No More Kings are the Los Angeles-based musical collaboration of singer/songwriter Pete Mitchell and producer/songwriter Neil Robins. No More Kings' music is known for its frequent references to figures in pop culture, most notably Johnny Lawrence from ''

The Karate Kid ''The Karate Kid'' is a 1984 American martial arts drama film written by Robert Mark Kamen and directed by John G. Avildsen. It is the first installment in the ''Karate Kid'' franchise, and stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue an ...

, ''Michael and K.I.T.T. from ''

Knight Rider ''Knight Rider'' is an American entertainment franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The core of ''Knight Rider'' is its three television series: the original ''Knight Rider'' (1982–1986) and sequel series '' Team Knight Rider'' (1997–1998) ...

'', Johnny 5 from ''

Short Circuit A short circuit (sometimes abbreviated to short or s/c) is an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path with no or very low electrical impedance. This results in an excessive current flowing through the circui ...

'', and

Dungeons and Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...

. The band's songs are written by Mitchell along with his longtime friend Neil Robins of the Louisville-based band Dirt Poor Robins. The name "No More Kings" comes from an episode of '' Schoolhouse Rock!'', one of many of No More Kings' inspirations. The particular episode dealt with the Pilgrims leaving England, seeking freedom and independence. Pete studied fine art in college and has worked for

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

and the

Jim Henson Company The Jim Henson Company (formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.; commonly referred to as Henson) is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is known fo ...

; he is an accomplished animator and also speaks Japanese. He designed the interior album art for the band's first album as well as the album art and packaging for their second album. Pete claims his main sources of musical inspiration are

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 developmen ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

, Radiohead, Billy Joel, Beck, and

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 ...

Music videos

Sweep the Leg

No More Kings received much of their exposure from their 2007 music video "Sweep the Leg", which incorporates elements of the 1984 film ''

'' and features appearances by nearly the entire original cast. Martin Kove reprises his role as

John Kreese John Kreese is a fictional character and the main antagonist in ''The Karate Kid'' media franchise. Portrayed by Martin Kove, he appears as an antagonist in the films ''The Karate Kid'' (1984), ''The Karate Kid Part II'' (1986), ''The Karate Ki ...

, and actors who played the Cobra Kai members in the 1984 film, Ron Thomas (Bobby),

Rob Garrison Robert Scott Garrison (January 23, 1960 – September 27, 2019) was an American actor known for his role as Tommy in the 1984 film ''The Karate Kid'' and the second season of its spinoff ''Cobra Kai''. Garrison started his acting career in the ...

(Tommy), and

Tony O'Dell Tony O’Dell (born January 30, 1960) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Cobra Kai member List of The Karate Kid characters#Jimmy, Jimmy in the 1984 film ''The Karate Kid,'' and the second season of its spinoff ''Cobra Kai'' ( ...

(Jimmy) are also part of the cast.

William Zabka William Michael Zabka (; born October 20, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Johnny Lawrence in ''The Karate Kid'' (1984), ''The Karate Kid Part II'' (1986) and the TV series ''Cobra Kai'' (2018–present). In 2004, h ...

, who played Johnny Lawrence in the film, directed the video.

Pat E. Johnson Pat E. Johnson (born in 1939) is a 9th degree black belt in the art of American Tang Soo Do. He is the president of the National Tang Soo Do Congress, which was originally created by Chuck Norris in 1973. Johnson is famous for the martial ar ...

, who was the martial arts director for the film as well as the martial arts director for Bruce Lee, worked on this video.

Dennis Haskins Dennis Haskins (born November 18, 1950) is an American actor known for his role as School principal, Principal Richard Belding in the teen situation comedy, sitcom ''Saved by the Bell'', which ran from 1989 to 1993 on NBC. He then went on to star ...

and

Liza Snyder Liza Snyder (born March 20, 1968) is an American actress. She is known for her television roles, which include Officer Molly Whelan in the ABC (and syndicated) series ''Sirens'', Linda in the NBC sitcom ''Jesse'', Christine Hughes in the CBS si ...

also make an appearance. "Sweep the Leg" was also featured on Sony's ''MLB 08: The Show''. The premise for the music video finds Zabka and members of his

Cobra Kai ''Cobra Kai'' is an American martial arts comedy-drama television series and a sequel to the original ''The Karate Kid'' films by Robert Mark Kamen. The series was created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, and is distributed ...

gang living in a trailer in the desert, having become obsessed with the fight he lost years ago. He is haunted by No More Kings and chases Mitchell across the desert until they have a final showdown at the All Valley Under-18 Karate Championships. Johnny then claims victory, but after realizing it was a fantasy, he is run over by

Ralph Macchio Ralph George Macchio Jr. ( ; born November 4, 1961) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Daniel LaRusso in three ''Karate Kid'' films and in ''Cobra Kai'', a sequel television series. He also played Johnny Cade in '' The Outsiders' ...

as Mitchell looks on. The music video references not only ''The Karate Kid'', but also the 1986 film ''

Back to School ''Back to School'' is a 1986 American comedy film starring Rodney Dangerfield, Keith Gordon, Sally Kellerman, Burt Young, Terry Farrell, William Zabka, Ned Beatty, Sam Kinison, Paxton Whitehead and Robert Downey Jr. It was directed by Alan Met ...

'' (which also stars Zabka), the 1987 film ''

Raising Arizona ''Raising Arizona'' is a 1987 American crime comedy film directed by Joel Coen, produced by Ethan Coen, and written by Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars Nicolas Cage as H.I. "Hi" McDunnough, an ex-convict, and Holly Hunter as Edwina "Ed" McDunnough, ...

