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Kinks frontman Ray Davies revealed in recent interviews that he’d like to get his old band back together. Now the singer/songwriter tells BBC Radio 2 that he’s still hoping to organize a reunion, but says it’s not up to him.
“It’s down to Dave [Davies], the guitar player, my brother, and Mick Avory, the drummer,” Ray explained during a chat with radio host Chris Evans. “They haven’t been in the same room since 2005. So, the first thing’s to get them in the room together.”
Tensions between Dave and Mick date back to the early years of The Kinks, and their conflicts reportedly led to Avory exiting the band in 1984.
Ray added about his attempts to get the two musicians to commit to a reunion, “It’s like negotiations for the United Nations. If I can get them to talk it would be great.”
Meanwhile, the 74-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer said that the “most important thing” for him with regard to a Kinks reunion would be for the band to create new original music.
“The Kinks have got a great legacy and everything, but to me it’s always about making new music,” he maintained. “If the music’s good anything could happen.”
Ray added that he always has been open about collaborating with his Kinks band mates again, “because they’re great players.”
Referencing the just-announced expanded reissue of the group’s 1968 album The Village Green Preservation Society, Davies notes, “Anyone listening to…this new compilation will see it’s a special band and they should make more music.”
The reissue will be released in multiple configurations on October 26. Ray also released a new solo album, Our Country: Americana Act II, in June.
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