The Kings - The Kings are Here

I found this one about a year ago, and put it in the wrong pile and sort of forgot about it. I was playing The Cry, also released in 1980, and the new wave organ on a couple of their songs reminded me of The Kings, and then it was like, "Hey, I really need to sit and listen to The Kings."

Like most people I have a soft spot for their double sided hit. "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide" that is always played as a combo, and they're among a rarefied few who can command that kind of airtime. "Feeling That Way / Anytime" by Journey and "We Will Rock You / We are the Champions" by Queen come to mind, and maybe one or two others that escape me at the moment.

To say this was career defining for the band is sort of an understatement. However, I have always been curious about what else was out there, and I know I could have just gone and streamed it, but I held off. "Why?" you ask. I dunno, why not?

The band's sound was a curious blend of high energy new wave and good old crunchy rock and roll, the kind that punk was supposed to be railing against. Somehow the band managed to engage Bob Ezrin (BOB FREAKIN' EZRIN) to produce their debut The Kings are Here. Admittedly it's an interesting fit as this falls sort of right after his stellar work with Pink Floyd on The Wall, and KISS' Destroyer. However the band delivered a party on a platter over ten tight tracks.

One of the weird things about revisiting an album over forty years after the fact is there are forty years of accumulated baggage to unpack. Most of the weight comes from the opening one, two punch of "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide" songs so ingrained now in the fabric of classic rock they cast a shadow over everything the band has ever done.

Sequencing is everything and it was the right call to start the album with a bang, but when I sat down to go through this, I mean really go through this, I dropped the needle on the third track "It's Okay" and then went through both sides before going to the beginning. I wanted to hear everything else. 

I had earlier hinted at the strange sweet spot the band was aiming for. They were a quirky rock band. They employed new wave energy, complete with the cheesy organ that was part of so much early post punk music before thankfully fading away. They were also a rock band, lots of guitar and a driving beat all nestled into a tight power pop delivery system. 

The guys even channelled their inner Ramones (or Blotto) by adopting what I can only assume were clever pseudonyms for themselves.

• David Diamond (vocals, bass)
• Sonny Keyes (keyboards)
• Max Styles (drums)
• Aryan Zero (guitar) - although this seems to have been changed later to Mister Zero

The songs are good. Often very good, "Partyitis" is a turbo charged celebration, and "Don't Let Me Know" is a really great power pop song that should have been a hit. It is so good. However, it was the albatross that overshadows everything else. Which is a shame as the band really did deliver the goods, and where the double A side should have been the icing on the cake it ended up being all anyone took from the buffet.

By all accounts the band was putting in the roadwork, and building their audience, and their big hit certainly didn't hurt. Momentum was on their side. When the band went back into the studio, again with Bob Ezrin producing, their 1981 follow up Amazon Beach was met with ...nothing. So much for momentum. 

Despite only being 8 songs Amazon Beach is really good. They were trying to change with the times and still remain themselves. I didn't expect it to be so good. Do yourself a favour and give it a listen.

The Kings are still here proving the beat does indeed go on ... and on.