Jonathan King (born Kenneth George King; 6 December 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He first came to prominence in 1965 when "

Everyone's Gone to the Moon "Everyone's Gone to the Moon" is the debut single by British singer-songwriter and record producer Jonathan King. It was released in 1965 while King was still an undergraduate at Cambridge University. All copies of this single, in all territories ...

", a song that he wrote and sang while still an undergraduate, achieved chart success. As an independent producer, he discovered and named the rock band

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

in 1967, producing their first album '' From Genesis to Revelation''. He founded his own label

UK Records UK Records was a music label launched in 1972 by Jonathan King to distribute his own releases and those by some other artists.10cc 10cc are an English rock music, rock band formed in Stockport in 1972. The group initially consisted of four musicians – Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme – who had written and recorded together since 1968. The grou ...

and the

Bay City Rollers The Bay City Rollers are a Scottish pop rock band known for their worldwide teen idol popularity in the 1970s. They have been called the " tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh" and one of many acts heralded as the "biggest group since the B ...

. In the 1970s King became known for hits that he performed and/or produced under different names, including " Johnny Reggae", " Loop di Love", " Sugar, Sugar", " Hooked on a Feeling", "

Una Paloma Blanca "Paloma Blanca" (Spanish for "white dove"), often called "Una Paloma Blanca", is a song written by Dutch musician George Baker (under his real name, Johannes Bouwens) and first recorded and released by his band, George Baker Selection. The sing ...

" and " It Only Takes a Minute"; between September 1971 and 1972 alone he produced 10 top 30 singles in the UK."King Forms U.K. Records," ''Billboard'', 9 September 1972
32
While living in New York in the 1980s, King appeared on radio and television in the UK, including on the BBC's ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' and '' Entertainment USA''. In the early 1990s he produced the

Brit Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

, and from 1995 he selected and produced the British entries for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

, including the winning entry in 1997, "

Love Shine a Light "Love Shine a Light" is a song by British rock band Katrina and the Waves. It represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1997. It was released as a single on 28 April 1997 and was later included on the band's ninth studio a ...

" by

Katrina and the Waves Katrina and the Waves were a British rock band widely known for the 1985 hit " Walking on Sunshine". They also won the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest with the song " Love Shine a Light". History Pre-history (1975–1980) The band's earliest in ...

. Rod Liddle, in 2010, described him as "truly talented" and someone who could "storm the pop charts at will, under a hundred different disguises". ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' reported in 2002 that he had sold over 40 million records during his career. In September 2001, King was convicted of child sexual abuse and sentenced to seven years in prison for having sexually assaulted five boys, aged 14 and 15, in the 1980s. In November 2001, he was acquitted of 22 similar charges. He was released on parole in March 2005. A further trial for sexual offences against teenage boys resulted in several not guilty verdicts and the trial being abandoned in June 2018.

Early life

Family background

Brookhurst Grange, Ewhurst, Surrey (cropped)

King was born in a nursing home in Bentinck Street,

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it ...

, London, the first child of George Frederick John "Jimmy" King, managing director at Tootal, a tie manufacturer, and his wife, Ailsa Linley Leon (1916–2007), a former actress. Originally from

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

, Jimmy King had moved to England when he was 14. He attended Oundle School and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, before joining the American Field Service during World War II and later Tootal Ties and Shirts as managing director. King's birth was a forceps delivery and a muscle on his upper lip was affected during it, giving him his slightly crooked smile.King, ''65 My Life So Far'', ch. 1. After he was born, the family lived in Gloucester Place,

, then moved to

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

, where King and his younger brothers, James and Anthony, were raised in Brookhurst Grange, a mansion near Ewhurst.

Stoke House and Charterhouse

King was sent to boarding school, first as a weekly boarder to pre-prep school in

Hindhead Hindhead is a village in Surrey, England. It is the highest village in Surrey, with buildings at between 185 and 253 metres above sea level. It is best known as the location of the Devil's Punch Bowl, a beauty spot and site of special scientifi ...

, Surrey, then, when he was eight, to Stoke House Preparatory School in

Seaford, East Sussex Seaford is a town in East Sussex, England, east of Newhaven and west of Eastbourne.OS Explorer map Eastbourne and Beachy Head Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. In the Middle Ages, Sea ...

.King,
65 My Life So Far
', ch. 2. A year later, in 1954, after his father died from a heart attack, Brookhurst Grange was sold and the family moved to Cobbetts, a cottage in nearby

Forest Green At right is displayed the color forest green. ''Forest green'' refers to a green color said to resemble the color of the trees and other plants in a forest. This web color, when written as computer code in HTML for website color display ...

.King, ''65 My Life So Far'', ch. 3. Music became his passion around this time. King would save his pocket money for train trips to London to watch ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...

'', ''

The King and I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the chil ...

'', '' Irma la Douce'', '' Salad Days'', ''

Damn Yankees ''Damn Yankees'' is a 1955 musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., dur ...

'' and '' Kismet'' from the cheap seats in the balcony. He also discovered pop music and bought his first single, Guy Mitchell's "

Singing the Blues "Singing the Blues" is a popular song written by Melvin Endsley and published in 1956. The song was first recorded and released by Marty Robbins in 1956. It is not related to the 1920 jazz song "Singin' the Blues" recorded by Frank Trumbauer a ...

" (1956).King, ''65 My Life So Far'', ch. 4. In 1958, King became a boarder at Charterhouse in

Godalming Godalming is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settlement ...

, Surrey. He wrote that he "loved Charterhouse immediately", with its history and "every possible area of encouragement from sport to intellectual pursuits." Unlike at Stoke House, there were other boys there who appreciated pop music. He bought a transistor radio and earphones and joined the "under the bedclothes" club, listening to Tony Hall,

Jimmy Savile Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile (; 31 October 1926 – 29 October 2011) was an English DJ, television and radio personality who hosted BBC shows including ''Top of the Pops'' and '' Jim'll Fix It''. During his lifetime, he was well kno ...

