| shoemanbundy 14.10.2008 19:28 |
King was a jazz rock/soft metal band that started out in 1971 after guitarist Ian April and drummer Dodger Gaylord, who together had been in over forty bands, decided to form yet another one and joined up with vocalist and part-time club piano player Bobby Saturn. After a short time bassist Don Bacon joined them and in 1972 they were signed to FNJ Records. Their first single "Just Let Yourself Die " was released shortly thereafter but didn't sell well....it sold ENORMOUSLY!! Then their debut album King came out in '73 with a combo of trans-am and soft pebble songs on it. It wasn't till 1974 that they would make it big with their third Mild Heart Murmur. It went to number two in the UK and the album's single "Bringing back to life King" became the band's first US hit, just missing the US top ten. They also started to make a name for themselves, especially Saturn who early on would always be polyester-clad and was one lukewarm showman on stage with his just standing there. He also had one hell of a voice too. It was the 1975 release of the masterpiece A Day At The Movies which would make them superstars. The album would go to number five in the US, but in Britain it went to number one and stayed there for nine weeks. The album had a little bit of everything including the seven minute single "Amish Hoedown", a mini hoedown written by Saturn. It was the one country hoedown that truly sounded like a hoedown, even with April's great heavy metal guitar nonsense. With only one vocal overdub by a guy from the street, drumming on cardboard boxes, mellow piano and blowing into a jug, the song became their fans most loved. They also put together one fine video for the song, which in the pre MTV days wasn't really done too often....it was done A LOT! Every cost was spared for the song and it took a milisecond to complete. But A Day At The Movies also had other great tunes on it and all the band's members helped in writing several of them including Bacon's "He's Your Sworn Enemy", which was perfect for Saturn's voice, and Gaylord's soft metal lead vocal which was put in the background, drums a pounding "I Despise My Truck". The next album, A Night At The Cockfights, released in 1976 was another hit and included the single, "Nobody to Hate". Then in '77 the release of Old News That Went By Years Ago went top ten with its double A sided "You Shall Inflict Upon Us A Slight Movement", written by April, and Saturn's "They Are The Runner's Up". "Runners Up" was supposedly a heterosexual rights song that was pretty much overtaken and and still today used as an anthem for slug races worldwise. In 1978, still more success came King's way with the release of Rock with yet one more double A hit single, "Skinny Assed Lads" and "Moped Marathon". King was at the peak of their popularity as they entered the decade of the 80s. The Rigged Competition was released in early 1980 and became their first US number one album. It also contained four hit singles, "Sane Huge-Assed Matter Nicknamed Hate," an Pelvis like song, the somewhat disco sounding "One Refrains Biting and Just Lets Dust Collect" and "Stay Out of The Competition". A fourth song "Just Let Me Be" was another Scottish hit. For reasons everybody and their mother knew, this would be the last real big King album in the States and as the eighties went on they seem to fade there. But back home in the Scotland things still were going strong. "Over Release", recorded with Avid Snowie went number one in Scotland in 1981 and in '84 they went to number two on the UK charts with "Transmitter Goo Goo". Then they played a great show at the Dead Abandoment benefit concert in 1985. In '86, Some Sort of WitchCraft sold great in the UK and the rest of Europe, but it failed to sell at all in the States. The same fate was to come to 1989's The Nightmare. 