The Kings

Infobox musical artist |
Name = The Kings


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Origin = Vancouver, BC, Canada flagicon|Canada
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Genre = Rock
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Years_active = 1977 - Present
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Current_members = David Diamond, Mister Zero, Atilla Turi, Peter Nunn, Sonny Keyes, Peter Kadar
Past_members = Gary Craig, Greg Chritchley, Josh Broadbent, Marty Cordrey, Max Styles, Randall Coryell, Rich Roxborough, Whitey Glan
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The Kings are a Canadian band formed in the 1970s, best known for their North American hit "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide."

Recording history

The Kings were formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Oakville, Ontario in the late 1970s. The original lineup included David Diamond (bass, lead vocals), Sonny Keyes (keyboards, vocals), Max Styles (drums), and Mister Zero (guitar) with Mister Zero and David Diamond serving as the main songwriters with contributions from Sonny Keyes. The Kings were originally known as WhistleKing and rehearsed, performed club gigs, and wrote a considerable number of songs for more than three years.

In early 1980 the band went into Nimbus 9 Studio in Toronto to record their first album. While recording, renowned producer Bob Ezrin visited the studio, listened to the band, and liked what he heard. Together they created the album "The Kings Are Here" featuring the North American hit "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide". Two other singles followed and the band began touring extensively with Bob Seger, Jeff Beck, The Beach Boys and Eric Clapton. 1980 culminated in an appearance on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand", and the closing spot at the major Heatwave festival in August.

"Amazon Beach", the 1981 follow-up to "The Kings Are Here", produced little in the way of sales, and the band was soon dropped from their label Elektra Records. The Kings soldiered on and released the EP "R.S.V.P" and the live album "Party Live '85" on their own Dizzy label, while continuing to tour Canada and the US throughout the remainder of the 1980s. Max Styles left the band in approximately 1982.

Comebacks

The late 1980s were a difficult period for The Kings as they lost their drummer and their record label. In the late Eighties they were poised on the verge of a major revival, as the single "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide" became a huge radio hit in Chicago, getting into major rotation on all of the main rock stations: Classic rock WCKG, Alternative rock WXRT, and Mainstream Rock WLUP. The unavailability of the Kings records led Jonathan Brandmeier of the latter to record his own version of the single. Elektra Records unfortunately remained unaware of the burgeoning hit and never reissued the single or album.

The single "Parting Of The Ways" appeared on Bullseye Records compilation "Unsigned, Sealed and Delivered" in 1991. This comeback prompted The Kings to return to the studio to record "Unstoppable" produced by John Punter, David Diamond and Mister Zero in 1993. "Unstoppable" produced several hits in Canada including "Lesson To Learn", "Shoulda Been Me", "Tonight I Got You", "Parting Of The Ways" and the title track "Unstoppable". A phone call in 1999 from Mister Zero to Alan Fletcher at Warner Canada led to the green light needed for Warner to re-issue "The Kings Are Here..and More" which allowed fans to get their hit "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide" on CD, which was fully remastered from the original 2 track tapes by Zero . "...and More" also contained a few re-mixed tracks from Unstoppable and two previously unreleased tracks -"If The Stars Come Out Tonight" and "Right To The Top". A remixed and more mature version of "If The Stars Come Out Tonight" appeared on "Because Of You" released in 2003. Combined original sales and cd sales have passed the platinum mark in Canada but no certification is allowed because of the bonus tracks on the cd, which are the only way the band makes money from that project.

Throughout the remainder of the 1990s, The Kings continued to tour and play live shows around Toronto, but Sonny Keyes' role with The Kings diminished and only Mister Zero and David Diamond remain as permanent members from the original lineup. Sonny Keyes continued to contribute when called upon by Zero and Diamond.

Drummer Atilla Turi and keyboard players Peter Nunn and Rich Roxborough joined Mister Zero and David Diamond on the 2003 Bullseye Records release "Because Of You" (Josh Broadbent - Diamond's son - was also recruited into The Kings to contribute his vocals). "Because Of You" would be The Kings' strongest effort to date with Harry Hess recording alongside producers Zero and Diamond. A video was made for the title track, "It's Up To You" and "The Fools Are In Love" was re-mixed from the "Amazon Beach" release. Sonny Keyes co-wrote "A Way You'll Never Be" with Mister Zero.

A reunion of the original lineup of The Kings occurred in the winter of 2001 with Max Styles and Sonny Keyes joining their old mates for Alan Frew's (Glass Tiger) children benefit concert for Camp Trillium in Toronto. They played the benefit concert again in 2002.

In late 2005 The Kings had a full length reunion concert in Toronto which was filmed for inclusion in the DVD documentary being assembled by Mister Zero. The first part of this film to be seen is the incredible video for "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' to Glide", released October 2006, which gets thousands of plays on youtube.

Another focus for The Kings was to put as many songs as possible on iTunes, thus having the catalog available worldwide instantly. The album "The Kings Anthology One" is the latest addition, 12 songs from different eras including never before heard epic rockers from Whistleking.

In to 2007, The Kings continue to play live shows across southern Ontario and, from time to time, the northern United States. The Kings are also finishing new songs for their next studio album.

Lineups

The Kings 1977 - 1982
# David Diamond (vocals, bass)
# Mister Zero (guitar)
# Sonny Keyes (keyboards)
# Max Styles (drums)

The Kings 1982 - 1999
# David Diamond (vocals, bass)
# Mister Zero (guitar)
# Sonny Keyes (keyboards)
#Peter Nunn (1994) (keyboards)
#Marty Cordrey, Whitey Glan, Gary Craig, Randall Coryell, Greg Chritchley, Atilla Turi (drums)

The Kings 1999 - 2005
# David Diamond (vocals, bass)
# Mister Zero (guitar)
# Atilla Turi (drums)
# Peter Nunn (keyboards)
# Rich Roxborough (keyboards)
# Josh Broadbent (vocals)

The Kings 2005 - present
# David Diamond (vocals, bass)
# Mister Zero (guitar)
# Atilla Turi (drums)
# Peter Nunn (keyboards)
# Sonny Keyes (keyboards)
# Peter Kadar (keyboards)

Discography

*"The Kings Are Here" album 1980
*"Amazon Beach" album 1981
*"R.S.V.P" EP
*"Party Live '85" live album
*"Parting Of The Ways" single
*"Unstoppable" 1993
*"The Kings Are Here..and More"
*"Because Of You" 2003

External links

* [http://www.bullseyecanada.com Bullseye Records]
* [http://www.thekingsarehere.com Official website]