Pete Quaife

In 1961, Peter Quaife met Ray Davies and his brother Dave as art students in London.

This formed the beginning of the band which would be called The Kinks. The legend is that Pete and Dave drew straws to see who would play bass guitar and Pete lost. Of course, Dave was a pretty good all around guitarist. Pete was a great bassist.

The Kinks never achieved the super stardom of other British Invasion Groups of the early 60's, but were probably the group with the most long reaching influence. Perhaps running afoul of the American Musician Union on their first American tour held them back. They would not tour America again until 1969.

A canny intelligence which somehow predicted punk and still had its roots deep in the esthetic of Music Hall and vaudeville, the band painted aural portraits of people and mores.

I chose this song, Johnny Thunders from 1966 because it is not a well known Kinks piece, but it embodies all of what made them great and unique. It also seems to be the inspiration for one of Punks most iconic players, the guitarist for the New York Dolls, The real life Johnny Thunders.

Pete died at age 66 on Thursday. After leaving the Kinks, he had a brief career in music, but moved to Canada where he had an entirely different life as a graphic artist and cartoonist. End of an era? I don't think so. The Kinks music continues to influence generations of songwriters with the very quirkiness which set it apart from everything else.

To appreciate the Kinks, Petes bass playing and his back up singing, if you aren't familiar with the work, please listen to Waterloo Sunset. It doesn't get any better.

Peter played bass until 1969 with the Kinks. He contributed much song writing and was featured on The Village Green Preservation Society.