The Kinks 1962. The band performed under several names between 1962 and 1963—the Pete Quaife Band, the Bo-Weevils, the Ramrods, and the Ravens—before settling on the Kinks in early 1964. Ray has stated that a performance at Hornsey Town Hall on Valentine's Day 1963 was when the band were truly born. The Kinks made their first tour of Australia and New Zealand in January 1965 as part of a "package" bill that included Manfred Mann and the Honeycombs. They performed and toured relentlessly, headlining package tours throughout 1965 with performers such as the Yardbirds and Mickey Finn. Tensions began to emerge within
The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society LP was released in France, Italy, Sweden, Norway and New Zealand. These have since become rare and collectible. Upon its release "The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society" was greeted with almost unanimously positive reviews from rock critics but failed to sell strongly, an estimated 100,000 copies worldwide. Despite this slow start, the album has since become the Kinks' best-selling original record. The album did not have a popular single ("Starstruck" was released in North America and continental Europe, but failed to chart anywhere but the Netherlands). Although it was commercially unsuccessful upon its US release in January 1969,