, Don Moss and Pete Murray on Radio Luxembourg, and keeping track of the ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' charts. The music, particularly

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

, Adam Faith,

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

and

Gene Pitney Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Pitney charted 16 top-40 hits in the United States, four in the top ten. In the United Kingdom, he had 22 top-40 hit singles, inclu ...

, made him "ache with desire":

Since "
It Doesn't Matter Anymore "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" is a pop ballad written by Paul Anka and recorded by Buddy Holly in 1958. The song was issued in January 1959, less than a month before Holly's death. "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" reached number 13 as a posthumous hit ...
" swept me off my feet, I had become a raving pop addict, desperate for a fix every few seconds. I kept thick notebooks packed with copies of the weekly charts, adverts for new products, pages of predictions of future hits, reviews and comments about current artistes. Looking at them now, there was no way I could ever have avoided a future in the music industry.

Gap year

King left Charterhouse in 1962 to attend Davies's, a London crammer, for his

A level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...

s. With his wages from a job stacking shelves in a supermarket, he made a demo of himself the following year singing "

It Doesn't Matter Anymore "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" is a pop ballad written by Paul Anka and recorded by Buddy Holly in 1958. The song was issued in January 1959, less than a month before Holly's death. "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" reached number 13 as a posthumous hit ...

" and "Fool's Paradise" Eden Kane song with the Ted Taylor Trio, a professional group in

Rickmansworth Rickmansworth () is a town in southwest Hertfordshire, England, about northwest of central London and inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway. The town is mainly to the north of the Grand Union Canal (formerly the Grand Junction Canal) and th ...

. Wearing a pinstripe suit and trainers, he approached John Schroeder of Oriole Records and told him he could make a hit record. "I have been studying the music industry for the last three years and it is one big joke," Schroeder reported him as saying. "Anyone can make it if they're clever and can fool a few people." After hearing King's demo, Schroeder booked a studio session with an orchestra but suspected that King could not sing in tune. King also joined a local band in Cranleigh, the Bumblies, as manager/producer and occasional singer, sometimes wearing thigh-length boots and long black gloves, during the band's appearances at birthday parties and similar.King, ''65 My Life So Far'', ch. 6. Despite the cramming, King failed the scholarship exam for

, but he was offered a place in 1963 after an interview. He accepted, but first took a gap year and spent six months travelling with a

round-the-world ticket A round-the-world ticket (also known as round-the-world fare or RTW ticket) is a product that enables travellers to fly around the world for a relatively low price. RTW tickets in the past were generally offered through marketing agreements be ...

from his mother. Staying mostly in youth hostels, he visited Greece, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and the United States, including Hawaii, where, in June 1964, he met the manager of the

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

, Brian Epstein. They spent hours together in Honolulu discussing the music industry, King wrote.King, ''65 My Life So Far'', ch. 7. In October that year King began to study for his degree in English literature at Cambridge, lodging in

Jesus Lane Jesus Lane is a street in central Cambridge, England. Also located on Jesus Lane are Wesley House, Methodist theological college (or seminary), on the north side and Westcott House, a Church of England theological college, on the south sid ...

Career

Early success

Around the time King began at Cambridge, the Bumblies (featuring Terry Ward) recorded a song he had written and produced, "Gotta Tell", which King persuaded

Fontana Records Fontana Records is a record label that was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records. The independent label distributor Fontana Distribution takes its name from the label. History Fontana started in the 1950s as a sub ...

to release. It appeared in April 1965 and "rightly sank without trace", King writes, but the experience of taking it from label to label, and then trying to find people to play it, taught him how to promote a record. He called DJs and television producers to ask them to listen to it and, because it was Easter, delivered hundreds of vinyl singles to music critics complete with Easter eggs he had painted himself. King and the Bumblies recorded another of his songs, "All You've Gotta Do", with producer Joe Meek, but nothing came of it. Keen to break into the music business, King contacted Tony Hall of

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...

, who put him in touch with The Zombies' producers Ken Jones and Joe Roncoroni. King played them one of his songs, "Green is the Grass", and they asked him to write a B side. He offered them six songs, including "

", which became the A side. They also suggested he change his name.King, ''65 My Life So Far'', ch. 8. Decca released "

" in August 1965. Relying on the contacts he had made while promoting "Gotta Tell", King plugged it relentlessly to radio stations to get it on their playlists. DJ Tony Windsor of Radio London, a

pirate station Pirate Station (russian: Пиратская станция) is the world's biggest drum and bass music festival.MV Galaxy'', was the first to play it, not only once, but three times in a row. (Windsor later said he did this only because of a problem with his other turntable.) It sold 26,000 copies the next day. When the song made number 18 in the charts, King was invited onto the BBC's ''

''. The following day it sold 35,000 copies. It peaked at number four in the UK (the Beatles were at number one with " Help!") and 17 in the US, and was awarded a gold disc.Lazell, Barry (1989). ''Rock movers & shakers'', Billboard Publications, 279. Nina Simone,

Bette Midler Bette Midler (;'' Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received numerous accolades, including four Golden ...

, and

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

all covered it. Dietrich sang "Everyone's Gone to the Moon" and its B side, "Summer's Coming", at the Golders Green Hippodrome in October 1966, with an arrangement by

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gr ...

. The single reached No. 17 in the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was one of the songs carried on the

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, ...

moon mission. In 2019, the track was included in the soundtrack of the Hollywood film '' In The Shadow of the Moon'' over the closing credits. From his second year at university, King split his time between Cambridge and London, moving into a three-bedroom apartment, owned by his mother, at 20 St Andrews Mansions, Dorset Street,

, driving there from classes in his white MGB GT. His next release, "Green is the Grass", flopped, but the third (which he wrote and produced, but did not perform), "

It's Good News Week "It's Good News Week" is a song and single by the British band Hedgehoppers Anonymous. Written and produced by Jonathan King, it was first released in 1965. Background and chart success The song is a protest song that comments on the media's obse ...

