Kinkdom Come

Not being a great fan of 60s British pop, I was never a great lover of the Kinks. They started as a fairly average rock and roll and blues band. But I have to admit that they were one of the better groups to emerge at the time, with some early punk-style hits such as You Really Got Me, and later some distinctively British sounding records including Dedicated Follower of Fashion, Waterloo Sunset and Lola.

BBC 4's programme Kinkdom Come, featuring the recollections of Dave Davies, brought back quite a few memories for me. He was born a few months later than me in North London and his early upbringing sounded quite similar to my South London life, apart from the fact that his family was more musically attuned than mine. The Kinks managed to plough their own creative furrow at a time when the Beatles and the Stones dominated the charts, and for that they have to be congratulated. They never moved me, but then no British group of the time did. Give me genuine blues and soul any time.