The seventh of eight children, Ray Davies was a student at Hornsey College of
Art in 1962 when he became lead singer and main songwriter with one of the
seminal British 1960s bands, The Kinks. He initially proved his songwriting
pedigree with the early R&B hits 'You Really Got Me' and 'All Day and All of the
Night' before developing a quintessentially English style influenced by music
hall and vaudeville that manifested itself in sardonic lyrics like 'Dedicated
Follower of Fashion', and marked him out as a cut above most of the other
artists of the era.
His solo projects beg...