" by

Hedgehoppers Anonymous Hedgehoppers Anonymous were a 1960s beat group from the United Kingdom. They formed in November 1963 as The Trendsetters, and became ''The Hedgehoppers'' the following year. Jonathan King took over their record production in 1965, and added ''An ...

, was a hit. It was released in September 1965 through Decca and credited to King and his new publishing company, JonJo Music Co. Ltd, which was named after King, Ken Jones and Joe Roncoroni and based in Jones' and Roncoroni's office at 37

Soho Square Soho Square is a garden square in Soho, London, hosting since 1954 a ''de facto'' public park let by the Soho Square Garden Committee to Westminster City Council. It was originally called King Square after Charles II, and a much weathered s ...

.King, ''65 My Life So Far'', ch. 11. Briefly banned by the BBC because of its lyrics about

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

, the song made the top five in the UK and top 50 in America. Also in 1965, King began contributing a column to ''

Disc and Music Echo ''Disc'' was a weekly British popular music magazine, published between 1958 and 1975, when it was incorporated into ''Record Mirror''. It was also known for periods as ''Disc Weekly '' (1964–1966) and ''Disc and Music Echo '' (1966–1972). ...

'', a weekly magazine edited by

Ray Coleman Ray Coleman (15 June 1937, Leicester – 10 September 1996, Shepperton) was a British author and music journalist. Career Coleman was the former editor-in-chief of '' Melody Maker'' known for his biographies of The Beatles. Besides ''Melody ...

. King adopted a deliberately provocative style, promoting new acts but also publishing criticism of the music industry and particular artists.King, ''65 My Life So Far'', ch. 10.

Michael Wale Michael Wale is a Canadian cinematographer and director known for his work on The WB / CW television series ''Smallville'' and ''iZombie'' as well as the Fox television series ''Fringe'' and '' Almost Human''. Career Wale began his career a ...

described him as "the butterfly who stamped its foot".

Discovery of Genesis

In early 1967, King attended an old boys' reunion at Charterhouse School. He said he went there to show off, "oust ng Baden Powell as their most famous Old Boy." When they heard he was going to be there, a school band recorded a demo tape for him, and a friend, John Alexander, left the

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in th ...

in King's car with a note, "These are Charterhouse boys. Have a listen". Calling themselves Anon, the band consisted at that point of

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

, Tony Banks,

Anthony Phillips Anthony Edwin Phillips (born 23 December 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, producer and singer who gained prominence as the original lead guitarist of the rock band Genesis, from 1967 to 1970. He left in July 1970 and learned to play m ...

, Chris Stewart and

Mike Rutherford Michael John Cloete Crawford Rutherford (born 2 October 1950) is an English guitarist, bassist and songwriter, co-founder of the rock band Genesis. Rutherford and keyboardist Tony Banks are the group's two continuous members. Initially servin ...

, then all aged 15 to 17.Welch, Chris (1995). ''The Complete Guide to the Music of Genesis''. Omnibus Press, 1–3. King liked several songs such as "She is Beautiful" (which became "The Serpent" on the band's first album) and, according to Philips, they got the deal with King on the basis of that song. King signed the band to JonJo Music and licensed the short-term rights to Decca Records. He paid them £40 for four songs, and came up with their name,

, to mark the start of his own career as a serious record producer.Banks, Tony, et al. (2007). "Charterhouse (1963–1968)," in Philip Dodd (ed.), ''Genesis: Chapter and Verse'', St. Martin's Griffin, 27–28. According to Phillips, King was "hugely patient and indulgent" with the band. John Silver, drummer on the first album, wrote in 2007:

We would be pretending to rehearse or simply waiting around and somehow somebody would bring a message to the flat, "Quick, get over to Jonathan King's flat, because
Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
's turning up." We would scurry over as quickly as possible because the art was to be there, looking casual, before the next famous person arrived, so that Jonathan King could say, "Hey, these are my new protégés." I trusted him as a god, because he knew these people. It wasn't celebrity like it is now. There were only a few famous people and he knew them. If Jonathan said jump or stand backwards or stand on your head, basically you did it. This was the nature of the relationship; he was completely omnipotent, in a decent way.

King produced their first three singles, including "

The Silent Sun "The Silent Sun" (album title "Silent Sun") is the debut single by English rock band Genesis. It was written by Tony Banks and Peter Gabriel when the band's producer, Jonathan King, first discovered them, before he decided to produce an entire ...

" (1968) and an album, '' From Genesis to Revelation'' (1969). Banks and Gabriel wrote "The Silent Sun" as a late-1960s

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...

"pastiche" to please King;

Robin Gibb Robin Hugh Gibb (22 December 1949 – 20 May 2012) was a British singer and songwriter. He gained worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees pop group with elder brother Barry and fraternal twin brother Maurice. Robin Gibb also had his o ...

's voice was apparently King's favourite at the time. The records made little impact; the album sold just 649 copies "and we knew all of those people personally," wrote Banks. King slowly lost interest in the band. Their next demo was even less "poppy"; the more complicated the songs, the less King liked them.Banks 2007, 52. Genesis left King in 1970 for

Tony Stratton-Smith Tony Stratton-Smith (29 October 1933 – 19 March 1987) was an English rock music manager, and entrepreneur. He founded the London-based record label Charisma Records in 1969 and managed rock groups such as the Nice, Van der Graaf Generator and ...

Charisma Records Charisma Records (also known as The Famous Charisma Label) was a British record label founded in 1969 by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith. He had previously acted as manager for rock bands such as The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der ...

, were joined by

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

and

Steve Hackett Stephen Richard Hackett (born 12 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who gained prominence as the lead guitarist of the progressive rock band Genesis from 1971 to 1977. Hackett contributed to six Genesis ...

—and, after another two unsuccessful albums, released ''

Foxtrot The foxtrot is a smooth, progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band (usually vocal) music. The dance is similar in its look to waltz, although the rhythm is in a tim ...

'' (1972) to critical acclaim. King retained the rights to the first album and re-released it several times under different titles. Rutherford said in 1985 that, "for all his faults", King had given the band an opportunity to record, which at that time was hard to come by.

