The Kinks - You Really Got Me

The Kinks were an English rock band formed in North London by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorized in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognized as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a wide range of genres, including rhythm and blues, British music hall, folk, and country. Ray Davies (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and Dave Davies (lead guitar, vocals) remained members throughout the group's 32-year run. Artists influenced by The Kinks include punk rock groups such as the Ramones,[152] The Clash,[153] and The Jam, New Wave and heavy metal acts like The Pretenders and Van Halen, and Britpop groups such as Oasis, Blur, and Pulp.The Kinks were also an influence on late-1960s American psychedelic groups, "like the Doors, Love and Jefferson Airplane". The Kinks had five Top 10 singles on the US Billboard chart. Nine of their albums charted in the Top 40. In the UK, the group had seventeen Top 20 singles and five Top 10 albums.Four of their albums have been certified gold by the RIAA. Between the mid-1960s and early 1970s, the group released a string of commercially and critically successful singles and LPs, and gained a reputation for songs and concept albums reflecting English culture and lifestyle, fuelled by Ray Davies' observational writing style.

"You Really Got Me" was released in August 1964,and, boosted by a performance on the television show Ready Steady Go!, quickly reached number one in the United Kingdom and made the Top 10 in the United States.The loud, distorted guitar riff—achieved by a slice Dave Davies made in the speaker cone of his Elpico amplifier (referred to by the band as the "little green amp")—gave the song its signature, gritty guitar sound. Extremely influential on the American garage rock scene, "You Really Got Me" has been described as "a blueprint song in the hard rock and heavy metal arsenal". American musicologist Robert Walser wrote that it is, "the track which invented heavy metal". Rolling Stone magazine placed the song at number 82 on their list of the 500 greatest songs of all time and at number 4 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time. In early 2005, the song was voted the best British song of the 1955-1965 decade in a BBC radio poll. In March 2005, Q magazine placed it at number 9 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. In 2009 it was named the 57th Greatest Hard Rock Song by VH1.