Kinks angered by pub's plansto auction memorabilia

Sat 24th Mar, 2007 in International News

The Clissold Arms pub in London is planning to auction off thousands of pounds’ worth of The Kinks memorabilia and Ray Davies is not a happy man.

Along with brother and bandmate Dave Davies, the singer and songwriter for the band, has expressed his concerns over the removal of the ‘Kinks Corner’ from the pub in Muswell Hill, near Tottenham in London’s North.

The Davies brothers spoke with the Hornsey and Crouch End Journal, explaining how important the community was throughout the band’s career.

“My brother and I grew up literally yards away in Denmark Terrace,” the older of the pair explained, “and while much of our early music symbolised the revolutionary spirit of the ‘60s, we always referenced our community in albums such as Muswell Hillbillies and The Village Green Preservation Society.”

The pub was closed last year and its owners are currently planning to redevelop it as an upmarket suburban bar. Tenancy laws deem to pub’s owners to have the rights to all items in the memorabilia display but the plans have understandably angered the Davies brothers as well as Kinks fans around the world.

When quizzed about the plans, Dave was more vocal in opposition. “Have they lost their dignity, sense of local history and English heritage?” he said. “Why on Earth can’t they have their posh gastro grub and still keep a part of it for tourists, Kinks fans and the curious?”

“I am sure if this had been The Cavern and The Beatles’ history being disturbed/got rid of, it would have been brought to the attention of the House of Commons, the Lords and the Queen herself.”

The seminal pop act of the 1960s and 1970s performed their first gig at the Arms, and the pub has always been the spiritual home of the band over the past four decades. The Kinks display was reportedly set up by American professor Mike Kraus, who died in 2003. In his absence, The Journal is leading the campaign to preserve the band’s legacy.