Broadcasting, Decca Records

When King graduated from Cambridge in June 1967, the press covered his graduation ceremony: "Jonathan King becomes M.A. (Cantab.)". Shortly afterwards Tony Firth, an ATV producer and Trinity graduate, asked King to present ''Good Evening'', a weekly television show that ran nationally on ATV at 6:30 pm on Saturdays from October 1967 to 1968. The following year he began broadcasting for

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

, including a "blast off" slot on the Stuart Henry show.King, ''65 My Life So Far'', ch. 12. Tired of living in the Dorset Street apartment, King bought a three-storey

mews house A mews is a row or courtyard of stables and carriage houses with living quarters above them, built behind large city houses before motor vehicles replaced horses in the early twentieth century. Mews are usually located in desirable residential ...

near Porchester Terrace, Bayswater, in which he still lived as of 2019, for £18,650. Around this time, he was recruited by Sir Edward Lewis of Decca Records, and another Trinity graduate, to be his unpaid (expenses only) personal assistant. King writes that Lewis recruited him twice for this position, once not long after graduation and again in the late 1970s.

Early 1970s

" (1965) was the last big hit King had for four years. Then his cover of " Let It All Hang Out" (1969) made the top 30 in January 1970, and he went on to become the top singles producer of 1971 and 1972,"UK Producer King Launches Own Label"
''Billboard'', 27 May 1972, 51. beginning with "

It's the Same Old Song "It's the Same Old Song" was recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. It was released in 1965 as the second single from their second album. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is tod ...

". Released by

B&C Records B&C Records (which stood for Beat & Commercial) was a British record label run by Trojan Records' owner, Lee Gopthal. It existed primarily between May 1969 and September 1972. In 1971, the progressive and folk artists that were still signed to ...

in December 1970 under a pseudonym, the Weathermen, it moved into the charts a month later. Using pseudonyms meant more airtime: radio producers might play several songs by the same artist during a programme without realizing they had devoted so much airtime to one person. King's 1971 releases included a version of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

's " Baby, You've Been On My Mind", released as Nemo, which failed to chart; ''

The Sun Has Got His Hat On "The Sun Has Got His Hat On" is a song by Noel Gay and Ralph Butler. It is known for its appearance in the 1985 version of the musical '' Me and My Girl'', and was originally recorded in 1932 by two popular UK dance bands – Ambrose and his Orch ...

'', also as Nemo; " Sugar, Sugar" as Sakkarin; " Leap Up and Down (Wave Your Knickers in the Air)" by St Cecelia (this one a real band, rather than a pseudonym), which went to number 12; and " Lazybones", "

Flirt Flirting or coquetry is a social and sexual behavior involving spoken or written communication, as well as body language. It is either to suggest interest in a deeper relationship with the other person or, if done playfully, for amusement. I ...

" and " Hooked on a Feeling" – all released under his own name.

Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benny ...

asked King to produce four songs for the

, including their first hit, " Keep on Dancing", on which King sang the 13 backing vocals himself. Released in May 1971, the single reached number nine. "Hooked on a Feeling", a country song that King had turned into a pop hit, adding "ooga chaka ooga ooga" to the intro, was a Top Thirty hit. King's arrangement later gave Swedish group

Blue Swede Blue Swede were a Swedish rock band fronted by Björn Skifs which was active between the years 1973–1979. Blue Swede released two albums of cover versions, including a rendition of " Hooked on a Feeling", which brought them international char ...

a US number one in April 1974. The arrangement featured in ''

Reservoir Dogs ''Reservoir Dogs'' is a 1992 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino in his feature-length debut. It stars Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen, Tarantino, and Edward Bunke ...

'' (1992), at least one episode of '' Ally McBeal'', where it provided the music for the Dancing Baby (1998), and ''

Guardians of the Galaxy The Guardians of the Galaxy is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It may more specifically refer to: Comic book teams * Guardians of the Galaxy (1969 team), the original 31st-century team fr ...

'' (2014), although King writes that he made no money from the Blue Swede version. Years later the track still garners coverage. Another top three 1971 hit was " Johnny Reggae", a

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

pop song about a

skinhead A skinhead is a member of a subculture which originated among working class youths in London, England, in the 1960s and soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working class skinhead movement emerging worldwide in th ...

, written by King after he was introduced to a Johnny Reggae at the Walton Hop disco in Surrey. It was sung by King and middle-aged session singers pretending to be teenagers, credited to

The Piglets The Piglets were a British female outfit, and one of the pseudonyms Jonathan King used in the 1970s to release some of his songs. Their lead singer on Johnny Reggae was Barbara Kay. The Piglets are best remembered for " Johnny Reggae" (1971), rele ...

and released by Bell. John Stratton writes that "Johnny Reggae" was the "first British hit with a ska beat to have been written by a white Englishman ... and performed by white English singers and musicians." While, according to

Lloyd Bradley Lloyd Bradley (born 21 January 1955) is a British music journalist and author. Biography Born in London to recent immigrants from St Kitts, Bradley discovered Jamaican music during his teenage years, while going out in the North London-based s ...

, the BBC was reluctant to play

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

by black Jamaican artists, "Johnny Reggae", which Bradley described as "lamentable ndaudibly jarring", reached number three in the UK in November 1971 (when

Slade Slade are an English rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The ''British Hit Singles ...

's "

Coz I Luv You "Coz I Luv You" is a song by the British rock band Slade, released in 1971 as a non-album single. It was written by lead vocalist Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea, and produced by Chas Chandler. It reached No. 1 in the UK, giving the band their ...

" was number one) and stayed in the top 50 for 12 weeks. It has been reported that, under various different names and in assorted formats, he sold around 40 million records.Ronson, Jon (1 December 2001)
"The fall of a pop impresario"
''The Guardian''

UK records

In 1972, King founded the

UK Records UK Records was a music label launched in 1972 by Jonathan King to distribute his own releases and those by some other artists.PolyGram PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...

in the UK and

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

in the US. Chris Denning left Bell to run the UK office and Fred Ruppert, formerly of

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

, the US office. Don Wardell then took over the US office, Denning left and Wardell moved back to run the UK company. King's brother Andy was hired in 1974 as the promotion manager. Clive Selwood, who had helmed

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

's label

Dandelion ''Taraxacum'' () is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus is native to Eurasia and Nor ...

