The Kinks’ Ray Davies on “Lola” Diss: “Who the F**k Is Moby?”

After Dave Davies recently lambasted Moby for calling the Kinks classic “Lola” a “gross and transphobic” song, the guitarist has now quoted his brother and bandmate, Kinks frontman Ray Davies, as saying, “Who the fuck is Moby?”

As previously reported, as part of a playlist feature with The Guardian, Moby listed “the song I can no longer listen to” as “Lola,” saying, “‘Lola’ by the Kinks came up on a Spotify playlist, and I thought the lyrics were gross and transphobic. I like their early music, but I was really taken aback at how unevolved the lyrics are.”

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That led Dave to respond, “Why is Moby being so rude about this simple song? We’re not transphobic. Why does he have to have a go at us?,” as well as share a letter from transgender singer Jayne County praising the song.

In a new interview with The Telegraph, Dave reported that when he told Ray about Moby’s diss, the legendary singer-guitarist responded, “Who the fuck is Moby?” Dave added that Ray “wasn’t happy at all.”

As for the initial response to “Lola” when the song was released in 1970, Dave said, “People were quite shocked by it, but we loved it, and the world seemed to love it, too. No one mentioned the word transphobia then. I don’t think the word existed.”

In the Telegraph interview, Dave also talked about his bisexual experiences back in the 1960s, explaining, “I was trying everything, it was all a great big load of fun. But when one of the guys I was seeing wanted to be serious, I backed off because it was too much for me. I couldn’t handle it, and I preferred women.”

He added, “People now like to put labels on everything, but they were very different times. For me, it was all about having a good time. It wasn’t that complicated.”

Moving forward, Dave doesn’t have any ill will toward Moby, saying, “I try and put a positive light on everything. I don’t bear anyone malice. I think he made a clumsy mistake. All music, all art, should be applauded. It’s not for me or for anyone else to decide what is right or wrong. We should be grateful that we live in a world where people are free to make music and say what they want to say.”