"THIS BLOODY REUNION THING..."

Klassic Kinks drummer MICK AVORY talks Pete Quaife, Kast-Off Kinks and those rumours.

MICK AVORY, 74, has good reason to remember The Village Green Preservation Society. It was the last album he made with Pete Quaife, The Kinks’ original bassist, who announced his departure after the Plastic Man single in early ’69. “You couldn’t really read Pete,” says Avory almost 50 years later. “He’d come out with some strange things. He sometimes seemed like he belonged in a different band. It was a shame, because me and him was a combination that worked. But because of the four personalities, you never really felt that anyone was permanent.” Avory was to leave The Kinks himself in 1984 after escalating rows with Dave Davies. The jazz-loving drummer, originally from Surrey, kept his affiliation with the band, taking a managerial role at Konk and playing in the tribute act Kast-Off Kinks with other ex-members. “We formed about 25 years ago to raise money for a leukaemia charity. It took off from there. We play theatres up and down the country. It keeps the flag flying for The Kinks’ music and Ray has come to see a couple of the shows.” With around 70 gigs a year, Avory is the busiest of the three surviving original Kinks in terms of live work. He’s been in The Kast-Off Kinks longer than he was in the actual group. Though he remains friendly with Ray, Avory has a sceptical take on the reconciliation rumours, with his own involvement far from certain. “This bloody reunion thing raises its head every year or two. It’s getting like Life Of Brian. If we wait much longer, it’ll have to be a resurrection rather than a reunion.” What exactly has Avory heard? “Ray said to me he’s got some tracks left over from before I left the band in the ’80s. He said it would be nice to put them together and do a few more to make it a full album, if everyone’s agreeable. That’s as far as I think it will go.” Avory had some happier news earlier this year, when he married his long-time partner Marliesa while on holiday in Barbados. Alas, they picked a terrible day for it. “The rain was horizontal,” he groans. “It was like Wuthering Heights. My hair looked like Donald Trump in the photos. Not only that, I got food poisoning and was sick as a dog on my wedding night. It could only happen to me.” David Cavanagh