They were soon joined by a third manager. This guy was amost as tall as
They were. His name was Larry. And Larry spoke in a very slow deliberate
Way. And Larry always smokes his long Havana cigar. He always had one
Lit. And he always refered to me as co*k. No no. co*k is a London
Expression for mate, chum
"Hello co*k. How are you co*k? How's your co*k, co*k, alright?"
But Larry was crucial. Larry was very important. Because he knew people
In the music industry. Robert and Grenville had failed to get us a recording
Contract. But Larry knew a man who knew a man. Larry said
"Now we gotta be opportunistic. We gotta find you a name"
One evening we were having a drink in pub with Larry and somebody
Commented on the fake leather caps that Dave and Pete were wearing
Someone else said that we were wearing kinky boots. A few days later
Larry showed us the mock-up of the artwork for the advertisement
And there we were. We were called: The Kinks. And I hated it
But Larry's eyes were glowing with excitement. "Kinks, co*k, Kinks
"Kinks, co*k, Kinks. It's short, five letters. You'll be bottom of the bill
But you need something that will stand out and Kinks will stand out
I can see it. The curiousity value will be incredible. That's a gimmic
Me old co*ker. We'll all dress in leather with whips and riding boots
Very kinky. We'll put the pictures in the trades, they'll love it. Maybe we
Got to get a new stage gear, my boys, lots of buckles and leather strips"
I hated the name Kinks, but what did I know
But Larry knew a man who knew a man, and this man got us a three
Single deal with Pye Records. The first record was a cover of Little
Richard's Long tall Sally, but it died a d**h. The follow-up was significant
In that it was the first song I had composed for The Kinks, a very naive
Optimistic song called You still want me. Unfortunately nobody did
The third record had to be hit, otherwise we'd get kicked off the label