King were an English new wave band which formed in 1984. The band achieved chart success in 1985, and are best known for their hit single “Love & Pride”, which reached number 2 in the UK. The band had two Top 20 albums (both certified Gold) and five Top 30 singles in the space of a year. The band was formed from the remnants of Coventry rock-ska band the Reluctant Stereotypes, along with producer Paul Sampson. After the Reluctant Stereotypes, singer Paul King formed the Raw Screens, who perfected their act and style to what Paul King and his manager Perry Haines called “Multi Tone”, a reference to “Two Tone”, and then, in 1983, relaunched the group as band King from the surname of lead singer Paul King.
As lead singer, Paul King wore a mullet haircut and spray-painted Doc Marten’s Boots – a look described “like the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang“. The band released two UK Top 20 albums on CBS, both produced and mixed by Richard James Burgess, who also played drums on most of the debut album Steps in Time (the second LP, Bitter Sweet, saw Adrian Lillywhite on drums). Both albums were certified gold and produced five hit singles, the most successful being the UK No. 2 hit, “Love & Pride”. “Love & Pride” was King’s only single to chart on the US Billboard Hot 100 which peaked at No. 55 in September 1985.
Despite a year of success, the band split up in 1986. After that, he briefly worked as a VJ for MTV. Paul King then went solo with a 1987 album entitled Joy, produced by American musician Dan Hartman. It produced a minor hit single on the UK Singles Chart, “I Know”. In 1998, a compilation album was released, entitled The Best of King – Love & Pride, with 18 tracks, featuring the band’s greatest hits and stand-out tracks, including Paul King’s one minor solo hit, “I Know”. Cherry Red Records released a remastered version of Bitter Sweet in 2007 followed in 2010 by a remaster of Steps In Time and in 2018 by another King compilation entitled Remixes & Rarities, which contained rare tracks not found on the reissues.
After an unsuccessful solo career, King became a VJ on MTV in 1989, before moving over to VH1 in 1994, and then became known for his infomercials on 1980s collection albums. He is mostly remembered for the programmes MTV’s Greatest Hits, 120 Minutes and XPO, later renamed First Look. First Look, programmed by Richard Godfrey, Peter Good, Peter Ruppert, showed new singles and album releases and it was presented by VJ Paul King until 30 July 1994. In 1998, a joint King & Paul King 18-track collection, entitled The Best of King – Love & Pride, was eventually released, with hit singles, stand-out tracks, B-sides and remixes. Paul King still works for MTV Networks Europe where he has produced shows for VH1 and MTV.
