Ray Davies with his band & the Crouch End Festival Chorus

Ray Davies, one of the most successful and influential songwriters to emerge from the British Invasion of the 1960s, founded the rock band The Kinks with his brother Dave in London in 1963. The band’s string of top ten international hits began with You Really Got Me, followed by All Day and All of The Night, Tired of Waiting, Set Me Free, See My Friends, Till The End of The Day, A Well Respected Man, Lola, Sunny Afternoon, Dedicated Follower of Fashion, Apeman, and Come Dancing among many others. Davies also composed several pioneering rock operas including Arthur, The Village Green Preservation Society, Preservation and Soap Opera.

Following the initial British Invasion, further state-side success continued with The Kinks becoming a major act over the next two decades. Ray then played the lead in the television play The Long Distance Piano Player and was resident composer for the topical BBC television series The 11th Hour and Where Was Spring produced by Ned Sherrin.

In 1983 Ray directed his first film for Channel 4, Return to Waterloo and in 1994 directed and produced Weird Nightmare, a portrait of Charles Mingus for Channel 4’s jazz series. Davies collaborated with Barrie Keeffe in 1981 on his first stage musical, Chorus Girls, and in 1988 wrote 80 Days with Snoo Wilson, which was produced and directed by Des McAnuff at the La Jolla Playhouse. He composed and performed the song Quiet Life for the film Absolute Beginners directed by Julien Temple. In 1995 Davies published his unauthorized autobiography, X-Ray, to critical acclaim and since then has been touring internationally with his one-man show, The Storyteller.

His live album, also entitled Storyteller was released in March of 1998. In 1998 Ray was commissioned to compose a fifty-minute choral piece, Flatlands, for the Norwich and Norfolk Festival featuring the Britten Symphonia. He also co-directed for Anglia Television a program featuring this music which won a regional television award the following year. In 1990 The Kinks were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Summer 2003 saw Ray playing in front of millions at Buckingham Palace for the Jubilee celebrations. Ray was also awarded the CBE at the beginning of 2004. Affectionately referred to as the “Godfather of Brit Pop”, Ray Davies is cited as a major influence on artists such as Pete Townshend, Paul Weller, Morrissey, Damon Albarn of Blur and many more. Ray Davies’ songs have become hits for bands including The Jam, Van Halen, The Pretenders and The Stranglers.