King - Soul On My Boots - The Collection
Following the demise of the Coventry rock-ska band Reluctant Stereotypes, singer Paul King formed the Raw Screens, who then in 1983 became King. Over the next couple of years, the band released two albums and had several hit singles in the UK, including two that hit the top ten (unfortunately their only US hit was "Love & Pride" at 55 on the singles chart). Now those two albums, along with King's 1987 solo album and numerous bonus tracks (35 previously unreleased), including remixes, B-sides, demos and live recordings have been compiled on the five-disc box set Soul In My Boots - The Collection.
Their debut Steps In Time gets things started here and is highlighted by their most successful single, the incredibly infectious “Love And Pride” and its pure eighties dance beat driven, new wave pop (I”m really not sure why this wasn’t more successful in the States). While a lot of the songs have a similar sound like “Won’t You Hold My Hand Now” and “Kiss The Pikey Fridge” with its heavier beat, others show they did have some diversity like opener “Fish,” with more of a rock edge, the moodier, more subdued “And As For Myself” and the soulful “Soul In My Boots.” Closing out disc one are six bonus tracks consisting of a variety of remixes of albums tracks (the extended mix of "Love and Pride" is great), along with an interesting, somewhat darker and slower alternative version of "Won't You Hold My Hand."
The band’s sophomore album Bitter Sweet is on disc two and opens with its first and biggest single “Alone Without You,” another catchy new wave pop track, here with some slight hints of Duran Duran in the keys. Also like the debut, quite a few of the tracks here continue down that path with “I Cringed I Died I Felt Hot,” which has a more midtempo groove, “(KFAD) Wair For No One,” the driving, classic eighties new wave of “Torture” and “Sugar Candy Mountain Buddhas.”They also continue to branch out even more here with tracks like “Platform One,” with its laid-back soulful reggae beat, the excellent “2 M.B.,” a throwback to the ska of Reluctant Stereotypes, the gorgeous, should have been a hits “The Taste Of Your Tears” and “Mind Yer Toes, with is strings and horns. Five more bonus tracks can be found at the end of disc two, which are again remixes of album cuts.
Recorded between albums in 1985, disc three contains their previously unreleased live performance at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland. In addition to performing eight of the ten tracks from their debut (including playing both "Won't You Hold My Hand Now" and "Love & Pride" for a second time for the encore), they gave the crowd a preview of four songs that would later appear on their sophomore album as well as “Don’t Stop,” the b-side to “Love & Pride,” and future b-side “Crazy Party.” Although the recording is a little thin, the band sounds great, and the crowd is energetic, making this live recording a great addition to the box set.
In preparation for their next album, CBS booked the band studio time to record their next single. Produced by Julian Mendelsohn, who had already had production success with Pet Shop Boys, "Baby Raven Mane" was to be that single, but the band felt it didn’t really represent their new sound and asked the label to delay its release. They ended up recording numerous more songs in several different sessions, but there were conflicts among the members and after King worked on some songs with producer Dan Hartman he decided to leave the band. Now for the first time, 21 previously unreleased bonus tracks, including demos plus that abandoned single, can be found on disc four of this box set. That unreleased "Baby Raven Mane" single gets things started and is an extremely catchy track that would have had great potential to give them another hit. The b-side was set to be “Something To Believe,” another excellent track that’s moodier with a bit of a rock edge that was a bit of a different direction for the band. Songs like "Man For All Seasons," "Can't Help Myself," "Let's Find A Home," "Rock Trash Go" and "Some Risks Are Worth Taking" are reminiscent of what they were doing on their earlier albums, but with more experimentation and maturity. There are also several songs where funk elements come more into play, like "Love Has Let You Down," "Ten" and "Building." Some of the other highlights include “Glory’s Goal,” a laid-back, dreamy track with a soulful groove, and the ballads "Play That Song Again" and "Someday." A couple of the other tracks of interest are "At The End Of the Day," a totally different sounding song for them, relying more on synths and giving it a colder, more electronic sound, and an interesting cover of David Bowie's "In The Heat Of The Morning." This disc is an absolute goldmine for fans and shows a band that was really moving forward.
As mentioned above, after being motivated by the James Brown song "Living In America" Paul King met Dan Hartman, the song's writer and producer, to discuss how he thought he was the perfect person to bring his vision for King to fruition. He wanted them to have a more modern, soulful sound and was further encouraged by Hartman's suggestion to use horns and backing singers. Hartman also said he thought the best results would come from using the session musicians that played on "Living In America" and then have the actual band members fill in when appropriate, which ultimately resulted in King leaving the band and releasing his solo album Joy. Included here on disc five, Joy shifted somewhat away from the sound of the band towards a more polished, and quite often more horn-fueled, soulful sound. That at times comes across a little sterile, causing the album to lose some of the charm of his work with the band, but it's still quite a good album. The two singles that were released from the album, the laid-back "Follow My Heart" and the catchy, upbeat pop of “I Know,” punctuated with horns from The Uptown Horns, are among some of the better tracks here. A couple of the album’s other highlights are “Glory’s Goal,” a more soulful, laid-back tune that is reminiscent of Spandau Ballet or ABC, “One Too Many Heartaches,” a bouncy pop tune that has a little more of an edge to it, and ”So Brutal,” a soulful tune at first before kicking up the pace with some super funky bass. A few others worth mentioning are “Pass On By,” which brings to mind his earlier work with the band, the poppy dance cut “It’s Up To You” and “Slow Motion,” an upbeat dance tune with a slow, slinky funk groove and backing vocals from Nona Hendryx. Disc five also includes five more bonus tracks, again mixes and remixes of album tracks including “Love - Pride and Brutality,” an interesting “mashup” of sorts of "So Brutal" and "Love and Pride." Also included is a CD booklet with an essay written by Paul King, giving details on each disc. While I was only slightly familiar with King back in the day, I was quite pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable a listen Soul In My Boots - The Collection is.
