Q 01/05

Ray Davies flew from New York to London mid-tour in 1970 to replace one brand name in Lola with what?

A) cherry cola

B) diet cola

C) lemonade

D) sarsaparilla

Answer · why

A) cherry cola

The generic cherry cola got Lola past the BBC's ban on product placement; the 6,000-mile round trip on 3 June 1970 interrupted the Kinks' American tou...

Q 02/05

Ray Davies first set his 1967 Thames ballad in Liverpool, then scrapped that idea after which Beatles single?

A) Yellow Submarine

B) Penny Lane

C) Eleanor Rigby

D) Paperback Writer

Answer · why

B) Penny Lane

Penny Lane had already staked out Liverpool nostalgia, so Davies moved his two lovers to a bridge over the Thames; in 1967 he said they could be Teren...

Q 03/05

Come Dancing remembers Ray Davies' sister Rene, who died the night she gave him which birthday present?

A) A record player

B) A harmonica

C) A Spanish guitar

D) A transistor radio

Answer · why

C) A Spanish guitar

A Spanish guitar was Rene's present for Ray's 13th birthday on 21 June 1957; that evening she suffered a fatal heart attack dancing at the Lyceum ball...

Q 04/05

Which company's 2004 camera advert pulled the 1968 Kinks track Picture Book out of obscurity?

A) Eastman Kodak

B) Fujifilm

C) Sony Electronics

D) Hewlett-Packard

Answer · why

D) Hewlett-Packard

Hewlett-Packard's digital-camera spot made Picture Book one of the Kinks' most popular songs; Green Day had already lifted its riff for their 2000 sin...

Q 05/05

Producer Terence Winter has called Dave Davies' Living on a Thin Line the most asked-about song on which TV drama?

A) The Sopranos

B) Boardwalk Empire

C) The Wire

D) Breaking Bad

Answer · why

A) The Sopranos

The Sopranos gave the 1984 album track a second life; Dave Davies later borrowed its title for his second autobiography, published in July 2022.