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In the 1970s, Noel Gallagher fell in love with The Kinks. Decades later, he wished he never met Ray Davies
Noel Gallagher has said that meeting his musical hero Ray Davies left him disappointed, despite his lasting admiration for The Kinks. Gallagher recalled approaching Davies to ask about the album *The Village Green Preservation Society*, only to receive a brief, dismissive reply.
The article presents Davies as a major influence on Gallagher and, more broadly, on Britpop, pointing to the sound and songwriting of early Kinks records. Gallagher said the encounter made him glad he had not met all his heroes, but it did not diminish his respect for Davies or his ambition to write songs as enduring as “Waterloo Sunset”.
In short
- Gallagher admired The Kinks and Ray Davies.
- Davies gave a curt answer about *Village Green*.
- The meeting did not erase Davies’s influence on Gallagher.
Explained simply
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in the 1960s, led by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. Their songs combined memorable melodies with sharp observations of everyday British life, and albums such as The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society later became highly regarded.
Ray Davies wrote and sang many of the band’s best-known songs, including “Waterloo Sunset”. His songwriting influenced later British musicians, including Noel Gallagher of Oasis, whose work emerged during the Britpop era of the 1990s, when bands drew on earlier British pop and rock.