Kinks’ founder joins Soroptimist cause
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The common guitar string between Kinks’ founder Dave Davies and a
local Soroptimist club is that each is going through a
transformation.
Chartered in October, Soroptimist International of the Verdugos is
the first chapter to sponsor a rock concert to raise funds for its
charities. This record-breaking event will cast Davies in a solo
spotlight at 8 p.m. Friday at The Alex Theatre in Glendale.
It is just the beginning of many new ideas President Nancy
Hathaway plans to bring to fruition.
“We want to take a 21st-century approach to everything we do,”
Hathaway said. “We stay away from terms like ‘We’ve never done it
that way before.’ We believe there is no such thing as a bad idea.”
The club has grown to 27 members since October, a huge number in
comparison with other chapters that have about 15. Members come from
La Crescenta, La Canada Flintridge and Burbank.
Through his studies of metaphysics, including yoga, meditation and
astrology, Davies said he is constantly trying to improve on the
person he is inside. It was the impetus for his recent solo CD
release “BUG.”
“There’s so much talk about alien implants and that it affects
people’s behavior,” Davies said. “I’ve been mulling this over and
when one morning I woke up with a mosquito bite, all the ideas gelled
around that.”
The idea for the CD, he said, is a metaphor for change and coming
to terms with spiritual blockages in ourselves.
“I tried to do it in a humorous way,” said the legendary guitarist
who combined his musicianship with brother Ray Davies’ songwriting,
resulting in one of Britain’s enduring rock groups from the 1960s. In
1990, the Kinks were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“Life is all experiences -- good, bad or indifferent. It’s a part
of character building. It’s who we become. We tend to look at life in
material terms but we need to find out who we really are,” he said.
The concert will feature songs from his newest CD, as well as
Kinks’ favorites like “All Day and All of the Night.”
The idea for the concert, “Transformation -- A Concert for a
Cause,” was two years in the making, Hathaway said.
Davies had been a guest on Michael Brenner’s talk show on KPFK
(90.7-FM). Brenner’s wife is Doreen Key and a member of the local
Soroptimists. Both Key and Hathaway are former members of the
Glendale Soroptimists who formed the new chapter.
A few members attended a Davies’ concert at the Whiskey A-Go-Go in
Hollywood and were invited backstage. Key talked to him about
Soroptimist and its goals to uplift the plight of women and children
in the United States and poor countries abroad.
Key kept up an e-mail correspondence with Davies and when he was
in Los Angeles, arranged to meet the Soroptimists at The Alex
Theatre.
“Mr. Davies was quite taken aback by The Alex Theatre and the
people who run it,” Hathaway said. “He has a fondness of silent
movies. He was like a child of 6, running up and down the stairs to
the sound booth.”
And there is a mutual respect the Soroptimists share with Davies.
“They liked the music spiritually I was trying to do,” he said.
“So we just gelled together.”
Hathaway said so many Kinks’ songs are her favorites, but for now,
“Flowers in the Rain” stands out.
“For me, it is a heartwarming statement about life,” she said.
“It’s inspiring. It’s a style of Dave Davies ... it’s a spiritual
gift, and if you listen to that song, you hear that gift he is giving
to our community.”
Proceeds from the concert will go to domestic-violence and
breast-cancer awareness programs. In the future, Hathaway said, the
chapter hopes to raise funds to build a playground for an orphanage
in India.
During the concert, actress Hayley Mills, who appeared in Disney’s
“Parent Trap,” will receive the chapter’s first honor, The Mighty Oak
Award. Mills plans to attend the concert.