, then took over as manager. The label's first hit was " Seaside Shuffle" by

Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs were an English novelty band that issued a few recordings in the early 1970s. The band was an alias adopted by Brett Marvin and the Thunderbolts but signed to a different record label. Terry Dactyl and the Dinos ...

, followed by King's " Loop di Love", which reached number four, released under the pseudonym Shag. Other signings included

Ricky Wilde Ricky may refer to: Places * Říčky (Brno-Country District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic * Říčky v Orlických horách, a village in the north of the Czech Republic *Rickmansworth, a town in England sometimes called "Ricky ...

, then 11 years old and promoted to fill the gap later taken by

Donny Osmond Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, dancer, actor, television host, and former teen idol. He first gained fame performing with four of his elder brothers as the Osmonds, earning several top ten hits and gol ...

, a potential

David Cassidy David Bruce Cassidy (April 12, 1950 – November 21, 2017) was an American actor, singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was best known for his role as Keith Partridge, the son of Shirley Partridge (played by his stepmother, Shirley Jones), in t ...

, Simon Turner,

Roy C Roy Charles Hammond (August 3, 1939 – September 16, 2020), better known as Roy C or Roy "C", was an American southern soul singer, songwriter and record executive, best known for his 1965 hit, "Shotgun Wedding". Another song, " Impeach the Pres ...

the First Class The First Class were a British pop music studio-based group, put together by songwriter and record producer John Carter. They are best known for their hit song " Beach Baby," a top 20 hit in both the US and UK. Career The First Class was the ...

and Lobo. The label also released King's cover of "

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. A product of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' songwriting partnership, it features a guitar riff by Richards that opens and drives the song. The riff ...

" (1974) under the name Bubblerock, described as a "

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

"-style country version", which met the approval of

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

. In June 1973, after seeing ''

The Rocky Horror Show ''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to the science fiction and horror B movies of the 1930s through to the early 1960s, the musical tells the story of a newly engaged couple ...

'' on its second night, King invested a 20% stake in it, making him one of its two original backers, along with Michael White, and produced and released ''The Rocky Horror Show Original London Cast''. The label's most significant signing was

10cc 10cc are an English rock music, rock band formed in Stockport in 1972. The group initially consisted of four musicians – Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme – who had written and recorded together since 1968. The grou ...

Eric Stewart Eric Michael Stewart (born 20 January 1945) is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer, best known as a founding member of the rock groups the Mindbenders with whom he played from 1963 to 1968, and likewise of 1 ...

, one of the band members, had known King since 1965, when Stewart was with

The Mindbenders The Mindbenders were an English beat group from Manchester, England. Originally the backing group for Wayne Fontana, they were one of several acts that were successful in the mid-1960s British Invasion of the US charts, achieving major chart ...

and King had wanted to manage them. The band had planned to release "

Donna Donna may refer to the short form of the honorific ''nobildonna'', the female form of Don (honorific) in Italian. People * Donna (given name); includes name origin and list of people and characters with the name * Roberto Di Donna (born 1968), ...

" as a B side, but decided it could be a hit: "We only knew of one person who was mad enough to release it," Stewart said, "and that was Jonathan King." King gave the band its name and released two of the group's albums (''

10cc 10cc are an English rock band formed in Stockport in 1972. The group initially consisted of four musicians – Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme – who had written and recorded together since 1968. The group featured t ...

'' and ''

Sheet Music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...

'') and eight singles. "Donna" (1972) and "

Rubber Bullets Rubber bullets (also called rubber baton rounds) are a type of baton round. Despite the name, rubber bullets typically have either a metal core with a rubber coating, or are a homogeneous admixture with rubber being a minority component. Altho ...

" (1973), reached number two and one respectively, followed by "

The Dean and I "The Dean and I" is a song by the art rock/ pop band 10cc, from their 1973 eponymous debut album, written by Lol Creme and Kevin Godley. The song was released as the fourth single from the album in August 1973 and peaked at #10 on the UK Sin ...

" (1973) and "

The Wall Street Shuffle "The Wall Street Shuffle" is a single by the British pop/rock band 10cc, released in 1974 on the UK Records label, from the band's 1974 album ''Sheet Music (10cc album), Sheet Music''. It was the most successful single to be released from the al ...

" (1974). The band only dented the American market, with "Rubber Bullets" making 73 on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot 100. 10cc left UK Records in 1975 for

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

, after which they achieved success in America, particularly with " I'm Not in Love" (1975).

Move to New York

In April 1978, King stood for

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

as an independent in the Epsom and Ewell by-election, calling himself the Royalist party. He gained 2,350 votes. A year later he decided to leave the music industry and closed UK Records. He wrote to the charts committee of the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

in August 1979 alleging that the lower levels of the charts reflected "clever promotion and marketing rather than good records", and suggesting that only information about the top 30 should be made available. The idea was that this would force programmers to base their airplay decisions on something other than the lower charts. The UK Records New York office on 57th Street was turned into an apartment, and King set about building a new career in writing and broadcasting. He was given a weekly five-minute slot on BBC Radio 1 called "A King in New York", a "Postcard from America" slot in Radio 4, and he reported for Radio 1 on the 1980 presidential election. In December 1980, watching television in bed, he heard there had been a shooting outside the Dakota Apartments. He called and woke up BBC producer

Tom Brook Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

, who was living in New York; Brook became the first to announce to the UK that

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

had died. Throughout 1980 and 1981 King presented a radio talk show on New York's

WMCA WMCA may refer to: *WMCA (AM), a radio station operating in New York City * West Midlands Combined Authority, the combined authority of the West Midlands metropolitan county in the United Kingdom *Wikimedia Canada The Wikimedia Foundation, ...

from 10–12 weekday mornings, and regularly reported from the United States on ''

''. He devised and hosted a spinoff series, '' Entertainment USA'', broadcast on

BBC 2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

, which was nominated for a BAFTA in 1987. He also created and produced '' No Limits'', a youth programme. His first novel, ''Bible Two'', was published in 1982. It tells the story of a window dresser in "Selfishes" who inherits his family's millions. He was also hired by

Kelvin MacKenzie Kelvin Calder MacKenzie (born 22 October 1946) is an English media executive and a former newspaper editor. He became editor of '' The Sun'' in 1981, by which time the publication was established as Britain's largest circulation newspaper. Aft ...

