Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire), often referred to as just Arthur, is the seventh studio album by the English rock band the Kinks, released in October 1969. Kinks frontman Ray Davies constructed the concept album as the soundtrack to a Granada Television play and developed the storyline with novelist Julian Mitchell; the television programme was never produced. The rough plot revolved around Arthur Morgan, a carpet-layer, who was based on Ray and guitarist Dave Davies' brother-in-law Arthur Anning. A stereo version was released internationally. A mono version was released in the UK, but not in the US. The album was met with poor sales but nearly unanimous acclaim, especially among the American music press. Although Arthur and its first two singles, "Drivin and "Shangri-La", failed to chart in the UK, the Kinks returned to the Billboard charts after a two-year absence with "Victoria", the lead single in the US, peaking at number 62. The album itself reached number 105 on the Billboard album chart, their highest position for three years. Arthur paved the way for the further success of the Kinks’ 1970 comeback album Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One. Background British production company Granada TV approached Ray Davies in early January 1969, expressing interest in developing a film or play for television. Davies was to collaborate with writer Julian Mitchell on the "experimental" programme, with a soundtrack by the Kinks to be released on an accompanying LP. Agreements were finalised on 8 January, and the project was revealed at a press release on 10 March. Separately, the Kinks began work on the programme's companion record, entitled Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire). Development of Arthur occurred during a rough period for the band, due to the commercial failure of their previous album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society and the subsequent single, "Plastic Man", as well as the departure of founding member and bassist Pete Quaife. In early 1969, Quaife had told the band he was leaving, though the other members did not take the remark seriously because Quaife had previously left the band in 1966, only to have a change of heart and rejoin shortly afterwards. When an article in the New Musical Express mentioned Maple Oak, the band he had formed without the rest of the Kinks' knowledge, Davies unsuccessfully asked Quaife to return