"The Kinks" Premium Unisex T-Shirt

Dave Davies Slashed His Amp Speaker with a Razor Blade and Invented Hard Rock. Then the Union Banned Them from America for Four Years.

Ray and Dave Davies, Pete Quaife, and Mick Avory formed in Muswell Hill, North London in 1963. "You Really Got Me" came out in August 1964 on Pye Records and went to number one in the UK. The distorted guitar sound — the fuzz that made it sound like nothing recorded before it — came from Dave Davies slashing the speaker cone of a cheap amplifier with a razor blade to see what would happen. What happened was the blueprint for hard rock and, eventually, heavy metal. Dave was 17.

In 1965, the American Federation of Musicians banned the Kinks from touring the United States. The official reasons were never fully confirmed — a combination of an altercation with a promoter, union disputes, and the band's general reputation for being difficult. The ban lasted four years, from 1965 to 1969. The Beatles and the Stones consolidated their American positions during that window. The Kinks went home and made records.

The records they made are the ones that matter most. The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society in 1968 — a concept album about English nostalgia, village life, and the anxiety of modernization — sold almost nothing on release and is now considered one of the finest British albums ever recorded. "Waterloo Sunset." "Sunny Afternoon." "A Well Respected Man." Ray Davies became the most observational songwriter in British rock — class-conscious, literary, specifically English in a way that the bands chasing American success were not.

"Lola" in 1970. "Twentieth Century Man" in 1971. The band Ray and Dave built while fighting with each other constantly across three decades produced a catalog that influenced punk, Britpop, and American indie rock in ways that are still being traced.

This tee is for the Muswell Hill version — the one that got banned from America and made better music because of it.

Premium Quality

• Bella + Canvas 3001 — Premium unisex tee, true to size
• Airlume combed and ring-spun cotton — Exceptionally soft from the first wear
• Classic unisex fit — Relaxed, versatile, works for everyone
• Available in Autumn and Brown — Sizes XS–4XL

Made to Order

For environmental and quality reasons, this tee is made specifically for you after you order. Please allow approximately one week for production. Tracking information will be sent as soon as it ships.