A posting that is especially for Mona, an exiled Glaswegian living many many timezones away in Melbourne, Australia.James King is another Glaswegian would-be pop star who deserved an awful lot more success than he ever achieved. I've given him a brief mention at TVV before, while Mike over at Manic Pop Thrills has featured him on a few occasions, but for anyone who is unfamiliar with the name, here's a brief resume.
He was a mid-80s contemporaries of the likes of Edwyn Collins and Paul Quinn, and indeed James King & The Lone Wolves, for a very short while, shared the same record label - Swamplands - which was run by the old Postcard boss, Alan Horne.
But James King & The Lonewolves were a completely different act from Edwyn and Paul or Orange Juice or Bourgie Bourgie or other local bands of the era. James really did play up to a persona of the Glasgow 'hard-man', with a hint of menace that is not really captured on the few records they ever released, but was very much in evidence on stage. No-one ever heckled James King, believe me.
It's actually better that you read what James has written on a hugely entertaining and informative myspace page, which can be found right here.
There were only a handful of fantastic singles, none of which troubled the charts. I'm delighted that my own collection contains the following:-
Back From The Dead/My Reward/As Tears Go By - 7" single released in February 1981
Texas Lullaby/Scared Heart/Chance I Can't Deny/Until The Dawn/Lost - 12" EP released in November 1983
The Angels Know/Don't Care If You Live Or Die/Ready To Fall - 12" single released in January 1985
I juts wish that someone could take all of these, as well as the very few other recordings that saw the light of day, and give us the ultiimate James King compilation CD.
mp3 : James King - Back From The Dead
mp3 : James King and The Lonewolves - Texas Lullaby
mp3 : James King and The Lonewolves - The Angels Know
Happy Listening.
4 comments:
Thanx for these.
Wasn't expecting that!
regards/
What was that pub in central Glesca where JK basically used to live by the bar. Once I'd been in there I knew there was no other colour but black. A character. Good to hear him again.
JtK...I'm sure it was The Rock Garden on Queen Street. That was where most of the 80s pop stars could be found of an evening.
Had another idea for your international Paul Haig day, what if everyone had the exact same blog post title (might confuse the search engine...) your call Mr Villian and only right that you choose title if you go with this.
Regards/
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