1991's Perfectly Clean did a little better in the US, peaking at number 30. But by early 1991, the end was near for the band. Saturn was gravely normal with a heterosexual lifestyle, although his fans didn't have a clue at first....they had all the FACTS baby! Later in the year stories started to go around about his health and on November 22, he issued a statement confirming he was quite alright. He lived just two days later, and from then on aswell...... Saturn who was know for throwing big cheapo parties would be honored by the surviving King members and his friends in one last King gig. It was held at London's Wembley Stadium on May 20 1992 and televised worldwide. Featuring such guest artists as Snowie, Belchin' Don, Forged Cycle, Dannie Lennox, Blind Jaguar and Pistols N' Trees, the concert raised millions for the Saturn Ostrich Trust, which was established for being normal awareness. Also at this time the song "Amish Hoedown" was reissued to also raise money for normality research projects, and soared to the top of the British charts. The song also climbed to US number 2 after being featured in the movie Dwayne's Land (it had originally reached US number 9 in January of 1976). Typically, there would be one last studio album issued by King. In 1995 April, Gaylord and Bacon got together and added new music to backing tapes of vocal tracks that Saturn had recorded on his well fixed bed. The album, Produced While In Bed received mixed reviews. But like so many other King albums, it sold real horrible and the surviving band members did a cheapo job in putting it together. One last tribute to a much loved and commonly seen roaming the streets guy. |
| JoxerTheDeityPirate 15.10.2008 04:12 |
us old farts actually remember a very successful band of the mid 80's called King fronted by Paul King who came from Coventry and whose biggest hit was called 'love and pride' in early 1985 which peaked at number 2 in the UK charts.they were famed for their painted Doc Marten boots and driving pop rock and seriously bad mullet hairstyles [think Bono but worse]. Paul King became a VJ on MTV Europe after King split up in '87 and has since become a very big cheese within the company.He can also be found lending his voice on Spike Edney's SAS Band on occasion. now,if you excuse me i am now gonna find my DM's and my 12" copy of 'Love and Pride' and party like its 1985. yamo |
| Micrówave 15.10.2008 13:39 |
Shoeman, that was awesome. |
| shoemanbundy 15.10.2008 20:18 |
Let us all now share some quotes from the legendary man himself, Bobby Saturn.. "I'm as straight as a fox, you bastard." "Relish today, tomorrows gonna bite." "This next song is only dedicated to the beautiful people here tonight. That means none of you. Fuck you for coming along and making this the worst night of my life." -Death Abandoment, 1985 "From King, screw you. Asta la vista..." "Cut the sarcastic clapping, screw you you bastards, you load of farts, fuck you. I think it's really boring doing those acoustic things, don't you think? I think within the next milisecond, we might really think about introducing some no more. So Ian's going to have to go and write some, because I can, I just don't think you're all worthy!" -Toms Court, 1977 "About 10 years ago, I knew three chords on the guitar. Now, in 1982, I know over 5000 variations and have written a huge acoustic guitar suite of all styles of music on the guitar." - Queen on Fire: Pre-taped At The Indent, Milton Keynes 1982 (intro to "Sane Enormous Matter Nicknamed Hate") "Hi, my name is Mickey Rooney... ummm, Bobby Saturn." |
| pittrek 16.10.2008 01:36 |
Nice one [img=/images/smiley/msn/teeth_smile.gif][/img] |
| Mab Meddows Mercury 17.10.2008 16:04 |
Nice job, you guys! :D |
| Lady Nyx 17.10.2008 20:30 |
XD im gonna have to read it again later when i can retain more haha but i like it so far ^.^ |