, editor of '' The Sun'', to write a weekly column, "Bizarre USA", which began in February 1985 and continued for eight years.King, ''65 My Life So Far'', ch. 16. He continued with several music projects, including with the hard-rock supergroup Gogmagog, which released an EP, ''I Will Be There'' (1985).

Brit Awards, Eurovision Song Contest

In 1987, King wrote and hosted the

for the BBC, and from 1990 to 1992 was the event's writer and producer. He resigned just after the 1992 show because he and the

, which runs the awards, disagreed about the show's format."The music industry's outsider"
BBC News, 24 November 2000. Note: the BBC says that King resigned from the Brit Awards in 1991, but this appears to be an error. The following year he founded ''

The Tip Sheet ''The Tip Sheet'' (1993–2002) was a weekly magazine and CD insert for UK music industry insiders. Jonathan King Jonathan King (born Kenneth George King; 6 December 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He first came to ...

'' (1993–2002), a weekly trade magazine promoting new acts. Also in 1987, King accused

Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo i ...

of plagiarising the melody of

Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later in ...

' song " Wild World" for their UK No. 1 single "

It's a Sin "It's a Sin" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their second studio album, ''Actually'' (1987). Written by Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant, the song was released on 15 June 1987 as the album's lead single. It became the duo's ...

". He made the claims in '' The Sun'', for which he wrote a regular column during the 1980s. King also released his own cover version of "Wild World" as a single, using a similar musical arrangement to "It's a Sin", in an effort to demonstrate his claims. This single flopped, while Pet Shop Boys sued King, eventually winning out-of-court damages, which they donated to charity. King's media work included finding and producing the

entrant for the BBC from 1995. He selected several songs for them. Love City Groove's song, " Love City Groove", came tenth in 1995.

Gina G Gina G (born Gina Mary Gardiner, 3 August 1970) is an Australian singer who represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1996, with the song " Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit", which reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart. The ...

's " Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit" came eighth the following year, and was number one on the UK chart. "

Love Shine A Light "Love Shine a Light" is a song by British rock band Katrina and the Waves. It represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1997. It was released as a single on 28 April 1997 and was later included on the band's ninth studio a ...

" by

came first in 1997. His entry for 1998, when the UK hosted the event in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, was by

Imaani Imaani Saleem (born Melonie Crosdale on 1 January 1972) is an English singer, best known for representing the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 in Birmingham with the song " Where Are You". The song placed second in the contest ...

and came second. His writing continued. His second novel, ''The Booker Prize Winner'', was published that year. He was involved in promoting the

Baha Men The Baha Men are a Bahamian junkanoo band formed in New Providence, Bahamas in 1977. They are best known for their Grammy Award-winning hit song "Who Let the Dogs Out". History Early years The Baha Men formed in 1977 as High Voltage, initia ...

's number one hit, "

Who Let the Dogs Out? "Who Let the Dogs Out" is a song performed by Bahamian junkanoo band Baha Men. Originally released by Anslem Douglas (titled "Doggie"), it was covered by producer Jonathan King who sang it under the name Fat Jakk and his Pack of Pets. He brough ...

" (2000) which he first released under the name Fat Jakk and his Pack of Pets in 1998. In October 1997, King received a Music Industry Trusts Award at a dinner held in his honour at the

Grosvenor House Hotel ] JW Marriott Grosvenor House London, originally named the Grosvenor House Hotel, is a luxury hotel that opened in 1929 in the Mayfair area of London, England. The hotel is managed by JW Marriott Hotels, which is a brand of Marriott Internat ...

in London. A video tribute to him featured Guy Mitchell,

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

The Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1964, initially consisting of keyboardist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas, guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge and bassist Clint Warwick. The group came to ...

and

Hanson Hanson or Hansson may refer to: People * Hanson (surname) * Hansson (surname) * Hanson (wrestler), ringname of an American professional wrestler Musical groups * Hanson (band), an American pop rock band * Hanson (UK band), an English rock ...

."Previous award recipients"
Music Industry Trusts Award, 16 March 2015 The following year he devised ''

The Record of the Year The Record of the Year was an award voted by the United Kingdom public. For many years it was given in conjunction with television programmes of the same name. The first show ran in the early evening on a December Saturday just before Christmas ...

'', produced by his ''Tip Sheet'' and

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 unt ...

, a show in which the public voted for the year's best single. In 2000

Nigel Lythgoe Nigel Lythgoe OBE (; born 9 July 1949), also known as Nasty Nigel, is an English television and film director and producer, television dance competition judge, former dancer in the Young Generation and choreographer. He was the producer of the ...

, executive producer of the new ''

Popstars ''Popstars'' is an international reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Realit ...

'' talent show, considered hiring King as anchor of its judging panel, but he turned it down. Lythgoe took the position himself. King reportedly turned down the chance to manage

the KLF The KLF (also known as the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, the JAMs, the Timelords and other names) are a British electronic band formed in London in 1987. Bill Drummond (alias King Boy D) and Jimmy Cauty (alias Rockman Rock) began by releasing ...

Court cases

2001 trials

In September 2001, King was convicted, after a two-week trial at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

, on four counts of

indecent assault Indecent assault is an offence of aggravated assault in some common law-based jurisdictions. It is characterised as a sex crime and has significant overlap with offences referred to as sexual assault. England and Wales Indecent assault was a broa ...

