Most of the English bands that came out of the British Invasion displayed an obsession with American blues and R&B, and the Kinks were initially no exception, except for the fact that Ray Davies immediately proved himself to be a distinctive songwriter.

Right out of the gate, he penned such distinctive hits as “You Really Got Me” and “All Day and All of the Night,” proving that he could write simple, effective songs that recaptured the primal energy that went missing from rock and roll in the early ‘60s. Most impressive, though, was to witness the arc of his creativity, as subsequent hits grew more and more interesting with each release. The comparatively calm and melodic “Tired of Waiting for You” led into the critical character study “Well Respected Man,” followed by “Dedicated Follower of Fashion,” another character study that added humor to the equation. Essentially, Davies created a unique songwriting style that conveyed a distinctively English perspective. By the time of the band’s fourth album, Davies’ writing had grown so rapidly that there was no more need to rely on American R&B.

“Sunny Afternoon” was yet another character study even more fleshed out and evocative than his previous hits, and it reached #14 on the pop charts, and yet the album containing it rose no higher than #135 in America. The Kinks were quickly becoming an anomaly of the British Invasion, abandoned by an audience confused by Davies’ wry social observations of a British culture that most Americans did not entirely understand. What a shame, because “Face to Face” is overflowing with clever, well-written tunes full of brilliantly lucid characters, often in compromised situations, and yet America almost completely failed to notice.

There would be no more hits for the Kinks until 1970, a four-year drought that suggested the band had run out of steam. In actuality, the Kinks quickly became one of the most creative bands of that era, second perhaps only to the Beatles in scope and imagination, while their albums remained a virtual secret to America.

October 1966 - Billboard Charted #135