Mike Avory is probably best known as drummer with The Kinks. However, he also played drums with The Rolling Stones for a while during their early days in 1962 (like Carlo Little), until Charlie Watts became The Stones' regular skinsman.

In 1971 Keith Richards recalled: "We [The Stones] were rehearsing drummers. Mick Avory came by, the drummer of the Kinks. He was terrible, then. Couldn't find that off beat. Couldn't pick up on that Jimmy Reed stuff."

He later played with Shut Up Frank and The Kast-Off Kinks.