followed in Scandinavia in September and West Germany, Switzerland and France in October. Aftermath American performance ban Following the Kinks' issues with promoter Betty Kaye in Reno, Sacramento and San Francisco, she filed a formal complaint with Local 6, the San Francisco branch of the AFM. Union officials in Los Angeles and likely San Francisco filed additional complaints. In response, the AFM withheld the necessary work permits for the Kinks, in effect banning the band from future US performance. The AFM's stated reason for banning the Kinks was their "unprofessional conduct", though the union did not express the block publicly, nor did they communicate to the band an explanation or possible duration. The band hoped to return to the US soon after, but in mid-September1965, when organising a three-week concert residency in New York City around Christmas, they found themselves unable to obtain work visas. The ban persisted for the next four years. Ray negotiated with the AFM to lift it in April1969, which they did only after he and the band's management wrote apologies to Kaye. The band's return tour ran from October to December1969. The American ban hampered the development of the Kinks' career. Unable to promote their music in the US via tours or television appearances, they saw a decline in their American record sales; the band experienced continued success in the UK, but only two of their singles entered the top 30 of the Billboard Hot 100 while the ban remained active. Ray later suggested that the ban gave the Kinks a level of "mystique"; while the band steadily lost American fans, they retained a cult following. In later interviews, Ray regularly cited the ban as producing a pivot in his songwriting towards English-focused lyrics. The situation left the Kinks comparatively isolated from American influence and changes in its music scene, guiding the band away from their earlier blues-based riffing towards a distinctly English style. While American songwriters explored the emerging drug culture and the nascent genre of psychedelia, Ray focused on English musical influences like music hall. Ray later suggested that visiting America ended his envy of the country's music, leading him to abandon attempts to "Americanise" his accent while withdrawing into what he later termed "complete Englishness and quaintness". Author Ian MacDonald further contends that after the ban was lifted, while Ray's lyrics retained an English bent, his music quickly reverted towards an American