Calling All Old Brit Rockers, Circa Mid-1960s

Were you living in Richmond, smoking dope and listening to the Kinks in the 1960s? Are you a semi-obsessed student of local rock trivia? Good, help me out. Here's my latest odd request from the Internet:

I have been writing a memoir based on experiences while growing up in Richmond. The final rewrite before publishing is upon me and now I have to fine tune many things, including when I saw the Kinks in Richmond.  I say it was 1965. I remember the show, I remember their dress, but the date is not there.  I have been working with a man from a Kinks website, as well as Doug Hinman author of The Kinks: All Day and All of the Night.  The Kinks from Hinman's knowledge didn't play Richmond then.

I am insistent that they were there.  One possible place would have been as a substitute act for the missing Hullabaloos in the Gene Pitney Shower of Stars, which was reportedly in April '65.  The Kinks were not in the country on that date.  But if the Shower of Stars date is in July, the replacement band might have been the Kinks.  I remember the Kinks playing a fast show and done.

Hinman knows there's an unaccounted for date on Oct. 26, 1969. Could they have been in Richmond, then?

Anyway, do either of you guys have any memory of the Kinks or the Gene Pitney show in Richmond back in the day???

Hmmm, 1965? Nope. I do have a memory of hanging out in the Celestial Baby Line, eating lead paint and waiting for the calendar to hit 1968 so a stork could drop me down my parents' chimney.

Drop your Kinks tips in the comments section, or send me an email...

Comments

[Jim, 1956 Triton]

Wrong tree to bark up mate, it was the Mods who smoked dope and listened to the Kinks, Rockers got a high out of riding decent bikes and litening to Johnny Kidd

[Dan H.]

I remember seeing many great acts in Richmond while I was at VCU from 1966 to 1969 (RPI until 1968!). I saw the Escorts, the Angels, the Shangra-Las, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Who, Tommy Roe, Canned Heat, Billy Stewart, Peter, Paul & Mary and many more at the Mosque (Landmark). I saw Tommy James & the Shondells, the Turtles, the Swinging Medallions,and others at VCU and saw Count Basie, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and others at the Sahara Club (is that still there?) I loved the music scene. I also saw the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and others at the baseball stadium at some point. I returned to Richmond in 1971 and saw Carly Simon and Jonathan Edwards. Great music and great times. Dan H.

[Anne]

Don, you beat me to it. My first thought was "I'll bet Brent Hosier would know." I'm going to ask my Uncle Ronnie, too -- I'll bet he was there.

[Tripp Fenderson]

I had the pleasure of seeing the Kinks in Richmond in the 1980s ('84 maybe?) with Wayne Shaia. What a great show. I can't help you with the '60's memories though -- I was born in '70.

[Don Harrison]

First of all, smoking dope is not necessary to enjoy the fine early work of The Kinks. It is nice to have a cuppa tea and a biscuit, however. This is a great question because I had heard that the Kinks played Richmond in the 1960's and always wondered the details. So I've gone ahead and posed this question to the grand '60's poobah of all things Virginia garage rock - and Kinks fan — Mr. Brent Hosier. Hosier (formerly of the band Plan 9) is the fine musical anthropologist who has been putting out the great "Aliens, Psychos and Wild Things" and "Ol' Virginia Soul" compilations of rare Virginia rock and soul from the '60's. In fact, "Aliens, Psychos and Wild Things Vol. 4" was just issued this week (ask for it at your local record retailer). We'll see what he says about the Kinks in Richmond. Beyond that, everyone reading this entry should do themselves a BIG favor and check out some of the greatest pop or rock music made in the '60's -- Kinks LPs "Face to Face," "Something Else," "Village Green Preservation Society" and "Arthur." Ray Davies and company were absolutely unstoppable in the '60's. And unlike much of the music from that era, their stuff hasn't dated.

[Dan H.]

Sorry. Being a big fan of both the Kinks and Gene Pitney, I would definitely have been at the show but since I didn't arrive in Richmond until 1966, I cannot verify your recollections. I saw the Gene Pitney Calvacade (sp?) of Stars in 1963 and 1964 in Roanoke. This blog is great! I hope to move to Richmond soon (if I can sell my house in Fredburg) and this site is full of info. Dan