King (new wave band)
King | |
|---|---|
 Paul King of the UK band King | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Coventry, England |
| Genres | New wave[1] |
| Years active | 1983–1986 |
| Label | CBS |
| Past members | Paul King Mick Roberts Anthony "Tony" Wall Jim "Jackal" Lantsbery John Hewitt Adrian Lillywhite Colin Heanes |
King were an English new wave band which formed in 1983. The band achieved chart success in 1984, and are best known for their hit single "Love & Pride", which reached No. 2 on the UK singles chart. The band had two top 20 albums (both certified gold) and five top 30 singles in the space of a year.
Overview
The band was formed from the remnants of Coventry rock-ska band the Reluctant Stereotypes, along with producer Paul Sampson. After the Reluctant Stereotypes, singer Paul King formed the Raw Screens, who perfected their act and style to what Paul King and his manager Perry Haines called "Multi Tone", a reference to "Two Tone", and then, in 1983, relaunched the group as band King from the surname of lead singer Paul King.[2][3] The band toured as a support act for Wah!, JoBoxers and Everything but the Girl and received airplay for their early tracks on BBC radio.[4]
As lead singer, Paul King wore a mullet haircut and spray-painted Doc Marten's Boots[2] which led to the band gaining a skinhead following that was later replaced by a teenage following.[4] The band went through a succession of drummers while recording their debut album.[4] The first three singles from this were largely ignored and failed to make the top 75 of the UK singles chart. The band's fortunes changed in late 1984 after an appearance on The Tube and a tour in support of Culture Club.[4] This led to the successful re-release of the band's early singles.[4]
The band released two UK top 20 albums on CBS, both produced and mixed by Richard James Burgess, who also played drums on most of the debut album Steps in Time (the second LP, Bitter Sweet, saw Adrian Lillywhite on drums). Both albums were certified gold and produced five hit singles, the most successful being the UK No. 2 hit, "Love & Pride".[5] "Love & Pride" was King's only single to chart on the US Billboard Hot 100 which peaked at No. 55 in September 1985.
Despite a year of success, the band split up in 1986[2] after a tour of Japan.[4] In 1987, Paul King released a solo album entitled Joy,[2] produced by American producer Dan Hartman. After that, he briefly worked as a VJ for MTV.[2]
In 1998, a compilation album was released, entitled The Best of King – Love & Pride, with 18 tracks, featuring the band's greatest hits and stand-out tracks, including Paul King's one minor solo hit, "I Know".[2]
Cherry Red Records released a remastered version of Bitter Sweet in 2007 followed by a remaster of Steps in Time in 2010 and in 2018, another King compilation entitled Remixes & Rarities was released, which contained rare tracks not found on the reissues.
Line-up
- Paul King – vocals, piano
- Mick Roberts – keyboards, synthesizers, piano, backing vocals
- Anthony "Tony" Wall – bass guitar
- Jim "Jackal" Lantsbery – guitar, backing vocals
- John Hewitt – drums
- Adrian Lillywhite – drums
- Colin Heanes – drums
Discography
Albums
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [6] |
GER [7] |
ITA [8] |
NL [9] |
US [10] | |||
| Steps in Time | 6 | 49 | — | 17 | 140 | ||
| Bitter Sweet |
|
16 | — | 21 | — | — |
|
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||||||
Compilation albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| The 12" Tape |
|
| The Best of King – Love & Pride |
|
| Remixes & Rarities |
|
| Soul On My Boots: The Collection |
|
Video albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| From Steps in Time to Bitter Sweet –The Video Singles |
|
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [6][12] |
AUS [13] |
BEL (FL) [14] |
GER [7] |
IRE [15] |
ITA [8] |
NL [9] |
NZ [16] |
SWI [17] |
US [18] | ||||
| "Love & Pride" | 1984 | 84 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Steps in Time | |
| "Soul on My Boots" | 158 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Won't You Hold My Hand Now" | 112 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Love & Pride" (re-release) | 1985 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 15 | 2 | 24 | 3 | 55 |
| |
| "Won't You Hold My Hand Now" (re-release) | 24 | 86 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Alone Without You" | 8 | — | — | — | — | 9 | — | 14 | — | — | Bitter Sweet | ||
| "The Taste of Your Tears" | 11 | — | 15 | — | — | — | 50 | — | — | — | |||
| "Torture" | 23 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
Solo
Paul King
- Joy (1987)
References
- ↑ Morris, Chris (29 October 1994). "Indie Labels Thrive By Mining Majors' Catalogs For Reissues". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 44. p. 116. ISSN 0006-2510.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Colin Larkin, ed. (2003). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music (Third ed.). Virgin Books. p. 293. ISBN 1-85227-969-9.
- ↑ "BBC - Coventry and Warwickshire - Entertainment - Pop into the Past". Bbc.co.uk.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Clemens, Peter (22 October 2014). "The rise and fall of Coventry band King". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 18 June 2026.
- ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 301. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- 1 2 "KING | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- 1 2 "Suche - Offizielle Deutsche Charts". www.offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- 1 2 "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Set "Tipo" on "Album" or Singoli". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "King".
- 1 2 "Discografie King - dutchcharts.nl". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1996). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums 1955–1996. Record Research. p. 412. ISBN 0898201179.
- 1 2 3 "BRIT Certified". BPI. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ↑ "UK Singles Charts: 1984 (including chart panel sales)". UKMIX Forums. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 166. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ↑ "Discografie King - ultratop.be". www.ultratop.be. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- ↑ "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- ↑ "charts.org.nz - Discography King". charts.nz. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- ↑ "Discographie King - hitparade.ch". www.swisscharts.com. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2009). Top Pop Singles 1955–2008. Record Research. p. 532. ISBN 9780898201802.