, one of buggery and one of attempted buggery, committed between 1983 and 1987 against five boys aged 14 and 15. In a second trial, he was found not guilty after an alleged victim (someone King denied having ever met) acknowledged that he could have been 16 or older at the time. Three further trials that had been scheduled were ordered abandoned. King continued to maintain his innocence throughout, protesting, among other things, that the lack of a

statute of limitations A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In m ...

in the UK for sex offences meant he had been unable to defend himself adequately because of the many years that had passed. The

National Criminal Intelligence Service The National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) was a United Kingdom policing agency. Following the Police and Criminal Justice Act 2001, NCIS returned to direct funding by the Home Office in 2002 and was a non-departmental public body. On 1 Ap ...

had begun investigating King for child sexual abuse in 2000, when a man told them he had been assaulted by King and others 30 years earlier.Hall, Sarah (22 November 2001)
"Victim's angry email led to downfall"
''The Guardian''. London. The man had originally approached publicist

Max Clifford Maxwell Frank Clifford (6 April 1943 – 10 December 2017) was an English publicist who was particularly associated with promoting " kiss and tell" stories in tabloid newspapers. In December 2012, as part of Operation Yewtree, Clifford was arr ...

, himself later jailed in 2014 for sexual assault; Clifford told him that he should go to the police. King was arrested in November that year and bailed on £150,000, £50,000 of which was put up by

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...

.Walker, Tim (27 November 2011)
"Jonathan King: 'My book's an online hit, millions click on my videos. How about lifting the media ban on me?'"
''The Independent''. He was arrested again in January 2001 on further allegations."King faces fresh charges"
''BBC News''. 25 January 2001. 27 men told police that King had sexually assaulted them during the period 1969–1989. Police found pictures of teenagers in a search of King's home. King admitted having approached thousands of people with questionnaires about youth interests, doing

market research Market research is an organized effort to gather information about target markets and customers: know about them, starting with who they are. It is an important component of business strategy and a major factor in maintaining competitiveness. Mark ...

. The questionnaires asked recipients to list topics according to importance including music, sport, friends and family; the prosecution claimed that boys who listed sex high in their list of priorities were then targeted by King. After the second trial at the Old Bailey on 21 November 2001, Judge David Paget QC sentenced King to seven years in prison using the first trial verdict as a sample for "all previous sexual behaviour". In addition, King was placed on the

Sex Offenders Register A sex offender registry is a system in various countries designed to allow government authorities to keep track of the activities of sex offenders, including those who have completed their criminal sentences. In some jurisdictions, registration i ...

, prohibited from working with children, and ordered to pay £14,000 costs.Clough, Sue; O'Neill, Sean (22 November 2001)
"Pop veteran Jonathan King given seven years for abusing schoolboys"
''The Daily Telegraph''. London. In 2003, the Court of Appeal rejected his application to appeal both the conviction and the sentence; he had argued that the conviction was unsafe and the sentence, with guidelines of two years, had been "manifestly too severe". He appealed twice unsuccessfully to the

Criminal Cases Review Commission The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is the statutory body responsible for investigating alleged miscarriages of justice in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It was established by Section 8 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 and bega ...

, and was released on parole in March 2005, strongly proclaiming his innocence. King has complained about his media coverage since his 2001 conviction. In 2005, he went to the

Press Complaints Commission The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was a voluntary regulatory body for British printed newspapers and magazines, consisting of representatives of the major publishers. The PCC closed on Monday 8 September 2014, and was replaced by the Indep ...

about an article in the ''

News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...

'' that said he had gone to a park to "ogle" boys. In fact he had gone there at the request of a documentary maker. The complaint was not upheld, but

Roy Greenslade Roy Greenslade (born 31 December 1946) is a British author and freelance journalist, and a former professor of journalism. He worked in the UK newspaper industry from the 1960s onwards. As a media commentator, he wrote a daily blog from 2006 to ...

argued that King had a good case. In October 2011, then-BBC

Director-General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a governmen ...

Mark Thompson apologised to King for the removal of King's performance of " It Only Takes a Minute" from a repeat, on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

, of a 1976 episode of ''

''. King described the cut as a "Stalinist revision approach to history". When asked by a newspaper in 2012 if he believed he had anything to apologise for, to anybody from his past, King replied, "The only apology I have is to say that I was good at seduction. I was good at making myself seem attractive when I wasn't very attractive at all". He appeared in front of the Leveson Inquiry.

After prison

Journalist Robert Chalmers wrote that King's creative output after he left prison "resembled a primal scream of rage". Two novels appeared: ''Beware the Monkey Man'' (2010), under the pen name Rex Kenny, and ''Death Flies, Missing Girls and Brigitte Bardot'' (2013), under his real name, Kenneth George King. He also published a diary, ''Three Months'' (2012), and two volumes of his autobiography, ''Jonathan King 65: My Life So Far'' (2009) and ''70 FFFY'' (2014). King maintained an interest in prison issues and writes a column for '' Inside Time'', the national newspaper for prisoners. He released ''Earth to King'' in 2008. One of the new songs on the album, "The True Story of Harold Shipman" was about the serial killer Dr.

Harold Shipman Harold Frederick Shipman (14 January 1946 – 13 January 2004), known by the public as Doctor Death and to acquaintances as Fred Shipman, was an English general practitioner and serial killer. He is considered to be one of the most prolif ...

