Why The Kinks Worried That Their No. 1 Song Signaled the End of Their Hipness Back in 1966

For as long as humankind has existed, so, too, has the cultural divide between older and younger generations. Both age groups can’t understand the other, and more often than not, that’s exactly how the younger counterparts would prefer it. Because what’s the alternative? Old people thinking what you like is cool? How tragically unhip.

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Not even musicians, whose income largely depends on the universal appeal of their craft, are immune to this generational cognitive dissonance. Such was the case for The Kinks, who were somewhat unpleasantly surprised at some of the reactions they witnessed to their Top 20 hit from 1966, “Sunny Afternoon”.

Ray Davies Had a Typically 20-Something Reaction to His Song’s Success

The Kinks helped usher in a new wave of distortion-filled rock ‘n’ roll with their 1964 track, “You Really Got Me”. Their first major hit helped proudly separate the band from the more straight-laced rock ‘n’ roll that came before them. But two years later, the band realized—somewhat begrudgingly—that their musical offerings weren’t as inaccessible to the older generation of rock lovers as they thought.

Shortly following the release of “Sunny Afternoon”, a single from the band’s fourth studio album, Face To Face, Ray Davies walked into a bar and saw just how universally well-liked the band’s song had become. “I walked into a British Legion or a pub,” he later told Mojo. “I thought I was in a British Legion. All these people, old soldiers and things, singing [‘Sunny Afternoon’]. I was 23 years old. I said, ‘Wow. All these old people really like it.’ And this old guy came up and said, ‘You young guys… This is the sort of music we can relate to!’ I thought, ‘Wow. This is it. It’s the end,’” Davies said with a laugh.

As much as the twenty-something in him wanted to sneer at his significantly less-cool seniors, Davies was aware that this generational crossover was a good sign, not a bad one. “If the music’s natural, you’ve more chance of it crossing all those barriers.” 

And indeed, The Kinks’ “Sunny Afternoon” crossed them. The track topped the charts in their native United Kingdom and peaked in the Top 20 in the U.S., New Zealand, Australia, and throughout Europe. Because at the end of the day, younger folks might consider themselves cooler than their elders. But generally speaking, their elders are the ones with enough expendable income to move the needle of record sales.

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