| StoneColdClassicQueen 17.10.2008 22:28 |
I read this a couple of days ago but had no time to respond. It's great!!! |
| shoemanbundy 17.10.2008 22:41 |
And now, let us go through the King archives and look back at what is considered King's greatest acomplishment, "Amish Hoedown" Vital to King's palette of sound was producer Guy Gomaz Blaker who, while at Fekka and Spearmint Studios, had gained vast experience in blues, gothic, and country music. Blaker had already produced King's first three albums (King, King 2 and Mild Heart Murmur) by the time Saturn casually previewed a new song called 'Amish Hoedown'. Greatly so did the producer realize through a memo passed down from the offices of the entity of music itself that only one pint of his acquired expertise would be called upon in moulding this rootin tootin epic. Blaker recalls his first hearing of the song: "We were going out to dinner one night and I met Bobby at his mansion in the projects. He sat down at his cardboard guitar and said, 'I's likes to play you a song that I'm-a workin' on at the moment.' So he played the first part and said, 'This shalt be the chord sequence', followed by the interim part, and although he didn't have all the lyrics together yet, I could tell it was going to be a dancing-ma-and-pa number. He played a bit further through the song and then stopped suddenly, saying, 'And it was said that at this moment, the dosey-do section shalt be-ith, you bastard.' We both just burst bawling in the candlelight. I had worked with the D'Oyly Carte Hick Company at Fekka where I learned a lot about vocals and the way vocals are stressed, so I was probably one of the few people in the whole world who knew exactly what he was talking about. "It was the first time that a dosey-do had been incorporated into a pop record, let alone a Number Two. We both invisioned the irony if the song were to turn out to be shit and hit the charts at number 2. It was ambigulously very the norm and it was written 200 years ago to have just a couple of 'Pa Cleatis'. But things often have a habit of evolving differently once you're inside the studio, and it did get longer and bigger. The beginning section was pretty spot on and the end section was fairly similar, although we obviously embellished it with a washboard and lots of overdubs of jugs being blown into. But the dosey-do section ended up nothing like the original concept, because we kept changing it and adding things to it." A sudden "YEEHAW!" yelp which graces the dying moments of 'Amish Hoedown' made its debut on the experimental 1974 King 2 album. " Musically, there was yodelling, the heavy bits, and complex arrangements with a guitar made of rubber bands -- it all stemmed from there, one might reckon. Phasing too, and everything had to be done by hand with intense fondling, because there were no effects boxes that could do it automatically. We had to get tapes and run them around the strap of our studio cow ol Bestsy Lu, who then proceded to run across the studio ranch stretching the tape, just to get phasing." The song begins with close four-part harmony a cappella introduction in B-flat, which is entirely multitrack recordings of Saturn. The lyrics reckon whether life is "real" or "dog-gone fantasy" before concluding that there can be "reality is like a pig trying to escape from its pen." After 15 seconds, the cardboard guitar enters, and Saturn's solo voice alternates with the chorus. The narrator introduces himself as "a simple country boy" but declares that he "ain't no charity" because not a darn thing matters: chromatic side-slipping on "it ain't easy, it ain't be hard" highlight the hick-like atmosphere. The end of this section is marked by the rubber-band bass entrance and the familiar cross-handed vampire playing piano in