‘You Really Got Me’: What was The Kinks’ best-selling single?
Carnaby Street, mini skirts, cheap and abundant drugs – the 1960s was a period of intense cultural revolution in the United Kingdom. As the younger generation rejected the stuffy ways of their parents, musicians and artists began setting a new standard for expression, which reflected this revolutionary period. The music of the swinging sixties, in particular, was wildly different to anything that had come prior, and The Kinks were leading the charge when it came to defining the sounds of this bold new era.
Led by the songwriting mastery of Ray Davies, The Kinks grew exponentially from their early days as young mod rockers. Taking heavy inspiration from the jazz and R&B-obsessed mod subculture, in addition to the realities of working-class life in London, the band crafted an expansive sound that typified the era. Davies always maintained a particular aptitude for social realism in his songwriting, meaning tracks like ‘Waterloo Sunset’ or ‘Sunny Afternoon’ were imbued with a kind of universal appeal.
What’s more, the band pioneered guitar distortion, slashing their amplifiers with razors to create an abrasive Link Wray-esque sound that went on to define later styles of punk and alternative rock. Their profound flirtations with concept albums, notably on Village Green Preservation Society, helped to forever alter the landscape of rock and roll. In truth, there are very few rock outfits in existence today that do not owe a tremendous debt to the sounds of Ray Davies and The Kinks.
Nevertheless, mainstream audiences took quite a while to recognise the anachronistic genius at the heart of The Kinks. Their earliest incarnation, The Ray Davies Quartet, first formed in 1962, but it would take a further two years for the band to have an impact on the UK singles chart. ‘You Really Got Me’ was their very first hit single, reaching number one in the charts after its release in August 1964.
It is easy to see why ‘You Really Got Me’ became the band’s first hit. Not only was the track wildly different from their earlier material, but it was also different from anything else released at that time. Producer Shel Talmy helped to craft the short, sharp rock song into a defiant anthem for Britain’s youth, earning the band a colossal hit single and paving the way for following tracks like ‘All Day and All of the Night’.
So, what was The Kinks’ biggest hit?
Despite their early successes, The Kinks never achieved the same commercial success as some of their contemporaries. They had a variety of hit singles, including the likes of ‘Tired of Waiting for You’, ‘Set Me Free’, and ‘Dedicated Follower of Fashion’, but struggled to replicate ‘You Really Got Me’.
Namely, the band had trouble replicating their homeland success in the United States and further afield. Their quintessential Britishness simply did not translate to global audiences, despite ‘You Really Got Me’ flying high in the US charts in 1964. The only track that came close to matching the success of ‘You Really Got Me’ was the groundbreaking 1970 single ‘Lola’, which reached number two in the UK charts and nine in the US singles chart.
‘Lola’ marked one of the only transatlantic hits for the band, and was certified platinum in the UK. Its success marked a new era for the band, moving away from the youthful rebellion of their 1960s material into something much more profound and timeless. Even still, ‘You Really Got Me’ remained The Kinks’ most successful and biggest-selling single both in the UK and the States.
