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King (UB40 song)
1980 single by UB40 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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"King" is a song by British reggae band UB40, released as their debut single in February 1980 from their album Signing Off. It peaked at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart as a double A-side single with "Food for Thought".[3]
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"King" is about Martin Luther King Jr.,[4] questioning the lost direction of the deceased leader's followers and the state of mourning of a nation after his death. It was written by the group after having watched a documentary on King.[5] It was the first song UB40 played to producer Bob Lamb, with Lamb recalling that "it just blew my mind basically, to realise a bunch of kids could make a sound like that... it blew me away. And that was it for me, I was hooked, it was a bit like Elvis walks in or something, you know, it was one of those moments".[6] The band were unable to afford to record in a studio, so they used Lamb's bedsit in Moseley to record the entire Signing Off album.[7]
"King" was released as the main A-side with "Food for Thought" as the AA-side. It was therefore intended to be the side promoted; however, radio disc jockeys saw "Food for Thought" as the better radio track and as such it gained more airplay than "King" and became the hit.[6] The song was positively received, with Simon Ludgate for Record Mirror describing "King" as "superb, spacy reggae. Best crossover reggae / pop I've come across in months. It has a soothing, cool effect that is very therapeutic".[8]
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