“Thank You for the Days”: A Kinks Biography

Of the major “British Invasion” bands of the 1960s, none came across as more quintessentially English than The Kinks. That’s not to say that the band’s contemporaries didn’t acknowledge their heritage in interesting ways; they could be quite adept at it – as anyone who’s heard “Penny Lane” or “Pictures of Lily” can attest – but they rarely conveyed the same sense of time or place as understated tracks like “Waterloo Sunset” or “Dedicated Follower of Fashion.”

While the sometimes esoteric approach that stemmed from this part of their identity might have limited The Kinks’ commercial success at times, especially in the United States, it also meant that the people who’ve become fans over the past six decades often did so in a more dedicated fashion than fans of more broadly popular bands such as The Who or The Rolling Stones.

Where some of their classic rock peers endeavored to offer something for everyone, The Kinks were at their best being everything to someone. It’s telling that despite containing some of their catchiest songs, the landmark album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society barely made the Top 50 in the UK and didn’t even chart in the United States. That situation reversed itself somewhat in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with a series of more straightforward rock albums such as Low Budget and State of Confusion, though, even when album-rock stations embraced The Kinks, they still held The Who and The Stones tighter. Consequently, Thank You For the Days, a recently released volume of fan stories about the band, is exactly the sort of biography the band deserves; one by the fans for the fans.

Assembled by editor Chris Kocher, the book presents the band’s history through a series of singular lenses. Kocher, a journalist and longtime fan of the band, had the initial idea for the book in 2023, as the band was celebrating its 60th anniversary. “I realized the one thing that’s never been done – at least not in book form – is a collection of the best fan stories,” he writes in the introduction. “I’ve worked with many people who aren’t professional writers to make their pieces better, so I felt like this is a service I could offer to the Kinkdom.” He pitched the book to Sonicbond, a UK-based publisher specializing in books about popular music, and the book is already in its second printing.

The structure is wonderfully straightforward, introducing each decade of the band’s history with concise introductions that provide just the right amount of backstory for those who might have lost track along some part of their path, especially after Ray and Dave Davies put the band on its decades-long hiatus in the 1990s. The stories traverse numerous countries across multiple continents. Some entries are written by well-known fans, including songwriters John Wesley Harding and Ron Sexsmith, or people who interacted with members of the band professionally, like the man who met his wife while working as the lighting designer for Ray Davies’ Storytellers show.

The majority of reminiscences, however, come from individuals who simply love the band, and this is where the book’s strength is most apparent. This volume could easily have become just a roll call of favorite songs or familiar observations about their history, but Kocher’s skill as an editor ensures that each episode feels strikingly individual; whether it’s an account of attempting to photograph the band during a massive show at Philadelphia’s long-since demolished JFK Stadium or a fan from the Netherlands recounting how the Kinks’ music helped them get through both good and bad times.

Music biographies too often fall victim to self-important pontification, losing track of what really matters. Thank You For The Days distinguishes itself by keeping the focus where it belongs – on the band’s work and the people who enjoy it, offering indelible portraits of music’s ability to shape our lives.

-Don Klees

Photo: public domain