"The King Is Dead" is a song by British band Go West, released in 1987 as the third single from their second studio album '' Dancing on the Couch''. It was written by Peter Cox and

Richard Drummie Richard Drummie (born 20 March 1959, in London) is an English guitarist, songwriter and producer. Drummie and Peter Cox (musician), Peter Cox are the founding members of musical group Go West (band), Go West. Early career and Go West Drummie ...

, and produced by Gary Stevenson. "The King Is Dead" reached number 67 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The 12" version of the single featured a live version of "The King Is Dead" as the A-side, recorded live at the Hammersmith Odeon, London.

Background

The song features

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights (song), Wuthering Heights", ...

on backing vocals. While recording the song in Denmark, Go West felt it would benefit from the addition of backing vocals reminiscent of Bush's style. Guitarist

Alan Murphy Alan Murphy (18 November 1953 – 19 October 1989) was a British rock session guitarist, best remembered for his collaborations with Kate Bush and Go West. In 1988, he joined the jazz-funk band Level 42 as a full-time band member, and played wi ...

, who had worked with Bush in the past and was currently working with Go West on the recording of ''Dancing on the Couch'', offered to contact her. Bush agreed to provide vocals, but rather than travel to Denmark due to her fear of flying, she recorded her part in her home studio.

Critical reception

Upon release, John Aixlewood of ''

Number One Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

'' commented, "Go West have nimbly swapped their simplistic loud songs for a simplistic quiet one. 'The King Is Dead' tries for that late night, smoke-filled bar feel, and ends sounding not a million miles away from the keyboard demonstrator on ''

Sale of the Century ''Sale of the Century'' (stylized as ''$ale of the Century'') is an American television game show that originally debuted on September 29, 1969, on NBC daytime. It was one of three NBC game shows to premiere on that date, the other two being th ...

''. A musical version of the SDP." Andy Strickland of ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

'' felt the song was superior to the duo's "usual effervescent adult pop" and described it as "some nice jazz/smooch that enables oxto show off his tonsil technique to great effect". He added, "Star of the record is the piano player though, who rumbles and rolls across the last 20 seconds of this record like a Rip Rigger of old." In a retrospective review of ''Dancing on the Couch'', Dan LeRoy of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

noted the song was "incongruous but attractive cocktail jazz with an assist from Kate Bush".

Track listing

;7" single #"The King Is Dead" — 4:28 #"Little Caesar" — 4:39 (Recorded live at the Hammersmith Odeon, London) ;12" single #"The King Is Dead (Live Version)" — 6:53 #"Don't Look Down (Live Version)" — 4:54 #"Little Caesar (Live Version)" — 4:29 #"Call Me (Live Version)" — 3:43

Personnel

;Go West * Peter Cox — lead vocals, keyboards, percussion *

— guitar, keyboards, percussion ;Additional personnel on studio recordings * Pino Palladino — bass guitar *

— guitar * Dave West — keyboards * Tony Beard — drums * Gary Stevenson — producer * John Gallen — recording engineer *

Julian Mendelsohn Julian Mendelsohn is an Australian record producer, audio engineer and mixer. Early life After completing school in Australia, Mendelsohn moved to the United Kingdom. He secured his first job in 1974 at Milner Sound Fulham Rd. Chelsea, run b ...

— mixing engineer ;Personnel on live recordings * Peter Cox — lead vocals *

— guitar, keyboards *

— guitar * Peter Adams — piano, keyboards * Jaz Lochrie — bass * Jimmy Copley — drums * Linda Taylor, Maggie Ryder, Mo Birch, Peter Cox — backing vocals ;Other * Nick Knight — photography *

John Pasche John Pasche (born 24 April 1945) is a British art designer, best known for designing the Rolling Stones' tongue and lips logo. Pasche completed his BA degree in graphic design from the Brighton College of Art between 1963 and 1967. He completed ...

— design * Blueprint Management Ltd. — management

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King Is Dead 1987 songs 1987 singles Go West (band) songs Chrysalis Records singles Songs written by Peter Cox (musician) Songs written by Richard Drummie