Citizen King
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Citizen King was a music group from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, whose style was a mix of hip-hop, soul and punk.[1] They are best known for their top 40 hit "Better Days (And the Bottom Drops Out)", which peaked at #10 on Billboard's Adult Top 40 chart.[2]
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[edit] Members
- Kristian Riley, guitar
- Matt Sims, vocals/bass guitar, now known as Mount Sims/Mt. Sims[3]
- D.J. Brooks, drums/percussions
- Dave Cooley, piano/keyboards
- Malcolm Michiles, turntables
[edit] History
The band formed in 1993 after the breakup of their previous band, Wild Kingdom.[1] Both bands received a lot of local recognition for their live shows. While Citizen King's first LP and EP were only commercial successes around Wisconsin, they were well received by critics. They were discovered by Speech from Arrested Development, who produced several tracks on their debut album Brown Bag.[1] They followed up with the EP Count the Days.[1]
They toured with Fishbone, and executives at 510 sign them after attending their show at the South by Southwest convention.[1] The band's 1999 release Mobile Estates received moderate commercial success. Many songs from that album were used for the pilot episode and the series finale of Malcolm in the Middle.
Their first single, and biggest hit, was "Better Days (And The Bottom Drops Out)." It became a Top 40 hit and went gold in the summer of 1999. It was ranked on seven Billboard charts, including peaks of #3 on Modern Rock, #33 on Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, and #1 on Top 40 Recurrents.[2] A remix of "Better Days (And The Bottom Drops Out)" was used in the 2000 movie Gone In Sixty Seconds, and the original version was used in the video game, Street Skater 2, along with "Under the Influence." "Salt Bag Spill" was featured on The Animal soundtrack in 2001. The band was managed by Jeff Castelaz, who later founded Dangerbird Records, and continues to manage keyboardist Dave Cooley in his work as a producer and mixer.
Citizen King disbanded in 2002.
A music historian looked back at Citizen King in a 2005 article in the Shepherd Express: "there were a few years, between 1995 and 1997, when Citizen King were really all the rage in Milwaukee: All the kids had CK ringer t-shirts, saw them at Summerfest, Winterfest, the Modjeska, eagerly awaited the release of Count the Days and Sidney Hih, knew the Sidney Hih building, ran into Matt Sims at Buca di Beppo, knew and loved the song 'Better Days' two years before it hit the radio. But then came 'Mobile Estates,' a great record, but it became unfavorably compared to Beck and ended up fizzling. Nobody knows why the band broke up, nobody knows where they are today. But they are sorely missed."
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Brown Bag LP (August 8, 1995)
- Count the Days (EP) (April 2, 1996)
- Sydney Hih (1997) - extremely limited edition
- Mobile Estates (March 9, 1999), peaked on Billboards Heatseekers chart at #27[4]
[edit] Singles
- "Better Days (And the Bottom Drops Out)" (May 25, 1999); US Gold (500,000+)
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Bush, John. "Biography". All Music. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=CITIZEN. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
- ^ a b "Billboard singles". All Music. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=CITIZEN. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
- ^ "Similar artists to Mt. Sims". Last.fm. http://www.last.fm/music/Mt.+Sims/+similar. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
- ^ "Billboard albums". All Music. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=CITIZEN. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
