The Kinks: Sunny Afternoon

Some people will tell you that The Kinks invented Heavy Metal (and possibly Punk) in July of 1964 when they went into IBC Studios and recorded "You Really Got Me", and ya know what? I'm not gonna argue.

Check out Dave Davies' Flying V guitar in this video. The Flying V went on to become one of the two or three truly iconic guitars of the Metal genre, and the only other guitarist slinging a V in 1966 would have been American Blues master, Albert King.

But "Sunny Afternoon" is not a Heavy Metal song, and there are no crying guitar solos ala Mr. King. This is simply a scathing indictment of the idle rich masquerading as a perfectly lovely 3 minute pop song that's fun to sing along with anytime, but especially in the summertime. That may not be Metal, but it certainly seems Punk. Whatever.

This also must be considered a very early music video, since the producers took the band off the stage and outta the studio, and had 'em playing in a clearing in the woods. In the winter. So cheeky. And what's with the car and the pack of dogs at the beginning? All I can figure is that our beloved Kinks are on the lam from the law, possibly for criticizing the Ruling Class, and I wonder if this video ended too soon, before a scene of the Davies brothers and their rhythm section being mauled by the dogs of law.

Anyways, what I love best about this particular render, is the fact that the video and audio don't synch, giving it a decidedly "lazy feel".

Also, I think I see where Panic! At The Disco stole their look.

Hotcha! Hank