Ray Davies of The Kinks announces that he is retiring

The Kinks appear at The Great Western Express festival at White City, west London. Ray Davies wife having recently walked out of their marriage, taking their young children with her, Ray Davies of The Kinks announces from the stage that he is sick of the whole thing and is retiring. He then walks into a local hospital and collapses from an overdose of tranquillizers.

In 1973, Ray Davies of The Kinks dived headlong into the theatrical style, beginning with the rock opera Preservation, a sprawling chronicle of social revolution, and a more ambitious outgrowth of the earlier Village Green Preservation Society ethos.

In conjunction with the Preservation project, The Kinks' lineup was expanded to include a horn section and female backup singers, essentially reconfiguring the group as a theatrical troupe.

Ray Davies marital problems during this period began to affect The Kinks adversely, particularly after his wife, Rasa, took their children and left him in June 1973.

Ray Davies went into a state of depression, culminating in a public outburst during a July gig at White City Stadium. According to a Melody Maker review of the concert, "Ray Davies swore on stage. He stood at The White City and swore that he was 'fucking sick of the whole thing'. ... He was 'sick up to here with it' ... and those that heard shook their heads." At the show's conclusion, as pretaped music played on the sound system, he declared that he was quitting. Sounds magazine reported that Ray looked "haggard and ill" before he kissed Dave Davies "gently on the cheek, and then delivered the bombshell". Ray subsequently collapsed after a drug overdose and was rushed to hospital. Dave later commented in an interview about the incident:

God, that was horrible. That was when Ray tried to top himself. I thought he looked a bit weird after the show—I didn't know that he'd taken a whole bloody bottle of weird-looking psychiatric pills. It was a bad time. Ray suddenly announced that he was going to end it all—it was around that time that his first wife left him. ... She'd left him and taken the kids on his birthday, just to twist the blade in a little more. ... I think he took the pills before the show. I said to him towards the end that he was getting a bit crazy. I didn't know what happened—I suddenly got a phone call saying he was in the hospital. I remember going to the hospital after they'd pumped his stomach and it was bad.

With Ray Davies in a seemingly critical condition, plans were discussed for Dave to continue as frontman for The Kinks in a worst-case scenario. Ray Davies eventually pulled through and recovered from his illness as well as his depression, but throughout the remainder of The Kinks' theatrical incarnation the band's output remained uneven, and their popularity, which had already faded, declined even more. John Dalton later commented that when Davies "decided to work again ... I don't think he was totally better, and he's been a different person ever since."

Retro History for July 15 The 50s 60s 70s 80s

Retro History For The Decade 1980

1987 Boy George barred from British TV show, he may be a bad influence
1987 John Poindexter testifies at Iran-Contra hearings
1987 State of siege ends in Taiwan
1986 57th All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 3-2 at Astrodome, Houston
1986 All star MVP: Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox
1985 Deborah Carthy-Deu, of Puerto Rico, crowned 34th Miss Universe
1984 39th U.S. Women's Open Golf Championship won by Hollis Stacy
1984 John Lennon releases "I'm Stepping Out"
1983 8 killed, 54 wounded, by Armenian extremists bomb at Orly, France
1983 Linda Ronstadt debuts as Mabel in "Pirates of Penzance"
1982 Columbia flies to Kennedy Space Center via Dyess AFB, Texas
1982 Senate confirms George Shultz as 60th sec of state by vote of 97-0
1980 Johnny Bench hits his 314th home run as a catcher breaks Yogi Berra's record

