The Sun: The Kinks Edition

The Kinks: Sunny Afternoon

The Kinks: Waterloo Sunset

[purchase]

The Kinks are probably my favorite rock band (the other contenders being The Band and The Beach Boys). Two of my favorite Kinks songs feature the sun. Waterloo Sunset might be my favorite pop song of all time. (Of course, Brian Wilson would have something to say about that too.)

Now that the superlatives are over, let's make a sale, shall we? If you don't own any Kinks records, but are thinking about checking them out, the best way to get a feel for their entire career would be to purchase the two disc retrospective from Sanctuary Records called The Ultimate Collection (not the only Kinks' greatest hits collection with that name, but the best one). It's a great compilation with good sound.

Once you have this, you'll want to run out and buy and discover the rest of the Kinks' catalog, or at least the annual masterpieces released during their most creatively fertile period from 1966 through 1971:

1966 - Face to Face
1967 - Something Else by the Kinks*
1968 - The Village Green Preservation Society
1969 - Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
1970 - Lola vs. the Powerman & the Money-Go-Round, Pt. 1
1971 - Muswell Hillbillies

*Something Else features two additional "sun" songs.