, in which King suggested that Shipman may have been a victim of the media. He also produced three films. ''Vile Pervert: The Musical'' (2008), available for free download, is a 96-minute film in which King plays all 21 parts and presents his version of events surrounding his prosecution. He portrays his viewpoint of the events responsible for his troubles. In one scene King, dressed as

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

, sings that there is "nothing wrong with buggering boys". Rod Liddle in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' called it "a fantastically berserk, bravado performance". ''Me Me Me'' (2011) was described at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

as "a re-telling of ''Romeo and Juliet''". ''The Pink Marble Egg'' (2013) is a spy story; for publicity King drove down the

Promenade de la Croisette The Promenade de la Croisette (), or Boulevard de la Croisette, is a prominent road in Cannes, France. It stretches along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea and is about 2 km long. The Croisette is known for the Palais des Festivals et des ...

in Cannes with a pink

papier-mâché upright=1.3, Mardi Gras papier-mâché masks, Haiti upright=1.3, Papier-mâché Catrinas, traditional figures for day of the dead celebrations in Mexico Papier-mâché (, ; , literally "chewed paper") is a composite material consisting of p ...

egg on top of his Rolls-Royce during the

2018 trial

In August 2015, King wrote an article for ''

'' magazine concerning

Sir Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...

, the subject of the now-discredited

Operation Midland Operation Midland was a criminal investigation which the London Metropolitan Police carried out between November 2014 and March 2016 in response to false allegations of historic child abuse made by Carl Beech. The operation focused on investiga ...

. In September that year, King was arrested as part of Operation Ravine, a further investigation into claims of sexual abuse at the Walton Hop disco in the 1970s. He was later released on bail. On 25 May 2017, he was charged by

Surrey Police Surrey Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Surrey in South East England. The force is currently led by Chief Constable Gavin Stephens. Previously the force was led by Nick Ephgrave who left the force ...

with 18 sexual offences, relating to nine boys aged between 14 and 16, allegedly carried out between 1970 and 1986. He was released on bail and appeared at

Westminster Magistrates' Court Westminster Magistrates' Court is a magistrates' court at 181 Marylebone Road, London. The Chief Magistrate of England and Wales, who is the Senior District Judge of England and Wales, sits at the court, and all extradition and terrorism-rela ...

on 26 June, where he was released on conditional bail to appear at

Southwark Crown Court The Crown Court at Southwark, commonly but inaccurately called Southwark Crown Court, is one of two locations of the Crown Court in the London SE1 postcode area, along with the Crown Court at Inner London. Opened in 1983, the brick building is ...

on 31 July. His trial began on 11 June 2018; on 27 June, he was declared not guilty on several charges, and the jury was discharged for legal reasons. On 6 August 2018, Judge Deborah Taylor, saying that Surrey Police had made "numerous, repeated and compounded" errors during the investigation, described the situation as a "debacle". In her ruling she said "I have concluded that this is a case where even if it were possible to have a fair trial, it is in the rare category where the balance, taking account of the history, the failures and misleading of the Court, is in favour of a stay on the basis that following what has occurred, continuation would undermine public confidence in the administration of justice". Taylor said that the case against King had been motivated by "concerns about reputational damage to Surrey Police" following the allegations of sexual abuse against

. Surrey Police "wholeheartedly apologised" to King, saying: "We deeply regret that despite these efforts we did not meet the required standards to ensure a fair trial." King refused to accept the apology, and criticised Surrey Police for "deep, institutional faults". He urged both the Chief Constable and the Police and Crime Commissioner to go. After the "debacle", as Judge Taylor described the 2018 trial, many respected commentators started to question the verdict of the 2001 trial, including

Bob Woffinden Robert Woffinden (31 January 1948 – 1 May 2018) was a British investigative journalist. Formerly a reporter with the ''New Musical Express'', he later specialised in investigating miscarriages of justice. He wrote about a number of high-profi ...

in his book ''The Nicholas Cases'', and

Daniel Finkelstein Daniel William Finkelstein, Baron Finkelstein, (born 30 August 1962) is a British journalist and politician. He is a former executive editor of ''The Times'' and remains a weekly political columnist. He is a former chairman of Policy Exchange ...

in''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

''; the

announced it was reopening an investigation into it, after fresh evidence emerged during the 2018 prosecution. In August 2019, Chief Constable Stephens, who had replaced Ephgrave, announced that, in the year since King's acquittal, the Surrey Police success rate for convictions in sex abuse cases had dropped from 20% to "under 4%". On 22 November 2019, an independent review into the police investigation leading to the trial was published. It was critical of the handling of disclosure of documents to King's defence prior to the trial, and questioned whether some of the staff involved had been qualified or experienced enough to handle the case.Operation Ravine Peer Review Report
Surrey Police, 22 November 2019.

Selected works

Discography

Books

*(1982) ''Bible Two: A Novel According to Jonathan King'', London: W. H. Allen/Virgin Books. *(1997) ''The Booker Prize Winner'', London: Blake Publishing. *(2009) ''65: My Life So Far'', London: Revvolution Publishing Ltd. *(2010) ''Beware the Monkey Man'' (as Rex Kenny), London: Revvolution Publishing Ltd. *(2012) ''Three Months: 100 Glorious Sunny Days in the Summer of 2012. A Diary'', London: Kingofhits.com. *(2013) ''Death Flies, Missing Girls and Brigitte Bardot'' (as Kenneth George King), Amazon Media. *(2014) ''70 FFFY'', London: Revvolution Publishing Ltd, Amazon Media. *(2016) ''The Spirit Phone'' (as Kate Genifer), London: Revvolution Publishing Ltd, Amazon Media. *(2018) ''Don't Go In'' (as KG Jonathan King), London: Revvolution Publishing Ltd, Amazon Media. *(2019) ''Guilty'', London: Revvolution Publishing Ltd, Amazon Media.

Films

*(2008) ''Vile Pervert: The Musical'' *(2011) ''Me Me Me'' *(2013) ''The Pink Marble Egg'' *(2019) ''Guilty''

Notes

References

External links

King's website''Vile Pervert'' movie website''Me Me Me'' movie website''The Pink Marble Egg'' movie website
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Jonathan 1944 births Living people 20th-century English criminals Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge BBC television presenters English male criminals English people convicted of indecent assault Child sexual abuse in England Criminals from London Decca Records artists English people convicted of child sexual abuse English people of American descent English pop singers English record producers English television presenters Genesis (band) Impresarios LGBT singers from the United Kingdom Parrot Records artists People educated at Charterhouse School Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales English male singer-songwriters The Sun (United Kingdom) people