King were a British new wave band which formed in 1984. The band achieved chart success in 1985, and are best known for their hit single "

Love & Pride "Love & Pride" is the debut single by Coventry band King, produced by Richard James Burgess and featured on the band's first studio album '' Steps in Time''. The single was first released in April 1984 but was not a success, spending only three ...

", which reached number 2 in the UK. 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 Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

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 ...

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 The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

Paul King. As lead singer, Paul King wore a mullet haircut and spray-painted Doc Marten's Boots – a look described "like the

Child Catcher The Child Catcher is a fictional character in the 1968 film ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' and in the later stage musical adaptation. The Child Catcher is employed by Baron Bomburst and Baroness Bomburst to snatch and imprison children on the street ...

from '' Chitty Chitty Bang Bang''". The band released two UK Top 20 albums on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

, both produced and mixed by

Richard James Burgess Richard James Burgess (born 29 June 1949) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, composer, author, manager, marketer and inventor. Burgess's music career spans more than 50 years. He came to prominence in the early 1980s a ...

, who also played drums on most of the debut album ''

Steps in Time ''Steps in Time'' is the debut studio album by English new wave band King, released in November 1984 by CBS Records. The album peaked at No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart and was certified Gold by the BPI. The album included three singles. "Love & ...

'' (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" 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. In 1987, Paul King released a solo album entitled ''

Joy The word joy refers to the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune, and is typically associated with feelings of intense, long lasting happiness. Dictionary definitions Dictionary definitions of joy typically include a sense of ...

'', produced by American producer

Dan Hartman Daniel Earl Hartman (December 8, 1950 – March 22, 1994) was an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Among songs he wrote and recorded were " Free Ride" as a member of the Edgar Winter Group, and the solo hits ...

. After that, he briefly worked as a VJ for MTV. 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". Cherry Red Records released a remastered version of ''Bitter Sweet'' in 2007 followed in 2010 by a remaster of ''Steps In Time'' and in 2018 by another King compilation entitled ''Remixes & Rarities'', 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 The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

*Jim "Jackal" Lantsbery –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, backing vocals *John Hewitt – drums *Adrian Lillywhite – drums *Colin Heanes – drums

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Video albums

Singles

Solo

Paul King *''

'' (1987)

References

External links

King official websiteMike Roberts official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:King (band) English new wave musical groups Musical groups from Coventry Musical groups established in 1984 Musical groups disestablished in 1986 Musical quartets