Bibek Acharya
England’s shoreline has witnessed its fair share of battles and conflict over the centuries, as emerging regimes, nations, and world leaders attempt to invade this sceptred isle. During the 1960s, however, it was not warmongers or armies invading the beaches of England’s south coast; it was pop music. By 1964, The Beatles had become the most powerful band in the world, fostering an untouchable reputation. That reputation, however, never really sat right with The Kinks or their rebellious young songwriter, Ray Davies.
The Kinks represented a different end of the spectrum from The Beatles. After all, the Fab Four were fresh-faced lads from Liverpool, singing pop songs about love, holding hands, and the kind of wholesome romanticism which meant you could take Paul McCartney home to your mother. Davies’ clan, meanwhile, played loud, fast, and amphetamine-fueled rock and roll anthems, reflecting the anarchic mod subculture which terrorised seaside resorts like Brighton during the spring of 1964.
Later that year, The Kinks would become involved in another seaside battle, this time in Bournemouth. Ray Davies’ group were still in their relative infancy, with two lacklustre singles under their belt at the time, but they were booked as the opening act for a show at the Gaumont Theatre in Bournemouth. The bill included Mike Berry and Adrienne Poster, but was topped by The Beatles, following their triumphant residency at the venue a year prior.
At the time, The Kinks were at a pivotal moment in their career; their first two singles had flopped, so the pressure was on for the third release to make an impact. ‘You Really Got Me’ was released on August 4th, 1964, only two days after the band opened for The Beatles in Bournemouth.
An era-defining anthem, ‘You Really Got Me’, quickly became a number-one single for The Kinks, establishing them as a defining group of the swinging sixties, and playing a colossal role in influencing later styles of punk and alternative rock. However, the world had not yet been exposed to the song when The Kinks played in Bournemouth.
So, when Davies and the gang erupted into the track during their opening slot, the seaside audience had never heard anything like it before. As you can probably imagine, the reception to the track was colossal; so much so that the screaming and rapturous applause largely overshadowed the reception given to The Beatles that night, as Davies recalled in his memoir X-Ray. What’s more, The Beatles were not very happy with the idea of being overshadowed by some unknown band of mod rockers.
“John Lennon made a remark that we were only there to warm up for them,” Davies revealed to Mojo during a 2013 interview. The songwriter took this snarky comment as a form of “validation that we [The Kinks] had something that stood up for us,” but that Bournemouth incident marked the beginning of a minor rivalry between The Beatles and The Kinks.
One year later, the two bands were once again booked on the same bill, with The Beatles set to headline an extensive line-up including, among others, Dusty Springfield, The Animals, and The Rolling Stones. However, a delayed flight from Denmark meant The Kinks had to go on last, by which time the sound engineers had gone home and the audience had already reached their peak. A very tired Davies and The Kinks valiantly went on, but the set was pretty disastrous. Reportedly, when the band came off stage, Lennon declared, “That was for Bournemouth”.