'', and the 1984 video for

The Cars The Cars were an American rock band formed in Boston in 1976. Emerging from the new wave scene in the late 1970s, they consisted of Ric Ocasek ( rhythm guitar), Benjamin Orr (bass guitar), Elliot Easton (lead guitar), Greg Hawkes ( keyboard ...

song, "

You Might Think "You Might Think" is a song by American rock band The Cars from their fifth studio album, ''Heartbeat City'' (1984). The track was written by Ric Ocasek and produced by Mutt Lange and the Cars, with Ocasek also providing the lead vocals. The s ...

." There are various versions of the video, the longest being a little over seven minutes. The video was a collaboration between No More Kings’ record label Astonish Records, and Chapter Seven Films, a film company in Los Angeles. "Sweep the Leg" received over 80,000 views within its first week of release and became the number one video on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

on March 16, 2007. It was featured on MySpace's most-viewed lists, earned nearly a million views on YouTube, and was mentioned on VH1's "Best Week Ever" online. In 2008, Astonish Records released a special collector's edition CD/DVD.

Michael

In 2008, No More Kings followed up the video for "Sweep the Leg" with "Michael (Jump In)", which was animated by San Francisco animation company GhostBot. In "Michael (Jump In)", lead singer Pete Mitchell is a hero-wannabe who attempts to help people, but just makes things worse. The main character in the video is trying to be like Michael, from the show ''Knight Rider''.

History

Origins

Pete Mitchell and Neil DeGraide started No More Kings by themselves in the 1990s, and were later joined by Adam DeGraide (bass). They broke up in the late 1990s, but reformed in 2006 when Adam DeGraide started a record label called Astonish Records and signed them. Since the band's reformation, musicians are often added and interchanged according to tours and albums. Pete Mitchell is the band's lead singer and occasionally plays the guitar or piano for shows. He writes songs with Neil Robins, who produces their albums and plays a majority of the instruments.

All The Kings Men

All The Kings Men is the publicity street team for the band No More Kings, which helps in bringing friends to the shows, phoning local radio stations to request the band's songs, putting up posters, and posting to band forums or related bulletin boards online. The name was selected out of hundreds of suggestions by street team members, and came from fan Alicia King.

Discography

No More Kings No More Kings are the Los Angeles-based musical collaboration of singer/songwriter Pete Mitchell and producer/songwriter Neil Robins. No More Kings' music is known for its frequent references to figures in pop culture, most notably Johnny Lawre ...

, released on March 6, 2007. The band's self-titled debut album has a pop atmosphere and focuses on pop culture and literary references. ''

'', ''

,'' the

Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (french: Les Schtroumpfs; nl, De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''The Smurfs'' was first created and int ...

, '' Gulliver's Travels'', characters from ''

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ''Peanuts'' is among the most popular and infl ...

'', the Beastie Boys,

Darth Vader Darth Vader is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. The character is the central antagonist of the original trilogy and, as Anakin Skywalker, is one of the main protagonists in the prequel trilogy. ''Star Wars'' creator George ...

Fonzie Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli, better known as "Fonzie" or "The Fonz", is a fictional character played by Henry Winkler in the American sitcom '' Happy Days'' (1974–1984). He was originally a secondary character, but was soon positioned as a lea ...

, M.C. Hammer,

Archie Bunker Archie is a masculine given name, a diminutive of Archibald. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Archie Alexander (1888–1958), African-American mathematician, engineer and governor of the US Virgin Islands * Archie Blake (mathemati ...

, Ghostbusters II,

Adam and Eve Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...

, and Gene Kelly are all mentioned throughout the album. Well-known songs by the band include "Michael (Jump In)", "Sweep The Leg", and "Zombie Me". Lead singer Pete Mitchell described the album as "a thank-you letter to the 80s". In early 2008,

won in The 7th Annual Independent Music Awards for Best Pop Album.Independent Music Awards - 7th Annual Winners
* And the Flying Boombox, released on May 12, 2009. No More Kings' follow-up album presents quite a different atmosphere, but brings back the pop culture references including Vincent Barbarino from

Welcome Back Kotter ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' is an American sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan as a high-school teacher in charge of a racially and ethnically diverse remedial education class called the "Sweathogs." Recorded in front of a live studio audience, the series ...

, MySpace,

Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show Television pilot, piloted on NBC in 1965 and the regular series debut ...

, Lewis and Clark,

Run-D.M.C. Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of ...

, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,

, and Merlin and Arthur from

Arthurian Legend The Matter of Britain is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. It was one of the three great Wester ...

. The album produced singles, "Obey the Groove" and "Dance Alone." *III, released on April 9, 2014 III is the latest album produced by the group in 2013. Following the release of several singles, the group published their 3rd album containing all their newer works, plus a new song called "Tracy's Song". This album contained works such as "They're Coming To Get You Barbara" (a reference to the 1968 zombie film

Night of the Living Dead ''Night of the Living Dead'' is a 1968 American independent horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, with a screenplay by John Russo and Romero, and starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. The story follows seven pe ...

), and the "Zombie Me Apocamix" a remix on their popular track from the first album.

Notes

External links

No More Kings Official Website

No More Kings at MySpace

No More Kings YouTube page

Official "Sweep the Leg" video website

Pete Mitchell's Interview Show on LiveVideo.com
*
An interview with Pete Mitchell
on ''Notebook on Cities and Culture'' {{Authority control Rock music groups from California Independent Music Awards winners American pop rock music groups Musical groups from Los Angeles Musical groups established in 2006