The Kings

The Kings
The Kings performing at the George R. Robinson Bandshell in Gage Park, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Background information
Origin	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Genres	Rock, pop
Years active	1977–present
Website	thekingsarehere.com
Members	David Diamond Mister Zero Peter Nunn Sonny Keyes Todd Reynolds
Past members	Gary Craig Greg Chritchley Josh Broadbent Marty Cordrey Max Styles Randall Coryell Rich Roxborough Whitey Glan Atilla Turi

The Kings are a Canadian rock band formed in 1977 in Oakville, Ontario. They are best known for their 1980 song "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide", which was a hit in the United States and Canada.

The Kings were formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Oakville, Ontario in the late 1970s. The original lineup included David Diamond, (David Broadbent, bass, lead vocals), Mister Zero (John Picard, guitar), Sonny Keyes (Nicholas Peter, keyboards, vocals), and Max Styles (drums), with Zero and Diamond serving as the main songwriters with contributions from 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 with the songs "This Beat Goes On" and "Switchin' To Glide." Two other singles followed and the band began touring extensively with Bob Seger, Jeff Beck, The Beach Boys and Eric Clapton. During 1980, their rising commercial fortunes 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.

The late 1980s were a difficult period for The Kings as they lost their drummer and their record label. As it were, the group was on the verge of a major revival as the single "This Beat Goes On" and "Switchin' To Glide" became a huge radio hit in Chicago getting major play on all of the main rock stations: Classic rock WCKG, Alternative rock WXRT, and Mainstream Rock WLUP, as well as Top 40 powerhouse WLS-AM. The unavailability of the Kings records led Chicago DJ Bob Stroud of WLUP to record his own version of the single with his band Rockestra.Elektra Records unfortunately remained unaware of the burgeoning hit and never reissued the single or album.