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 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".{{cite book Despite a year of success, the band split up in 1986. In 1987, Paul King released a solo album entitled
Joy, produced by
American producer
Dan Hartman. After that, he briefly worked as a
VJ for
MTV. 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. ==Line-up==