When asked to name his least favourite Kinks cover, Ray Davies declined to criticise fellow musicians and instead identified a commercial practice he resented: discount retailers producing stripped-down easy-listening versions of hit songs. He singled out a budget rendition of 'Sunny Afternoon' created by Woolworth's proprietary record labels and sold at half the original price, exemplifying a widespread 1960s strategy where retail chains capitalised on chart success by flooding the market with soulless half-price alternatives.

Retailers including Woolworth's operated dedicated imprints such as Embassy and Chevron Records, flooding shops with hastily recorded covers that prioritised affordability over artistic merit. Davies dismissed the resulting catalogue as 'pretty dire', though he conceded these recordings now constitute interesting historical curiosities that reveal the era's consumer culture and music industry economics. The specific cover he referenced was likely Brian Bennett's 1967 easy listening adaptation, which typified the cost-cutting approach that frustrated the songwriter.