from there on. The Kinks are the most underated band of all time.

Oh yeah back in the day I was rocking out to this song. I was young then, I’m 72 now but I can still rock out to this song.

Ray Davies has got to have one of the most distinctive voices in rock history.

The Kinks were huge in the 60s. All the songs mentioned are fantastic. Ray Davies is a musical genius 🙂

I hope you play their Christmas song when the time comes - "Father Christmas." It's not what you'd expect and it's AWESOME.

Solidly mid-60's! Like thousands of other bands that sprang up in the 60s and early 70s, the Kinks were initially inspired by the Beatles - 'You mean ordinary blokes like us could get up there and play in a band and have all those women screaming for us? - We're in!" - they went on to inspire many other bands with this innovative venture into hard rock. The lead singer, Ray Davies, developed into a fantastic, creative songwriter, tackling many different subjects beyond the teenage love genre, and his brother Dave on lead guitar introduced the idea of distorted guitar amp sounds by slashing his with a razor blade to get the 'dirty', grinding distortions he could hear in his head. Hugely influential on later 70s rock music. Other early Kinks hits similar to YRGM from this same time period are All Day and All of the Night, and Tired of Waiting. Later, some stand out hits were: Dedicated Follower of Fashion (comical take on 60s Carnaby Street (UK) male fashionistas), Waterloo Sunset (try the studio version first) - generally acknowledged as one of the best songs of the entire decade, Sunny Afternoon (there's a fun video of them performing it in the snow, in the middle of winter), and Lola (spoiler alert: it's a wry story about a friend's true life encounter with cross-dressing 'lady' in a sleazy Soho bar) which was hugely daring in its time for its sympathetic take on some controversial subject matter. Days is gorgeous and melancholic, and See My Friends is an enigmatic, dreamy venture into the more gentle, introspective side of psychedelia, and definitely worth a listen.

The kinks were part of the “British invasion” along with the Beatles, stones and many others. It was a crazy phenomenon of the sixties. I loved it!

Can you imagine....growing up listening to all the crooners and Doris Day songs and then THIS comes on the radio!! Such a shame we can't go back and listen to all these great genre breaking songs as they happened! So many mind blowing, epic moments!!

They started around 1964 and kept going more or less until the 1990s. This song is one of their earliest. "All Day and All Night." "Set Me Free" "Come Dancing" "Catch Me Now I'm Falling" They had many hits and influenced many bands.

This is also the very first use of an “overdriven and distorted” guitar sound that became instantly popular after this song. Created by Dave Davies, when he didn’t like the sound he was getting out of his amp and took a razor blade to the cone of the speaker to destroy it, his brother Ray came in with a new song “you really got me” which Dave played on his newly destroyed amp and this was the outcome.

60s British Invasion. So the allusion to the Beatles is right on! Groovy!

"You Really Got Me" was written by Ray Davies, the Kinks' vocalist and main songwriter, sometime between 9 and 12 March 1964. So they were gaining fans right around the same time as The Beatles stormed America with their #1 singles. Both were from Englend. Amber, you may have heard the Van Halen cover of this song.

This is early 60s and, with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, The Kinks were one of the biggest British bands of the era. I think this is their first big hit. That raw sound is said to have influenced heavy metal and punk. But as their career progressed lead singer Ray Davies developed into an extremely talented lyricist who specialised in poetic observations about British society and characters. _Lola_ is from the late 60s and a very different song from _You Really Got Me,_ but very good. Other great Kinks songs are _Dedicated Follower of Fashion, Dead End Street,_ and _Waterloo Sunset,_ which is one of the most lovely pop songs ever.

"Come Dancing" was a fun 80's Kinks tune and video.

Yeah, these guys are awesome. From this, their early stuff through the 80s with "Lola" or "Come Dancing" and even their later stuff, like "This Time Tomorrow" 90s or early 2000s. They got that sound from cutting their amplifier speaker with a razor blade. It was cutting edge technology at the time. Lol

This was late 1964 when I was in 5th grade. I had a clock-radio on the little desk in my room. I was listening to all the hot new tunes while doing homework and such. Man what a great era of music to be growing up in! Note: In the recording studio the Kinks tore up the speaker cones in their guitar amp to achieve a raspy sound for this song. Other great Kinks tunes: "All Day and All of the Night" (1964), "Tired of Waiting for You" (1965) "A Well Respected Man" (1965) "Set Me Free" (1965) "Sunny Afternoon" (1966) "Lola" (1970)

Dave Davies invents heavy metal as a 17 year old. 'That's not a chorus you could forget'.... Superb.

