How The Kinks got revenge on The Beatles after John Lennon’s put-down

29 June 2026, 13:06

Rock stars have been known to rile one another up on occasion.

When it comes to fragile egos, musicians would likely top the poll of famous folk who can't handle a joke – perhaps maybe alongside faded movie stars and megalomaniacal political leaders.

Even way back when, during a time when people weren't supposedly 'snowflakes' and had a more steely approach to life's knock backs, popular musicians would've still have be prone to taking offense easily.

That was certainly the case when you consider the spat between two of the 1960s most iconic groups: The Beatles and The Kinks.

The supposed spat in question came in 1964 after The Kinks, dubbed "a new and unknown group from London", were deemed to have outshone The Beatles after supporting them at a show in Bournemouth.

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Beatlemania opened the door for the British Invasion to dominate airwaves across the pond, so you'd think the Liverpudlians would be chuffed about paving the way for their fellow countryman's success.

That wasn't the case, with John Lennon making slightly disparaging remarks towards Ray Davies during the Bournemouth show, which he didn't take too kindly.

The Kinks however, took revenge in the best way possible: by knocking The Beatles off the top of the charts.

Both bands were enormously influential throughout the 60s and beyond. But whereas The Beatles got off to a flying start, The Kinks floundered in their early days.

With their two debut singles ‘Long Tall Sally’ and ‘You Still Want Me' being largely ignored, the band were on the brink of losing their record deal.

Their third single was all-important then – and luckily enough it changed their fortunes completely.

Before it was released however, the band found themselves supporting headliners The Beatles at a concert held at the Gaumont Cinema in Bournemouth.

Things didn't get off to a great start between the two bands, as Ray Davies revealed in a television interview over two decades later.

"John Lennon was a hard but honest person. We were opening the show for The Beatles, we were very nervous when we walked on stage."

"He put me down before, saying 'look lads, if you forget yours songs you can use one of ours' then walked off. Musicians are like that."

John, of course, was incredibly insecure and use his snippy sense of humour to get his point across.

The real reason why his made the snarky comment to Ray Davies, was because of the reaction that The Kinks received whilst performing.

The story goes that the band played such a rousing rendition of their forthcoming single, 'You Really Got Me', that the venue was rumbling at its foundations.

With the audience screamer louder for The Kinks than they did for the headline act, this irked the Fab Four.

In his 1994 autobiography X-Ray, Ray Davies suggested that fans were clamouring for The Kinks to return even as The Beatles took to the stage.

With an unknown band getting this kind of frenzied response, John Lennon and Paul McCartney didn't want a repeat each night of the tour, so bumped them down to an earlier slot for future shows.

Davies clarified the rumours of friction between the two bands in an interview with Mojo magazine in 2013.

“John Lennon made a remark that we were only there to warm up for them,” he said, a remark that only served as “validation that we (The Kinks) had something that stood up for us.”

The Kinks' singer/songwriter even felt the interaction was akin to being bullied in school for "having something bigger than the bully".

Based on the response to their forthcoming single 'You Really Got Me', which was released two days after the Bournemouth show took place, he was right.

The Kinks - You Really Got Me - "The Beat Room" Show (1964)

'You Really Got Me' became a major hit and knocked The Beatles' classic 'Hard Day's Night' off the top of the UK charts.

It was a remarkable achievement for the previously undistinguished band, with the two remaining at the summit for two weeks as well as reaching seventh spot on the US charts later that year when the British Invasion was in full flow.

Revenge must've tasted sweet for The Kinks, who had established themselves as one of the most important bands of the era. Though, The Beatles would once again get one up on them.

A year later both bands were booked on the same bill with The Beatles headlining a remarkable line-up which including Dusty Springfield, The Animals, and The Rolling Stones.

The Kinks were late to the venue however due to a delayed flight from Denmark, so took to the stage last on the day, by which time the sound engineers had gone home along with half the audience.

When The Beatles walked off stage, Lennon reportedly declared: "That was for Bournemouth."