No More Kings
are a Los Angeles-based rock band fronted by lead singer Pete Mitchell (born September 7th, 1973 in Providence, Rhode Island). No More Kings' music is known for its frequent references to figures in pop culture, most notably Johnny Lawrence from The Karate Kid,
Michael and K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider
, Johnny 5 from Short Circuit
, and Dungeons and Dragons. The band's songs are written by Pete along with his longtime friend Neil Robins of the Louisville-based band Dirt Poor Robins.
No More Kings have played shows all across the U.S. since 2006, playing most frequently in Los Angeles.
The name "No More Kings" comes from an episode of Schoolhouse Rock!
, one of many of No More Kings' inspirations. The particular episode dealt with the Pilgrims leaving England, seeking freedom and independence.
Pete studied fine art in college and has worked for Disney and the Jim Henson Company; he is an accomplished animator and also speaks Japanese. He designed the interior album art for the band's first album as well as the album art and packaging for their second album. Pete claims his main sources of musical inspiration are the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Radiohead, Billy Joel, Beck, and Genesis.
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NO MORE KINGS TICKETS
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Music Videos
Sweep the Leg
No More Kings got much of their exposure from their 2007 music video "
Sweep the Leg", which is presented as a continuation of the 1984 film
The Karate Kid
and features the entire original male cast except for the late
Pat Morita, who portrayed Mr. Miyagi in the film.
Martin Kove reprises his role as the evil Sensei Kreese, and the actors who played the
Cobra Kai members in the 1984 film, Ron Thomas, Rob Garrison, and
Tony O'Dell are also part of the cast.
William Zabka, who played villain Johnny Lawrence in the movie, directed the video as well. Pat E. Johnson, who was the martial arts director for the 1984
The Karate Kid
as well as the martial arts director for
Bruce Lee, worked on this video.
Dennis Haskins and
Liza Snyder also make an appearance.
The video received over 80,000 views within its first week of release and became the number one video on
YouTube on
March 16,
2007.
The premise for the music video finds William Zabka living in a
trailer in the desert, now an out-of-work actor who has become obsessed with
The Karate Kid
and the fight he lost years ago. He is haunted by the band No More Kings and chases Pete Mitchell across the desert until they have a final showdown. He then claims victory, but after realizing it was a fantasy, William Zabka is run over by
Ralph Macchio as Pete Mitchell looks on.
The music video references not only
The Karate Kid
, but also the
1986 film
Back to School
(which also stars William Zabka), the
1987 film
Raising Arizona
and the 1984 video for
The Cars song, "
You Might Think."
There are various versions of the video, the longest being a little over seven minutes. The video was collaboration between No More Kings’ record label Astonish Records, and Chapter Seven Films, a film company in Los Angeles.
"Sweep the Leg" was featured on MTVu.com, Vh1.com, MySpace,
E!, and
YouTube. In 2008, Astonish Records released a special collector's edition CD/DVD.
Michael
In 2008, No More Kings followed up the video for "Sweep the Leg" with "Michael (Jump In)", which was animated by San Francisco animation company GhostBot. In "Michael (Jump In)", lead singer Pete Mitchell is a hero-wannabe who attempts to help people, but just makes things worse. The main character in the video is trying to be like Michael, from the show
Knight Rider
.
History
Origins
Pete Mitchell and Neil Robins started No More Kings by themselves in the 1990s, and were later joined by
Adam DeGraide (bass). They broke up in the late 1990s, but reformed in 2006 when Adam DeGraide started a record label called Astonish Records and signed them.
Since the band's reformation, musicians are often added and interchanged according to tours and albums. Pete Mitchell is the band's lead singer and occasionally plays the guitar or piano for shows. He writes songs with Neil Robins, who produces their albums and plays a majority of the instruments.
All The Kings Men
All The Kings Men is the publicity street team for the band No More Kings, which helps in bringing friends to the shows, phoning local radio stations to request the band's songs, putting up posters, and posting to band forums or related bulletin boards online. The name was selected out of hundreds of suggestions by street team members, and came from fan Alicia King.
Discography
- No More Kings, released on March 6, 2007.
The band's self-titled debut album has a pop atmosphere and focuses on pop culture and literary references.
Knight Rider
,
The Karate Kid,
the
Smurfs,
Gulliver's Travels
, characters from
Peanuts
, the
Beastie Boys,
Darth Vader,
Fonzie,
M.C. Hammer,
Archie Bunker,
Ghostbusters 2,
Adam and Eve, and
Gene Kelly are all mentioned throughout the album. Well-known songs by the band include "Michael (Jump In)", "
Sweep The Leg", and "Zombie Me".
In early 2008,
No More Kings won in The 7th Annual
Independent Music Awards for Best Punk Album.
[1]
- And the Flying Boombox, released on May 12, 2009. [2]
No More Kings' follow-up album presents quite a different atmosphere, but brings back the pop culture references including Vincent Barbarino from
Welcome Back Kotter,
MySpace,
Dungeons and Dragons,
Hollywood Squares,
Lewis and Clark,
Run-D.M.C.,
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,
Short Circuit, and Merlin and Arthur from the
Canterbury Tales. The album produced singles, "Obey the Groove" and "Dance Alone."
Notes