Happy belated birthday to Ray Davies, the frontman of The Kinks! He turned 79 years old yesterday, June 21st.

The Kinks are one of my all-time favorite bands and one that I will always include in my top five no matter the circumstances – and that is saying a lot because my top five bands continuously change depending on my musical mood at that very moment!

Ray is such an incredible songwriter, in my opinion, one of the best to ever do it, and Dave Davies is easily one of the most underrated lead guitar players in the world. Together, with some others, they form a legendary band.

They may not be as popular as bands such as The Beatles or The Rolling Stones, but The Kinks are undoubtedly one of the most influential British bands to ever grace a microphone or stage.

They have not been together as a band as of late, but hopefully, they will reunite one more time for the world to enjoy, please!

If not, I will always have some great moments involving the band to look back on, such as the few times I got to meet Ray, including one time back in 1990, which is when the main photo from this article was taken!

The photo is from a night back in 1990 at Hofstra University backstage with my college buddy, Lou.

We used to absolutely blast some of The Kinks’ LPs in the dorms at Kent Hall at SUNY Plattsburgh, so it was a thrill to snag a picture that night with Ray.

It honestly feels like just yesterday, to be honest!

It is crazy to think that many of our classic rock icons are almost pushing 80 years old these days.

Hopefully, Ray enjoyed his birthday yesterday and maybe I will spin a Kinks record or two when I get home in honor of his day yesterday!

More from Matt Cord…

Visiting the C&D Canal Bike Trail is a Must Do This Summer

As we all know, Sunday was Father’s Day and I am sure a lot of you guys all got together with your dads and maybe barbecued, enjoyed a nice cold adult beverage or two, and maybe even enjoyed the final round of this year’s U.S. Open, but I did something a little different!

I actually went on a really fun 30-mile bike ride with the girlfriend, my good friend Chris Bozzi, and his 85-year-old dad, Nick!

Can you believe it?

Going on a 30-mile bike ride at the age of 85 years old? It was incredible!

We drove down to Delaware City and rode a beautiful trail called the C&D Canal Bike Trail.

It really is just a gorgeous bike trail that rides along the Delaware Canal and even stretches over multiple states as it starts in Delaware City, Delaware, and ends in Chesapeake City, Maryland.

In total, it stretches 30 miles from one end to the other and back again, and that seems like a lot when you say it out loud, but the trail is so scenic you almost lose track of time and the distance you are going to begin with, to be honest.

Plus, the best part about the trail, especially if you work up an appetite on your ride or walk, is that there is a nice restaurant and bar at the halfway point called Schaefer’s Restaurant & Canal Bar, and you better believe we stopped there for a great lunch on our ride!

The trail was great, the lunch was even better, and you could not have asked for better weather on Sunday, so ultimately it was a great day – so much so that I figured I would share a bunch of photos and a video for you all to enjoy as well!

Take a look at them below!