The Kings - This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide (indie 7")

Issued privately by The Kings in Ontario, circa 1979, on Extreme ER-1.

The Kings were formed in Oakville, Ontario in 1979. Members are Dave Diamond - lead vocal & bass, Mr. Zero - guitar, Sonny Keyes - keyboards and Max Styles - drums. This is their big song, and it's been in their repertoire from almost the beginning.

Before they were signed to Elektra, The Kings had what must be an extremely small number of these independent singles pressed. It contains an alternate version of the song, which most people have never heard before. Several of the chord progressions are different, and there are extra lyrics that were excised when the song was re-recorded in 1980 for their debut album.

I found this copy in a Goodwill thrift store in downtown Toronto in 1986. It was pretty banged up, but I figured (correctly) that I may never see another copy, so I grabbed it, not knowing it was so rare. Then, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a different version from the one we all know.

Some fifteen years later, I took great pains to remove as much of the noise from the record as was possible. Mixing it to mono for this post took some doing, as the stereo mix uses inverted phase to achieve a really wide stereo image. Collapsing it produced phase cancellations. So I messed with it, and had to add a bunch of bass EQ. I'm sure everybody is there in the mix. It sounds fine now.

This version has never been reissued, so I take pride in being able to offer it for your enjoyment.