Retro History For The Decade 1970

1979 34th U.S. Women's Open Golf Championship won by Jerilyn Britz
1979 Morarji Desai resigns as premier of India
1978 107th British Golf Open: Jack Nicklaus shoots a 281 at St. Andrews
1976 36-hour kidnap of 26 school children and their bus driver in California
1975 46th All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 6-3 at County Stadium, Milwaukee
1975 All star MVP: Bill Madlock (Pittsburgh Pirates) and John Matlock (New York Mets)
1975 Apollo 18 launched (will rendezvous with Soyuz)
1975 Soyuz 19 and Apollo 18 launched; rendezvous 2 days later
1974 Military coup on Cyprus: archbishop/president Makarios flees
1973 California Angel Nolan Ryan 2nd no-hitter beats Detroit Tigers, 6-0
1973 Carole Jo Skala wins LPGA George Washington Golf Classic
1973 Paul Getty III kidnapped
1973 The Kinks appear at The Great Western Express festival at White City, west London. Ray Davies wife having recently walked out of their marriage, taking their young children with her, Ray Davies of The Kinks announces from the stage that he is sick of the whole thing and is retiring. He then walks into a local hospital and collapses from an overdose of tranquillizers.
1973 Willie McCovey becomes 15th to hit 400 home runs
1972 101st British Golf Open: Lee Trevino shoots 278 at Muirfield Gullane
1972 Sandra Palmer/Jane Blalock wins Angelo's Four-Ball Golf Championship
1971 President Nixon announces he would visit China
1970 Denmark beats Italy 2-0 in 1st world female soccer championship

Retro History For The Decade 1960

1969 Cincinnati Red Lee May hits 4 home runs in a doubleheader
1969 Rod Carew ties record with his 7th steal of home in a season
1968 "One Life to Live" premieres on TV
1968 Commercial air travel begins between U.S. and U.S.S.R.
1968 France performs nuclear Test at Muruora Island
1968 New Jersey Americans moved to Comack and become New York Nets (ABA)
1968 Soap opera "One Life To Live" premieres
1967 "Sweet Charity" closes at Palace Theater New York City after 608 performances
1967 L.A. Wolves beat Washington Whips 6-5 in OT to be United Soccer Association champs
1967 Roberto DeVicenzo of Argentina wins golf's British Open
1967 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear Test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R.
1965 "Mariner IV" sends back 1st pictures of Mars
1965 Athanassiades Novas succeeds Papandreo as premier of Greece
1964 Barry M. Goldwater nominated for president by Republicans
1963 KAIT TV channel 8 in Jonesboro, AR (ABC) begins broadcasting
1962 Algeria becomes member of Arab League
1962 Mickey Wright wins LPGA Milwaukee Golf Open
1962 Netherlands and Indonesia accord over New-Guinea
1961 "Donnybrook!" closes at 46th St. Theater New York City after 68 performances
1961 90th British Golf Open: Arnold Palmer shoots a 284 at Royal Birkdale
1961 Spain accept equal rights for men and women
1960 Baltimore Orioles' Brooks Robinson goes 5 for 5 including the cycle

Retro History For The Decade 1950

1958 President Eisenhower sends U.S. troops to Lebanon; they stay 3 months
1957 Dutch Super Constellation crashes near New Guinea, 56 die
1957 U.S. performs nuclear Test at Nevada Test Site
1956 Beverly Hanson/Kathy Cornelius wins LPGA Hot Springs Golf Invitational
1956 Iharos runs world record 10k (28:42.8)
1955 WNDU TV channel 16 in South Bend, IN (NBC) begins broadcasting
1954 110 degrees F (43 degrees C) at Balcony Falls, Virginia (state record)
1954 1st coml jet transport plane built in U.S. tested (Boeing 707)
1954 KOCO TV channel 5 in Oklahoma City, OK (ABC) begins broadcasting
1954 WBOC TV channel 16 in Salisbury, MD (CBS/NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting
1952 1st transatlantic helicopter flight begins
1952 Gerald D. Lascelles (under English princess Mary) weds Angela Dowding

Have a groovy vintage retro day!


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Vintage Retro Music & Retro Pop Culture is our passion and what we LOVE. We keep it going everyday for the love of producing it for you to enjoy. Thanks for viewing. Much Peace! Ray Davies of The Kinks announces that he is retiring in 1973.