A few weeks back, a supposed reunion by the Kinks was trumpeted by several outlets. But frontman Ray Davies tells Billboard.com not to get its hopes up just yet.
Davies acknowledges he's had reunion discussions with the members of the Kinks' original lineup -- his brother, guitarist Dave Davies, bassist Pete Quaife and drummer Mick Avory. But "it depends on if Dave and I get together," he says, acknowledging that the younger Davies is still recovering from a stroke he suffered in 2004. "He's gradually getting his strength back, but he's playing again, so that's a good sign."
New material would also have to be part of the equation. "I can't get a band together just to play the old hits," Davies says. "They'd have to be able to do, like, 10% new material. I think that will be the determining factor in the long run."
The problem: Dave Davies seems to want no part of a reunion, having posted on his Web site that "it would be like a poor remake of 'Night of the Livin (sic) Dead' " and declaring that Ray has been doing "Karaoke Kinks shows since 1996," when the band last worked together. Ray's response: "He's getting well enough to shout at me. That's a good sign."
Oddly enough, a second full-length solo album hasn't made Davies any more comfortable with the idea of being on his own. "I still have a problem with being a solo artist. I don't know why," says the artist, who released "Working Man's Cafe" earlier this week via New West/Ammal.
Davies plans to tour to promote "Working Man's Cafe," though only two mid-March shows in Australia are announced so far. He says the new album came "a lot quicker" than 2006's "Other People's Lives," and is also "unwittingly" a more personal album than its predecessor.
"It's about getting back in touch with yourself as a person," Davies explains. "It is more about me, 'cause 'Other People's Lives' tends to be, 'Oh, this is about other people;' It really is me, but I'm trying to sing about other people. But ('Working Man's Cafe') is more personal than I thought it was. It's mentality rather than a geographical or tangible thing. It's a philosophy, really."
Davies acknowledges he's had reunion discussions with the members of the Kinks' original lineup -- his brother, guitarist Dave Davies, bassist Pete Quaife and drummer Mick Avory. But "it depends on if Dave and I get together," he says, acknowledging that the younger Davies is still recovering from a stroke he suffered in 2004. "He's gradually getting his strength back, but he's playing again, so that's a good sign."
New material would also have to be part of the equation. "I can't get a band together just to play the old hits," Davies says. "They'd have to be able to do, like, 10% new material. I think that will be the determining factor in the long run."
The problem: Dave Davies seems to want no part of a reunion, having posted on his Web site that "it would be like a poor remake of 'Night of the Livin (sic) Dead' " and declaring that Ray has been doing "Karaoke Kinks shows since 1996," when the band last worked together. Ray's response: "He's getting well enough to shout at me. That's a good sign."
Oddly enough, a second full-length solo album hasn't made Davies any more comfortable with the idea of being on his own. "I still have a problem with being a solo artist. I don't know why," says the artist, who released "Working Man's Cafe" earlier this week via New West/Ammal.
Davies plans to tour to promote "Working Man's Cafe," though only two mid-March shows in Australia are announced so far. He says the new album came "a lot quicker" than 2006's "Other People's Lives," and is also "unwittingly" a more personal album than its predecessor.
"It's about getting back in touch with yourself as a person," Davies explains. "It is more about me, 'cause 'Other People's Lives' tends to be, 'Oh, this is about other people;' It really is me, but I'm trying to sing about other people. But ('Working Man's Cafe') is more personal than I thought it was. It's mentality rather than a geographical or tangible thing. It's a philosophy, really."
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