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THE KINGS were formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Oakville, Ontario. Original members were David Diamond, lead vocals, bass guitar and songwriter, Sonny Keyes, vocals, keyboards and songwriter, Max
Styles, drums, and Mister Zero, guitar and songwriter. THE KINGS were originally known as WhistleKing and rehearsed, did club gigs and lots of demos for more than three years before going into Nimbus 9 Studio in
Toronto to record their first album.
While recording, world-famous producer Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd, Kiss) dropped by to hang out and liked what he heard; he agreed to mix the
album but discovered in the process that the whole thing needed to be re-done. He approached Elektra Records in Los Angeles and the unknown band was signed to a world-wide deal. THE KINGS ended up re-recording
the songs and the project was released as The Kings Are Here.
The first single, "Switchin' to Glide" was put out and did nominally well, but it wasn't until it was re-released with "This Beat
Goes On" attached to it that radio really picked up on it. This segue, even at over five minutes in length, caught on all over the
U.S. and Canada, and stayed in the Billboard chart for six months. It was named one of the Top 100 U.S. Radio Programmers
Picks of the Decade by Album Network Magazine. THE KINGS' second Elektra album, Amazon Beach, did not do as well and the band left the label to sign with Capitol Canada.
The EP titled RSVP contains the holiday classic "This Christmas" which enjoys lots of airplay every yuletide season, and of
which a remix is also available on the Bullseye Christmas compilation from 2001, Takin' Care Of Christmas. The next studio
project was called Unstoppable and the title track reached the top ten in Canada. The first album, The Kings Are Here, was
released on CD in 2001 on Warner Canada with five bonus tracks. Their first Bullseye release is Party Live In '85, a live CD that truly captures the sound of this classic high-energy power-pop band.
Always a great live band THE KINGS kept playing all through the tough years and have played more than 1500 shows across
North America. Through member changes and label switches, the core of the band has remained solid with Dave Diamond and
Mister Zero, and today's lineup includes Josh Broadbent (backup vocals, percussion), Attila Turi (drums), and Rich
Roxborough (keyboard, backup vocals). This line-up appeared in the US twice in 2001, at the International Pop Overthrow in both Los Angeles, CA, and New York City, NY - and in both cities they rocked the house down.
Their brand new CD, BECAUSE OF YOU, is now available.
For more info:
http://www.thekingsarehere.com
president@bullseyecanada.com
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