The Kinks’ breakthrough hit “You Really Got Me” arrived 60 years ago this summer. In celebration of the milestone anniversary, the legendary British Invasion band is releasing a limited-edition 7-inch vinyl single featuring the song. The disc, which will be released on August 16, features a remastered version of the track’s original mono mix.
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In honor of the year the classic song was released, only 1,964 copies of the vinyl single will be available. The disc features a replica of the original Pye Records label and push-out center hole. The single also features a mono mix of the original B-side, the non-album track “It’s All Right.”
The disc comes packaged with a 7-by-7-inch print. The single can be pre-ordered now, is available exclusively at The Kinks’ online store and via Rough Trade Records.
About “You Really Got Me”
“You Really Got Me” was The Kinks’ third single, following a cover of the 1956 Little Richard hit “Long Tall Sally” and the Ray Davies original “You Still Want me.”
The song was released on August 4, 1964, in the U.K. and September 2 in the U.S. The single topped the U.K. chart on September 10, and peaked at No. 7 in the States.
“You Really Got Me” also was included on both the U.K. and U.S. versions of The Kinks’ debut album, titled Kinks and You Really Got Me, respectively, and released in October and November of ’64.
On How “You Really Got Me” Was Written
Kinks frontman Ray Davies wrote the famous riff for “You Really Got Me” on piano, then showed it to his brother, Kinks guitarist Dave. At the time, Dave had been experimenting with getting a distorted sound out of a little Elpico amplifier he’d purchased, which he achieved by slashing the amp’s speaker cone with a razor blade.
In his 1996 memoir, Kink, Dave recalled that after Ray showed him the “You Really Got Me” riff on piano, “I wondered what it would sound like as bar chords on my guitar with my new amp sound. So I tried. It was as if something magical had descended upon us. … It was wonderful, instinctual.”
Dave added, “Ray went away and a day later came back with some lyrics. ‘Girl, you really got me going, you got me so I don’t know what I’m doing.’ Listening to that was so pure, so inexplicably pure and exhilarating.”
The Legacy of “You Really Got Me”
“You Really Got Me” and Dave Davies’ overdriven guitar sound on the track are considered major influences on the hard-rock, heavy metal, and punk-rock genres. The song has been recorded by dozens of other artists. Perhaps the most famous cover was by Van Halen, who featured the tune on their 1978 self-titled debut album. It became the hard-rock band’s first Top-40 hit.
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