The Kinks What do Van Halen, the Raincoats, Mott the Hoople, the Pretenders, Elvis Costello, Big Star, the Fall, Herman's Hermits, the Jam, Kristy Macoll, David Bowie and Blur have in common?

... What do Van Halen, the Raincoats, Mott the Hoople, the Pretenders, Elvis Costello, Big Star, the Fall, Herman's Hermits, the Jam, Kristy Macoll, David Bowie and Blur have in common? Not a whole hell of a lot except that they've all done songs penned by Raymond Douglas Davies of course. The Kinks songbook of the '60s is varied and strong enough to get such a wide range of groups as fans. The band rode in on the British invasion with loud, unruly rockers but soon turned into a quirky, nostalgic outfit that made their best work totally out-of-synch with the rest of the music world: only Donovan was as out-of-it musically but Davies had a better ear for melodies and more thoughtful lyrics. When the band started out with a string of hits including "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All the Night," it looked like they were on

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