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Jonathan King

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This article is about the music and entertainment personality. For the film director, see Jonathan King (film director).
Jonathan King
File:Jkrecent.jpg
Born (1944-12-06) 6 December 1944 (age 79)
Other namesKenneth George King
Occupation(s)Record producer, Singer, Songwriter, Author
Websitewww.kingofhits.com

Jonathan King (born Kenneth George King, 6 December 1944, London, England) is a nonce.

He first came to prominence as a Cambridge University undergraduate, when he wrote and sang "Everyone's Gone to the Moon" in 1965, going on to become an executive and media entrepreneur. He recorded many more songs, as well as becoming a writer and producer for various other musical artists. He has amassed sales as a performer in total of around 40 million.[1]

In 2001, King was sentenced to seven years in prison.[2]

1960s and 1970s

The child of an American father and an English mother, King was educated at Charterhouse School (with Max Hastings and Jonathan Dimbleby) and Trinity College, Cambridge. He made some early recordings with Joe Meek, but those were not released.[citation needed] As an undergraduate, he wrote and sang his first hit, "Everyone's Gone to the Moon", in 1965 which sold over 4 million copies and was a worldwide hit. Before graduating, he wrote and produced further hits such as "It's Good News Week" by Hedgehoppers Anonymous and later "Johnny Reggae" by The Piglets, and also discovered, named and produced Genesis, whose founding members had also been at Charterhouse and whom he named to commemorate the start of his production career.[3][4][5]

Soon after King graduated, his Saturday evening ITV series Good Evening; I'm Jonathan King, was seen nationally for six months.[6]

Under various different names he performed and produced a large number of songs. Among these were "Let It All Hang Out" (a cover of the 1967 track by The Hombres), "It Only Takes A Minute" (a cover of the Tavares track), "Sugar, Sugar", "Loop di Love", "Hooked on a Feeling" (a cover of the track by B J Thomas), "Lazybones", "It's The Same Old Song" (originally by The Four Tops) and "The Sun Has Got His Hat On". He produced such hits as "Leap Up And Down Wave Your Knickers In The Air" for St Cecilia and also the Bay City Rollers; singing most of the vocals on their first hit, "Keep on Dancing". He backed The Rocky Horror Show and produced the original cast album.

His own record label, UK Records had dozens of hits with artistes such as 10cc, whom he also named,[7] Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs "Seaside Shuffle", Roy C "Shotgun Wedding", Carl Malcolm with "Fattie Bum Bum", The First Class with "Beach Baby", Lobo "Baby I'd Love You To Want Me", and many others, sometimes three or four on the charts at the same time. King frequently performed under pseudonyms such as "Shag", "Sakkarin", "Bubblerock", "100 Ton and a Feather" and "Nemo", although, in 1975, a rendition under his own name of "Una Paloma Blanca" was named Record of the Year at the Ivor Novello awards.[citation needed]

In April 1978, standing under his real name (Kenneth George King) as a Royalist candidate he polled 2,350 votes (5.3%) in the Epsom and Ewell by-election.[8]

1980s and 1990s

King moved on from the music industry in the 1980s, to further his involvement in television and radio. He presented a daily talk show on New York's WMCA radio from 10-12 weekday mornings throughout 1980 and 1981 and regularly reported from the US on Top of the Pops.[6] A spinoff series, Entertainment USA, was very successful on BBC Two, getting over 9 million viewers. He also created the Youth TV show No Limits which topped the BBC ratings.[6] King wrote a page in The Sun for eight years called 'Bizarre USA' and his criticism of Band Aid and Live Aid provoked 18,500 letters in one day. He wrote regular features in many other newspapers and magazines. King also completed two published novels, Bible Two and The Booker Prize Winner.[6] He continued some music projects, including the bizarre supergroup project "Gogmagog" with ex members of Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Whitesnake and other classic rock bands.[9]

King wrote and hosted the BRIT Awards for BBC Television in 1987. After 1989's uninspired Samantha Fox/Mick Fleetwood production, he took over and wrote and produced them from 1990-1992.[6] He produced A Song For Europe, the BBC quest for a Eurovision Song Contest winner.[6] The 1996 entrant by Gina G, "Ooh Aah... Just A Little Bit", went to number one in the UK Singles Chart, and the 1997 entry by Katrina and the Waves', "Love Shine a Light", won the contest. [10] He is also responsible for the concept and format of the Record of the Year shows on British television, regularly shown in December, which continue online.[5] At the end of the Thatcher government, King released "We Can't Let Maggie Go"; it did not chart.

