Album · The Kinks
Arthur (or The Decline and Fall of the British Empire) by The Kinks
Arthur (or The Decline and Fall of the British Empire) is an album by The Kinks, released in 1969. 2 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 19 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Victoria”, on 16 lists with a best position of #420.
Arthur (or The Decline and Fall of the British Empire), the Kinks' seventh album, came out on 10 October 1969, and Ray Davies built it as the soundtrack to a Granada Television play he plotted with novelist Julian Mitchell, a play that never got made. The story follows Arthur Morgan, a carpet-layer modeled on the Davies brothers' brother-in-law, and through him Ray holds up a mirror to England itself.
Ray produced, Dave Davies' guitar bites, Mick Avory keeps it rolling, and John Dalton, in for Pete Quaife, makes his debut on bass. "Victoria" is a stomping, sardonic singalong, and "Shangri-La" swells from wistful to grand. The British public shrugged, but the critics, the Americans loudest of all, were nearly unanimous in their praise, and "Victoria" put the Kinks back on the Billboard charts after two years away, clearing the path for Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Arthur (or The Decline and Fall of the British Empire) on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Victoria | 16 | #420 | – | 1999–2014 | |
| 2 | Shangri-La | 3 | #344 | – | 2009–2023 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.