Wonderboy (The Kinks song)

"Wonderboy"
Norwegian picture sleeve
Single by the Kinks
B-side"Polly"
Released5 April 1968
RecordedMarch 1968
StudioPye, London
GenrePop
Label
Songwriter(s)Ray Davies
Producer(s)Ray Davies
The Kinks singles chronology
"Autumn Almanac"
(1967)
"Wonderboy"
(1968)
"Days"
(1968)
Official audio
"Wonderboy" on YouTube

"Wonderboy" (sometimes spelled "Wonder Boy")[1] is a song by the English rock band the Kinks, written by Ray Davies. It was released as a non-album single in April 1968. It stalled at number 36 in the UK charts, becoming the band's first single not to make the UK Top Twenty since their early covers.[2]

It peaked at number six in the Netherlands. It also reached number fifteen on the Tio i Topp chart in Sweden.[3] "Wonderboy" was also released as a single in the US but failed to chart. It was one of several US non-LP singles tracks that made its album debut on the US-only released compilation The Kink Kronikles.

The single made its first time stereo appearance on the Golden Hour budget series "Golden Hour Of The Kinks", with Ray's lead vocal buried in the mix. The few subsequent reissues of the stereo mix (on the 3-CD The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society set) continues to use this unusual mix.

  1. ^ Miller 2003, p. 112.
  2. ^ Rogan, Johnny (2004). p. 20
  3. ^ Hallberg & Henningsson 1998, p. 205.