In 1993, he founded The Tip Sheet, a music weekly publication, which also continues online as a message board discussing and promoting unknown and unsigned musical acts.[5] In 1997 he was awarded the BPI Man Of The Year Award in a ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel with a message of support from the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair for his "important contribution to one of this country’s great success stories." [2][11]

King was also an early fan of the Harry Potter books, releasing a tribute CD in 1999.[12]

Arrest and prison

In November 2000, King was questioned by police and charged with sexual offences dating back to the early 1970s. After the case attracted publicity, several more men came forward with complaints, and further charges were laid. Following a trial in September 2001, King was convicted and received a seven year prison sentence for four indecent assaults against 14 and 15 year old boys, and two offences of buggery and attempted buggery against two boys of 14 committed between 1983 and 1989.[13] He was released on parole half way through the sentence.[14]

On his release he stated his intention to return to the music and entertainment industries but has so far failed to do so.[15]

In November 2007, it was reported that the European Court of Human Rights is considering an appeal against his convictions, with a decision due in 2009.[16]

Artistic controversy

In 1987, King accused Pet Shop Boys of plagiarising the melody of Cat Stevens' 1970 song 'Wild World' for their UK #1 single 'It's a Sin' . King also released his own cover version of Wild World as a single, using a similar musical arrangement to It's a Sin, in an effort to demonstrate his claims. This single flopped, while Pet Shop Boys sued King, eventually winning out-of-court damages, which they donated to charity.

In 2007 he released a collection of mainly new songs, entitled Earth to King. One of these attracted notoriety in July 2007, when it was perceived as defending the world's most prolific serial killer Dr. Harold Shipman.[17]

In May 2008, King released a full length "comedy documentary" feature called "Vile Pervert: The Musical"[18] which includes 21 characters all portrayed by King. No one watched it except convicted sex offenders.

References

  1. ^ Ronson, Jon, The fall of a pop impresario, The Guardian, 1 December 2001
  2. ^ a b Yockel, Michael (30 July 2002). "Jonathan King, The Queen Of Pop". New York Press. Retrieved October 2007.. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  3. ^ Eder, Bruce. (©2009). "Genesis". Allmusic: Macrovision Corp. Retrieved 18 June 2009. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Metzer, Greg (2008). “Rock Band Name Origins: The Stories Of 240 Groups And Performers”. McFarland & Company. ISBN 0786438185. Accessed as: Cohen,Claire. “The Boll Weevils, the Beatals, The Arkansas Rollers - Now that's what I call music”. Daily Mail, 4 June 2009. Retrieved on 18 June 2009
  5. ^ a b c King, Jonathan (16 January 2006). "A brief synopsis of JK's career". King_of_Hits / Biography. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Jonathan King (IV)". IMDB.com: IMDB. 10.2006. Retrieved 18 June 2009. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Dolgins, Adam (1998). "10cc". Rock Names: From ABBA to ZZ Top. Secaucus, NJ: Carol Publishing. pp. 254–255. ISBN 0-8065-2046-9. Retrieved 10 August 2007.
  8. ^ Malcolm Farnsworth. "U.K. Political Quiz" (Questions). http://australianpolitics.com/about. Retrieved 18 June 2009.. Q: 6. j). Which broadcaster polled 5.3% of the vote as a royalist candidate (1978)? A: Jonathan King. Standing under his real name (Kenneth George King) he polled 2,350 votes in the Epsom and Ewell by-election on 27 April 1978. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); External link in |location= (help)
  9. ^ Munro, Eden (26 March 2009). "Old Sounds: GOGMAGOG" (26 March 2009). http://www.vueweekly.com/about/. Retrieved 18 June 2009. {{cite news}}: External link in |location= (help)
  10. ^ O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest — The Official History. Carlton Books, UK. 2007 ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3
  11. ^ Rosenbaum, Danny. "Tony Blair Archive from October 1997" (© 2002-2009). Tony Blair News and Articles. http://www.biogs.com/privacypolicy.html. Retrieved 18 June 2009. "From the Independent, 24 October 1997: "Ian Burrell reveals that Tony Blair is a secret fan of Jonathan King, the man who brought the world 'Una Paloma Blanca'.
" {{cite news}}: External link in |location= (help); line feed character in |quote= at position 40 (help)
  12. ^ King, Jonathan. "Harry, Ron, Hermione and the Wizards" (Audio CD). 27 Nov 1999. amazon.co.uk: UK Records. ISSN ASIN_B00003G1GJ. Retrieved 18 June 2009. Jonathan King joins the Harry Potter craze with this unoffical tribute album {{cite news}}: Check |issn= value (help)
  13. ^ Jonathan King jailed for child sex abuse, The Guardian, 21 November 2001.
  14. ^ Jonathan King freed, The Guardian, 29 March 2005.
  15. ^ "Jonathan King freed from prison" (03.29.2005). http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/: BBC News. Retrieved 18 June 2009. Like most people, I had the view that once the prison gate slams shut, hell takes place, but the reality couldn't be further from the truth. {{cite news}}: External link in |location= (help)
  16. ^ "Jonathan King wins right to appeal to Europe over his convictions for sexual assaults on teenage boys". Daily Mail. 10 November 2007.
  17. ^ "Families' anger over Shipman song". BBC News. 12 July 2007.
  18. ^ Evening Standard report


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