Tired of waiting for that long-overdue Kinks reunion? If Ray Davies has his way, your rock 'n' roll fantasy may finally come true.
The Kinks leader says he plans to get the legendary British quartet back into the studio and on the road "sometime between now and the end of the decade.
"We're the last one of those bands that are all still alive, not that I want to tempt providence," he laughs. "But it would be great to do it while we still can."
While previous reunion rumours have come to naught, Davies says he's recently had positive discussions with the other original members -- his guitarist brother Dave, bassist Pete Quaife and drummer Mick Avory (who appears on one song on his new album Working Man's Cafe) -- and "everybody is good with it."
But Davies is also insistent that a reunited Kinks would have to move forward and not just look back.
"I wouldn't do it just to do the retro thing. I'd want to make some new music as well -- probably a new EP. It just depends on whether Dave wants to stay in the studio for a long period of time. He's had some health issues, as you know," he said, referring to a stroke his younger brother suffered in 2004 and from which he's still recovering.
Dave -- who has feuded off and on with Ray for decades -- has previously said a reunion "would be like a poor remake of Night of the Living Dead." If he's changed his tune as Davies suggests, that removes a major stumbling block. However, Quaife's health -- he's needed dialysis since 1998 -- could be another.
Health issues aside, "the chemistry is still there with us," Davies said. "That's important. If we can retain that, why not work together?"
Why not indeed -- as long as he can work out the ... well, you know.