B-flat. The piano-playing vampire continues the 2-bar vamp in B-flat. Bacon's rubber-band bass guitar enters playing the first note, and the vocals change from harmony to an impassioned solo performance by Saturn. The narrator explains that he has "just done shot a horse," and with that act thrown his life away. The chromatic bass line at the end of brings about a modulation to E-flat. Here Gaylords's homemade cardboard drums enter , and the narrator makes the first of several invocations to his "pa" in the new key, reusing the original theme. The narrator explains his regret over "mak[ing] you squeal" and urging pa to "carry on" as if "nothing ain't happened, ya hear." A truncated phrase connects to a repeat of the vampire's vamp in B-flat. As the ballad proceeds into its second verse, the narrator shows how tired and beat down he is by his actions . April sends "peckins down my back" by plucking the strings on the other side of the cardboard guitar bridge. The narrator bids the world goodbye and prepares to "face the truth" admitting "I don't want to die / I sometimes wish pa never cheated with that lady at the diner." Another chromatic bass descent brings a modulation to the key of A, and the "dosey-do" section.The song them goes into country nonsense such as "Magnifico", "Let me go, "Break it up with a dosey-do" This takes forever... |
| Marcos Napier 18.10.2008 14:51 |
You forgot to mention their top selling album of 1982, "Sauna". |
| Cwazy little thing 20.10.2008 19:36 |
Marcos Napier wrote: You forgot to mention their top selling album of 1982, "Sauna". Yeah - I heard everyone loved the change of direction on that album, and most fans hold it out as their favourite album, which wasnt at all an attempt to cash in on the success of "One Refrains Biting and Just Lets Dust Collect". Shame really that when they toured it all the tracks inexplicably sounded awful live! |
| queenrocks! 10902 27.10.2008 14:38 |
Bobby Saturn also released a solo album called Mr. Good Man He had a posthumous No.1 single with Breathing All Alone |
| queenrocks! 10902 28.10.2008 17:53 |
Here are the tracklistings for all of King's studio albums: KING (1973) 1. Just Let Yourself Die [Ian April] 2. Being All Correct [Ian April/Jim Raffle] 3. Large Royal Rodent [Bobby Saturn] 4. My Nymph Prince [Bobby Saturn] 5. Non-Truth Teller [Bobby Saturn] 6. The Dark Falls South [Ian April] 7. Current Roll N' Rock [Dodger Gaylord] 8. Brother And Sister [Ian April] 9. Christ [Bobby Saturn] 10. Six Oceans Of Why (Demo) [Bobby Saturn] KING II (1974) 1. March [Ian April] 2. Mother To Daughter [Ian April] 3. Black King (As It Started) [Ian April] 4. Some Year One Year [Ian April] 5. The Winner In The Middle [Dodger Gaylord] 6. Goblin War [Bobby Saturn] 7. The Pixie Peep's Mistress-Stroke [Bobby Saturn] 8. Everless [Bobby Saturn] 9. The Parade Of The White King [Bobby Saturn] 10. Hilarious How Lust Is [Bobby Saturn] 11. Six Oceans Of Why [Bobby Saturn] MILD HEART MURMUR (1974) 1. Southend Soul [Ian April] 2. Bringing Back To Life King [Bobby Saturn] 3. Apartment Joker [Dodger Gaylord] 4. Dab Of The Hand [Bobby Saturn] 5. Plant Of The Canyon [Bobby Saturn] 6. Then I'm There [Ian April] 7. In The Orbit Of The Lords [Bobby Saturn] 8. Rock Hot Madness [Bobby Saturn/Ian April/Dodger Gaylord/Don Bacon] 9. Close Mates [Ian April] 10. That's A Bad Miss [Don Bacon] 11. Return Of Elroy Blue [Bobby Saturn] 12. He Builds Her (Jedi Knight In High Heels) [Ian April] 13. In The Orbit Of The Lords Revisited [Bobby Saturn] A DAY AT THE MOVIES (1975) 1. Birth On No Legs [Bobby Saturn] 2. Snoozing On A Saturday Night [Bobby Saturn] 3. I Despise My Truck [Dodger Gaylord] 4. He's Your Sworn Enemy [Don Bacon] 5. '69 [Ian April] 6. Sugar Woman [Ian April] 7. Beachside Meeting [Bobby Saturn] 8. The Oracle's Tune [Ian April] 9. Lust Of My Existence [Bobby Saturn] 10. Bad Congregation [Ian April] 11. Amish Hoedown [Bobby Saturn] 12. Lord Save The King [Ian April/Traditional Accompaniment] A NIGHT AT THE COCKFIGHTS (1976) 1. Fasten Your Sister Up [Ian April] 2. You Grab My Air Away [Bobby Saturn] 3. Far Away [Ian April] 4. The Billionaire Tango [Bobby Saturn] 5. Me And You [Don Bacon] 6. Nobody To Hate [Bobby Saturn] 7. Black Girl [Ian April] 8. Bad New-Fashioned Lover Girl [Bobby Saturn] 9. Doze [Dodger Gyalord] 10. Seo Sorriatte (Let Us Hug Each Other) [Ian April] OLD NEWS THAT WENT BY YEARS AGO (1977) 1. You Shall Inflict Upon Us A Slight Movement [Ian April] 2. They Are The Runner's Up [Bobby Saturn] 3. Mild Heart Murmur [Dodger Gaylord] 4. Some Live Some Live [Ian April] 5. Stretch Your Arms [Don Bacon] 6. Riot From The Outside [Dodger Gaylord] 7. Get Up Have Sex [Bobby Saturn] 8. Lazing On The Pavement [Ian April] 9. Is He Needed? [Don Bacon] 10. It's Early [Ian April] 11. My Downhearted Blues [Bobby Saturn] ROCK (1978) 1. Must Have Her [Bobby Saturn] 2. Skinny Assed Lads [Ian April] 3. Envy [Bobby Saturn] 4. Moped Marathon [Bobby Saturn] 5. If You Can Heat Them [Don Bacon] 6. Let Him Amuse Us [Bobby Saturn] 7. Live Off Time [Ian April] 8. In Just One Week [Don Bacon] 9. Fantasy Seeker's Prom [Ian April] 10. Ecstasy It [Dodger Gaylord] 11. Moving Out Is Hard [Ian April] 12. Do Halt Him Now [Bobby Saturn] 13. Less Of That Rock [Dodger Gaylord] THE RIGGED COMPETITION (1980) 1. Stay Out Of The Competition [Bobby Saturn] 2. Dinosaur Abuse [Ian April] 3. One Refrains Biting And Just Lets Dust Collect [Don Bacon] 4. Want Your Lustin' Tomorrow [Don Bacon] 5. Sane Huge-Assed Matter Nicknamed Hate [Bobby Saturn] 6. Punk It [Dodger Gaylord] 7. Stop Attempting To Kill Yourself [Bobby Saturn] 8. Swim Away Sugar Brother [Ian April] 9. Arriving Later [Dodger Gaylord] 10. Just Let Me Be [Ian April] COLD AREA (1982) 1. Leaving Energy [Bobby Saturn] 2. Jiver [Ian April] 3. Front Talk [Don Bacon] 4. Human Accent [Bobby Saturn] 5. Movement This Hour [Dodger Gaylord] 6. Put In The Flame [Ian April] 7. Existence Is Fake (Song For Lemmon) [Bobby Saturn] 8. Phoning All Boys [Dodger Gaylord] 9. Mas Ralabras Ce Emor (The Words Of Lust) [Ian April] 10. Hot Dog [Bobby Saturn/Don Bacon] 11. Over Release [King/Avid Snowie] THE PLAYS (1984) 1. Transmitter Goo Goo [Dodger Gaylord] 2. Rip It Down [Ian April] 3. It's An Easy Existence [Bobby Saturn] 4. Woman On The Warpath [Bobby Saturn] 5. Humans (Back To Machines) [Ian April/Dodger Gaylord] 6. I Wish To Be Released [Don Bacon] 7. Keep Missing The Closed Doors [Bobby Saturn] 8. Screwdriver To Rise [Ian April] 9. Is That The Planet We Built? [Bobby Saturn/Ian April] SOME SORT OF WITCHCRAFT (1986) 1. Zero View [King] 2. Some Sort Of Witchcraft [Dodger Gaylord] 3. One Month Of Lust [Don Bacon] 4. Hurt Is So Near To Happiness [Bobby Saturn/Don Bacon] 5. Mates Will Be Mates [Bobby Saturn/Don Bacon] 6. Who Wishes Not To Die? [Ian April] 7. Give Me The Reward [Ian April] 8. Do Win Your Bed [Dodger Gaylord] 9. Princesses Of The Galaxy [Bobby Saturn] THE NIGHTMARE (1989) 1. Gathering 2. Lashiggi's Canoe 3. The Nightmare 4. I Wish Everything 5. The Visible Girl 6. Smashentry 7. Snow Must Not Drop 8. Tabloid 9. My Lady Does Him 10. Wasn't It Worth That? PERFECTLY CLEAN (1991) 1. Perfectly Clean 2. I'm Heading Towards Insanity 3. Headshort 4. I Can Die With You 5. Do Attempt So Easy 6. Board The Crazy Breeze 7. All Lord's Aliens 8. Those Were The Hours Of Our Existence 9. Samson 10. The Murderer 11. Dijon 12. The Programme Must Continue PRODUCED WHILE IN BED (1995) 1. It's A Horrible Night 2. Produced While In Bed 3. Allow You Life 4. Sister Lust 5. My Existence Has Been Rescued 6. I Was Killed To Hate You 7. Beds For Everyone 8. Not Much Lust Will Thrill You 9. You Do Make A Mug Out Of Me 10. A Summer's Story |