Favorite Kinks Songs - Addendum to Kinks Album Ranking List

 Favorite Kinks Songs - Addendum to Kinks Album Ranking List

The Kinks have so many great songs, and so many absolute classic singles. And yet, they never had as much chart success as you might think. In the UK, the band had 14 top-10 singles and 10 top-5 singles, with 5 reaching #1 or #2. However, nothing after 1970. In the U.S., The Kinks only had 5 top-10 singles and none made it to the top-5 (their highest charting was Come Dancing, reaching #6 in 1983). Regarding albums, The Kinks had only 3 Top-10 albums (not counting compilations) in the UK (1964-1966) and no top-10 albums in the US (highest charting album was Low Budget, at #11).  

The Kinks released somewhere around 400 songs (just under 300 album tracks and nearly another 100 in Singles, EPs, non-album tracks, and other songs released later (not counting demos, live, alternate versions, etc.). A Phenomenal catalog. And most of those songs are quite good to great, so there are just so many to love. Thus, it is ridiculous to try to limit the lst of favorite songs to just 10, or 20, or 30. So, in honor of the Kinks 60th Anniversary this year, I am doing a 60 favorite Kinks songs. And since eben that is just scratching the surface, I am adding an additional 60 great songs at the end, and really there are still many more, but these are the ones that most came to mind. The songs come from all their albums from all their periods, and show that they really did have great songs all throughout their career. And if I did not include one of your favorites, it doesn't mean I don't like it, as there are just so many great songs, and I love so many, there are many more that did not get mentioned. Anyway, once again, here's to The Kinks, certainly one of the all-time greats..  

My favorite (top 60?) Kinks songs

60. 20th Century Man (MH)
58. The Hard Way (SID)
57. Funny Face (SE)
56. Long Way From Home (LvPM)
55. Think Visual (TV)
54. The Village Green Preservation Society (VGPS)
53. Life Goes On (SW)
52. Live Life (M)
52. Oklahoma USA (MH)
51. Do It Again (WOM)
50. Autumn Almanac (b/t SE-re)
49. Get Up (M)
48. (A) Face In The Crowd (SO)
47. Definite Maybe (SOC)
46. Rock n Roll Fantasy (M)
45. Last of the Steam-Powered Trains (VGPS)
44. Come Dancing (SOC)
43. Dead End Street (b/t FTF-re)
42. Stormy Sky (SW)
41. Arthur (A)
40. Sold Me Out (WOM)
39. One Of The Survivors (P1)
38. Too Hot (WOM)
37. Attitude (LB)
36. Australia (A)
35. Days (b/t VGPS-re)
34. I'm Not Like Everybody Else (b/t FTF-re)
33. Life on the Road (SW)
32. Natural Gift (TV)
31. Strangers (LvPM)
30. People Take Pictures of Each Other (VGPS)
29. You Can't Stop the Music (SO)
28. Who'll Be The Next In Line (b/t KK-re)
27. Where Have All The Good Times Gone (TKK)
26. Brainwashed (A)
25. Good Day (WOM)
24. Tired Of Waiting For You (KK)
23. Here Comes Yet Another Day (EIS)
22. Sunny Afternoon (FTF)
21. Lola (LvPM)
20. You Really Got Me (TK)
19. Heart of Gold (SOC)
18. Waterloo Sunset (SE)
17. Mr. Churchill Says (A)
16. Sleepwalker (SW)
15. Dedicated Follower Of Fashion (b/t TKK re)
14. All Day And All Of The Night (b/t TK re)
13. Victoria (A)
12. Shangri-La (from Arthur)
11. A Well Respected Man (b/t KK-re)
10. Celluloid Heroes (EIS)
9. Living on a Thin Line (WOM)
8. Juke Box Music (SW)
7. Catch Me Now I'm Falling (LB)
6. Starstruck (VGPS)
5. Better Things (GPWTW)
4. Picture Book (VGPS)
3. This Time Tomorrow (LvPM)
2. No More Looking Back (SID)
1. Misfits (M) 

Album Key:

(b/t) - non-album track, single, now available as a bonus track on current reissues of the indicated album (-re) 

(TK) - The Kinks (1964)

(KK) - Kinda Kinks (1965)

(TKK) - The Kink Kontroversy (1965) 
(FTF) - Face to Face (1966)

(SE) - Something Else (1967)

(VGPS) - The Kinks are The Village Green Preservation Society (1968)

(A) - Arthur (1969)

(P) - Percy (Soundtrack) (1970)

(LvPM) - Lola vs Powerman and the Moneygorround, Part1 (1970)

(MH) - Muswell Hillbillies (1971)

(EIS) - Everybody's in Showbiz (1972)

(P1) - Presrvation, Act1 (1973)

(P2) - Preservation, Act 2 (1974)

(SO) - Soap Opera (1975)

(SID) - Schoolboys in Disgrace (1975)

(SW) - Sleepwalker (1977)

(M) - Misfits (1978)

(LB) - Low Budget (1979)

(GPWTW) - Give the People What They Want (1981)

(SOC) - State of Confusion (1983)

(WOM) - Word of Mouth (1984)

(TV) - Think Visual (1986)

(UKJ) - UK Jive (1989)

(Ph) - Phobia - (1993)

(TTB) - To The Bone (1996)

 

Here's 60 MORE great songs (these are listed chronological order):

I Gotta Move (b/t TK-re)
Stop Your Sobbing (TK)
Ev'rybody's Gonna Be Happy (b/t KK-re)
Come On Now (KK)
Set Me Free (b/t KK-re)
I Need You (b/t KK-re)
Till The End Of The Day (TKK)
Milk Cow Blues (TKK)
Sittin' On My Sofa (b/t TKK-re)
She's Got Everything (B-side 1968)
Party Line (FTF)
Dandy (FTF)
You're Looking Fine (FTF)
Holiday In Waikiki (FTF)
Mr. Pleasant (b/t FTF-re)
David Watts (SE)
Death Of A Clown (SE)
Love Me Till The Sun Shines (SE)
Afternoon Tea (SE)
Susannah's Still Alive (b/t SE-re)
Wonderboy (b/t SE-re)
Do You Remember Walter? (VGPS)
Stting in My Hotel(VGPS)
Animal Farm (VGPS)
Big Sky (VGPS)
Mr. Songbird (b/t/ VGPS-re)
Nothing to Say (A)
Drivin' (A)
Plastic Man (b/t A-re)
King Kong (b/t A-re)
Get Back In Line (LvPM)
Got to Be Free (LvPM)
Apeman (LvPM)
God's Children (P)
Muswell Hillbilly (MH)
Holiday (MH)
Skin and Bones (MH)
Supersonic Rocket Ship (EIS)
Sitting in My Hotel (EIS)
Hot Potatoes (EIS)
Motorway (EIS)
Sweet Lady Genevieve (P1)
Sitting in the Midday Sun (P1)
Slum Kids (b/t P2-re)
Everybody's A Star (Starmaker) (SO)
I'm In Disgrace (SID)
Full Moon (SW)
Father Christmas (b/t M-re)
Low Budget (LB)
A Gallon of Gas (LB)
Moving Pictures (LB)
Destroyer (GPWTW)
Don't Forget to Dance (SOC)
Going Solo (WOM)
Summer's Gone (WOM)
Working at the Factory (TV)
Lost and Found (TV)
Hatred (Ph)
Scattered (Ph)
To the Bone (TTB)

And still there are many more great songs in their catalog. 

What are your favorites? What did I miss? Let me know.