From Rolling Stone comes news that Pete Quaife, founding member and bassist of The Kinks from 1961 to 1969, has died at the age of 66. Quaife formed The Kinks with brothers Ray and Dave Davies in the Muswell Hill neighborhood of London that Ray would later immortalize in song. The band was even intermittently known as The Pete Quaife Quintet before the name The Kinks was chosen in 1964—but Quaife, originally a guitarist, wound up on bass when he lost a lot-drawing to Ray and Dave. He played on all the band's early hits such as "You Really Got Me," "All Day and All Of The Night," and "Dedicated Follower Of Fashion," as well as groundbreaking albums like Are The Village Green Preservation Society and Something Else—the latter featuring the band's high point, "Waterloo Sunset," a song that sports Quaife's backing vocals and indelible, descending bass line.
After his tumultuous decade with the perpetually feuding Kinks, Quaife mostly retired from the music business, moved to Canada, and became a cartoonist and graphic designer. His cause of death is unknown at this time, although he had been undergoing kidney dialysis for many years. His last performance onstage with the Davies brothers was during the band's induction into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1990. Below is an interview with Quaife from 1988 in which he discusses his time with The Kinks, laments the addictiveness of fame, and plays a bit of "Lola." (The A.V. Club's Primer on The Kinks can be read here.)