More possible Kinks: "All Day and All of the Night" "Rock and Roll Fantasy" "Jukebox Music" "living on a Thin Line"

The Kinks, one of the best bands to come out of the 60's British Invasion! Right up there with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Definitely NOT simply a "one hit wonder". Far from it. lol. THANKS!

Celluloid Heroes and Shangri-La are also classics. Ray Davies is amazing at describing social environments whether it’s Hollywood Boulevard, a club in Soho or the English working class struggle of the post war years.

Ray Davies lead vocals and song writer..brother Dave, lead guitar and back up vocals. Mick Avery, drums and Peter Quaif (misspelled) base who is deceased. This was the original players who came from Muswell Hills, England and was part of the original British Invasion, around i think 1963. Certainly not a one hit wonder. Maybe tbe most underrated band of any era. Ray and Dave still active in their solo careers.

I'm 67 now, back in my teens my sister and I played music for weddings etc this song was on our list of song we did❤️❤️ 60's

Van Halen did a really incredible cover of this song.

I was born in`66, but had older siblings, so I heard the British Invasion bands. The Kinks were far and away my favorite.

Dave Davies was a 17 year old guitar prodigy at this time! He got that sound by slashing the speaker in his amp with a razor blade. 1964!!

I was 16 and goth and travelled to London in 1987 and went to this rock club, Cavern, and I danced like crazy, because THIS song is fabulous. Hugs from Sweden.

Ray Davies is one of the greatest song writers of all time. Genius

You're at the edge of the Kinks rabbit hole. Jump on in. You'll enjoy the ride.

SUPERB !!. ALL THEIR TRACKS ARE !!. THESE TILL THE END OF THE DAY,TIRED OF WAITING,DAYS, DEAD END STREET,AUTUMN ALMANAC ALL GREAT !!

More Kinks: Sleepwalker, Lola, Come Dancing, Paranoia. All extremely different spanning decades.

This is from 1964! They produced all the way into the 90's! I love the song "Waterloo Sunset" by the Kinks. Lots of good stuff to explore from them.

Strangers is not only my favorite Kinks song but one of my favorite songs of all time. The Kinks are a top ten band for me.

Not even close to a one hit wonder, they're one of the greatest bands ever! "Waterloo Sunset" , "All day and all of the night" , "Ape man", "Lola" , "Supersonic Rocketship" , "Days" , "This Time Tomorrow"

“Celluloid Heroes” - a gorgeous tune, it was 10 or so years later than this. Definitely not one-hit-wonders, they had many hits and straddled several eras/styles. Two more I haven’t seen mentioned much here: “Sunny Afternoon” and from ‘81, “Better Days”

Around same time of Beatles, Animals, Stones. Another great British Invasion band. ALL DAY, ALL NIGHT is just as good. Actually Van Halen covered this in the 80s, very good, like them both.

Blew me away in the day,they instantly became my favourite band,brilliant

Fun fact: The Kinks are one off actor Mark Hamill’s favorite bands. The force is strong with this band

Like others here the British invasion has arrived, in the 60s I was in high school… That whole invasion was huge and the kinks started it

They were contemporaries of The Beatles, part of the 1960's "British Invasion" in music. They were super talented but very underrated as a band. This song was released in 1964 - I LOVE that wicked opening riff. Some other Kinks songs I think you should check out are "Lola", 'Come Dancing" (which was released in the 80's) & "All Day & All of the Night".

The kinks have some really deep and beautiful music. 20th century man, celluloid hero’s, ape man, give the people what you want…

The 60's and 70's had the BEST original music !

Lots of us who started buying records about this time didn't buy Beatles records, but we couldn't get enough of the Kinks, the Animals, Beach Boys, Motown, and others. The Beatles were huge, but not everyone's touchstone for music at the time, or every artist's musical influence. Thankfully we all had so many wonderful choices!

"Lola" is my favorite Kinks song and I would love to see you guys react to it.

The song was put out in 1964 the group was started in 1963 I was 12 years old when they came out

Kinks were a very prolific rock group with many hits. Lola, Superman and my All Time favorite song " Come Dancing"

'Don't Forget to Dance', a bittersweet song by them. And, 'Lola', of course.