Who vs Kinks vs Stones 1965

[Matt Wilson]

If most of us are in agreement that the Beatles were the best UK band of the era, then who's number 2? Let's get a consensus for 1965. I've listed the original songs which I think are of above-average to great quality for this year. The Who didn't have all that much. I may have even listed every original song they did in '65, whereas the Kinks and Stones did more than I listed; I just didn't feel like typing it all up. The Yardbirds and Animals had too many cover versions to consider. If I listed a cover version by mistake, so be it.

Well, we have:

Who
I Can't Explain
Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
The Kids are Alright
A Legal Matter
Out in the Street
My Generation
The Good's Gone
The Ox
La-La-La-Lies
It's Not True

and:

Kinks
Tired of Waiting for You
Everybody's Gonna be Happy
Who'll be the Next in Line
Set Me Free
I Need You
See My Friends
A Well Respected Man
Till the End of the Day
Where Have all the Good Times Gone?
Nothin' in the World Can Stop Me Worryin' 'Bout That Girl
Something Better Beginning
I'm on an Island

Stones
The Last Time
Play with Fire
Satisfaction
Get Off of My Cloud
As Tears go By
Time is on My Side
What a Shame
Grown Up Wrong
Off the Hook
Gotta Get Away
The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man
I'm Free
The Spider and the Fly
Blue Turns to Grey

What say BCB?

[naughty boy]

Boring answer, but - I'd put the Kinks and the Stones on equal pegging below the Beatles for 1965. I really can't decide between them.

Your list of Kinks' songs looks better, but I know the Stones were just as good (I'm always unsure what was 65 and what was 66 for a lot of this stuff!).

Mind, 'My Generation' might be the best song from the whole lot. I don't think the other bands matched it for excitement. It still sounds like something rushing towards us out of the depths of hell. Incredible.

[Quaco]

The Who's actual songs are not as good or important as the sound they created and the way they played. Something like "The Ox" has virtually no song there, but it's a remarkable landmark track. You can definitely hear what John Cale was saying when he told Lou he was worried somebody was going to beat them to it -- what they not soon after did on things like "European Son". "AAA" and "MG" are both just exciting records. Even white-R&B attempts like "Out in the Street" and genero-Anglo-pop like "La La La Lies" sound different because of Moon's drumming, and Daltrey's voice to an extent as well.

This is good stuff ...

[Quaco]

Let's see the Beatles list for that year, just to see!

[naughty boy]

The Beatles were better in the years either side, I think.

[sloopjohnc]

You should do one on contemporary artists next - Taylor Swift, Cardi B and Bebe Rexha.

[Quaco]

Beatles

Kinks - solid


Who - hadn't quite found their songwriting yet
Stones - some undeniable songs, but also some sad attempts

[soundchaser]

From this set of songs, I'd have to go Kinks.

[Rayge]

Who - one great, one nearly great, three pretty good, rest OK
Kinks - four pretty good, five unknown/OK one naff
Stones - one nearly great, two pretty good, four or five OK, resty meh/ unknown, one naff
Beatles - don't know without a list

I think that translates into
Who
Stones
Kinks
but they all did better later
In 1965, on singles alone, the Yardbirds had them all beat, and the Animals would be in the mix, too.

[sloopjohnc]

I can't decide who I'd pick between these three. Every time I look at the Kinks and decide it's them, I look at the others and can't decide.

[toomanyhatz]

Beatles

Kinks - solid


Who - hadn't quite found their songwriting yet
Stones - some undeniable songs, but also some sad attempts

They all hit their strides later in the year. From about September to the following spring, I'd say the Stones are easily out in front and might even be competition for the Beatles (they certainly were as a singles act, as I've mentioned a few billion times).

'65 as a whole? Pretty close to tied, probably with the Kinks up front and the Stones slightly behind and the Who a bit more than slightly.

Dylan beats 'em all, of course.

[Matt Wilson]

I went ahead and voted for the Stones, because it's what I do. I would definitely have added the Yardbirds and Animals had their careers not relied so heavily on cover versions - which I avoided listing for the groups above (and all three had covers in '65). The Yardbirds and Animals would have looked something like this:

Yardbirds
For Your Love
Heart Full of Soul
Evil Hearted You
I'm a Man
Still I'm Sad
I'm Not Talking
I Ain't Done Wrong
Mister You're a Better Man Than I
Putty in Your Hands
Train Kept a Rollin'
Steeled Blues

Animals
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
We Got to Get Out of This Place
It's My Life
Boom Boom
Bring it on Home to Me
How You've Changed
Worried Life Blues
I Believe to My Soul
Roberta
I'm Gonna Change the World

[toomanyhatz]

Not close. The Pretty Things, on the other hand...

[pcqgod]

Clear win for The Who in terms of consistency. The Stones have a bunch of throwaway stuff on that list and the Kinks ditto.

[Davey the Fat Boy]

It’s the Stones.

[robertff]

Of the original three first mentioned, I'll take the Stones but only just, what a brilliant year it was for great singles. Satisfaction was like nothing else at the time, was just amazing to hear on the transistor and Jagger's movements on the drum beat just before 'Hey, Hey, Hey' were brilliant. The Kinks 'See My Friends' was also brilliant but always seems to pass under the radar for some reason and then there was 'My Generation' - what can you say?

So much excitement, so many great groups, just thinking back I can still feel that excitement today.



.

[Diamond Dog]

If most of us are in agreement that the Beatles were the best UK band of the era?

There were better bands outside of the UK?

[WG Kaspar]

Yeah the Stones take this easily for me, it's their annus mirabilis. You forgot The Singer Not The Song Matt, which would place over at least half of the songs on the list.
I'd take the Yardbirds after them.

[TG]

I voted Kinks from the original list. At that time and still today I’d be most likely to listen to the Kinks or the Yardbirds.

[Matt Wilson]

If most of us are in agreement that the Beatles were the best UK band of the era?

There were better bands outside of the UK?

Both the Byrds and the Beach Boys were certainly better than The Who in '65, and Dylan is better than any of the three bands listed above.