Britpop gave a leg-up to many ‘indie’ bands who might not have had a crack at the big-time or who had been around for a while. Amongst those who got invited to the party were The Charlatans, Lush, and the Manic Street Preachers, and even, arguably the Levellers.
However, Britpop seemed to put paid to certain bands – the three leading lights of the Stourbridge scene, The Wonder Stuff, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin and Pop Will Eat Itself all split around 1994-5, at least for the first time. Another band, who went from being critical darlings to butt of everyone’s jokes were Kingmaker.
Kingmaker formed in 1990 in Hull. They were Loz Hardy (vocals, guitar), Miles Howell (bass) and John Andrew (drums). They had several entries in the charts, including five top forty hits, and two top thirty albums. They were even supported on tour by Radiohead in 1992. Loz was a very sharp lyric writer and the band had a way with a tune – I remember sitting on a trip going to London on a coach listening to ‘Ten Years Asleep’ playing not on a walkman but on Daytime Radio 1. This was followed a few weeks later by a Top Of the Pops performance. It seemed that they were about to break through into the mainstream. But about the time of their third album In The Best Possible Taste the band fell apart, and split.
Even ‘where are they now’ entries seem to be ten years old, though Loz Hardy became Justine Frischmann’s flatmate and co-songwriter of a couple of tracks on Elastica’s 1999 EP. Their three studio albums – Eat Yourself Whole, Sleepwalking and In The Best Possible Taste plus a couple of compilations are available on iTunes.
In memory of Kingmaker then, their August 1991 ‘Two Headed’ EP. These are ripped from a 12″ single I picked up in Avalanche Records today for a mere £1…
Kingmaker -‘Two Headed, Yellow Bellied Hole Digger.’ mp3
Kingmaker -‘This Time, This Town, This Sea.’ mp3
Kingmaker -‘Wonderful garden.’ mp3
Kingmaker -‘Pockets Of St. Malachi (live).’ mp3
An unofficial Kingmaker website, well worth checking out.
Kingmaker myspace (run by a fan)