Ray Davies to reform The Kinks?

We're, ahem, so tired of waiting for The Kinks to reform
We're, ahem, so tired of waiting for The Kinks to reform

Ray Davies has told BBC Radio 4 that the seminal English band The Kinks could reform soon. However, not content for the iconic sixties group to function as little more than a nostalgia act, Davies wants the band to work on new material.

Davies told the UK radio station: "There is a desire to do it. The thing that would make me decide 'yes' or 'no' would be whether or not we could do new songs.

"I couldn't do it just for nostalgic reasons. My pitch to the other guys in the band was what would we have written if we hadn't had our first hit, You Really Got Me?

"What if we put ourselves in that situation, what would have happened? I think new work is important for artists as they mature and get older."

Davies went on to explain that the main barrier to the band getting back together was the illness of his brother, guitarist Dave Davies, who suffered a stroke in 2004.

In case you needed reminding what was so great about The Kinks in the first place, check out this video of the band rocking an NME awards show in 1965, introduced by an appallingly-attired Jimmy Saville.

The mix is ridiculous and the backing vocals are far too loud, but that's all part of the fun…

Chris Vinnicombe worked with us here on the MusicRadar team from the site's initial launch way back in 2007, and also contributed to Guitarist magazine as Features Editor until 2014, as well as Total Guitar magazine, amongst others. These days he can be found at Gibson Guitars, where he is editor-in-chief.