The Kings

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The Kings is a Canadian band formed in the 1970s, best known for their North American hit This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide.

[edit] 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, did club gigs and wrote lots of songs for more than three years before going into Nimbus 9 Studio in Toronto to record their first album in early 1980. While recording, world famous producer Bob (Pink Floyd) Ezrin dropped by to hang out and checked out 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 the likes of 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 "...Are Here", had little commercial effect and the band was soon dropped from their major label. The Kings soldiered on and would release 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 would leave the band around 1982.

The late 1980s was a quiet period for The Kings as they lost their drummer and their record label. But, out of the blue, the single "Parting Of The Ways" would appear on Bullseye Records complilation "Unsigned, Sealed and Delivered" in 1991. This comeback would prompt The Kings to return to the studio to record "Unstoppable" produced by John Punter, David Diamond and Mister Zero in 1993. Unstoppable would produce several hits in Canada including "Lesson To Learn", "Shoulda Been Me", "Tonight I Got You", "Parting Of The Ways" and the title track "Unstoppable". The money generated from the sales of Unstoppable were good enough to allow The Kings 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. "...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" would appear on the 2003 "Because Of You" release. Sadly, the underrated rocker "Right To The Top" would not be included on "Because Of You".

Throughout the remainder of the 1990s, The Kings would continue to tour and play live shows around Toronto, but Sonny Keyes' role with The Kings would diminish and only Mister Zero and David Diamond would remain as permanent members from the original lineup. Sonny Keyes would continue to contribute when called upon by Zero and Diamond, but drummer Atilla Turi and keyboard players Peter Nunn and Rich Roxborough would join Mister Zero and David Diamond on the 2003 smash release "Because Of You" (Josh Broadbent - Diamond's son - would also be 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 would be made for the track "It's Up To You" and "The Fools Are In Love" would be re-mixed from the "Amazon Beach" release. Sonny Keyes would co-write "A Way You'll Never Be" with Mister Zero.

A reunion of the original lineup of The Kings would occur 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 would play the benefit concert again in 2002. In late 2005 The Kings would have a full length reunion concert in Toronto which was filmed for inclusion 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.

[edit] Lineups

The Kings 1977 - 1982

David Diamond (vocals, bass)
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