Forty-four years ago, they declared The Kings Are Here. Now Canada’s cherished rock legends are specifying exactly where “here” is: on the charts and rising.
This week, The Kings’ ridiculously compelling “Nowhere to Go
But Gone” climbs to #42 on the Mediabase CHR Activator list—a
nigh-on-miraculous showing for a Canadian classic-rock band on US radio. It’s a
designation that shows the tune continues to spread like wildfire, receiving
airplay in markets from Utah to Florida to Cape Cod. If this keeps up, the
group might have to issue an official clarification that the title of their
documentary, Anatomy of a One-Hit Wonder, was meant with tongue
planted firmly in cheek.
Because really, The Kings never went away. Yes, they’re
still best known for their breakout double A-sided single, “This Beat Goes
On/Switchin’ to Glide,” which peaked at #43 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1980
and ultimately spent 23 weeks on that chart—not to mention earning the band a
gold single award, a Juno nomination and induction into the Canadian
Songwriters Hall of Fame. The success of the insanely catchy numbers also
eventually drove their debut album, the aforementioned The Kings Are
Here, to platinum-level sales in Canada. But in the ensuing decades,
they’ve put out an absolute wealth of stellar material, on albums like Amazon
Beach, RSVP, Unstoppable, Party Live in ’85, The
Lost Tapes of a Seventies Bar Band and Because of You. Unstoppable alone
yielded a cornucopia of Canadian hits, including the title track, “Lesson To
Learn," "Shoulda Been Me," "Parting Of The Ways," and
the killer ballad "If We Don't Belong Together."
“Nowhere to Go But Gone” proves that their mettle as
hitmakers remains undiminished. It’s an appropriately driving little ditty in
which lead singer/bassist David Diamond namechecks all the places he’s about to
hit on a much-needed jaunt behind the wheel:
Gonna head out on the highway
The highway is my friend
Gonna head out west
Where the highway ends
Then I’ll stop in Vancouver
Turn south towards LA
Twelve hundred miles of surfers
Waiting for a wave
There is no trip like a road trip
Nowhere to go, nowhere to go
Nowhere to go but gone
But what gradually comes into focus is that he’s actually
singing about taking a breather from a relationship, to get a better
perspective on why it’s one worth keeping. This is a song not of freedom and
the endless open road, but of renewal and the journey home.
Oh, but when I return
The bridges I burned
Have been reassembled
Good to take a breather
Good to get some air
Good to be reminded
Of what it’s like out there
As recorded, the entire performance is a tour de force of
moxie by Diamond, guitarist/co-composer Mister Zero, keyboardist Sonny Keyes
(all three of them cofounders of the group) and drummer Todd Reynolds (who’s
been firmly entrenched in the lineup since 2007). The track was co-produced by
the band and recording engineer Chris Snow (a veteran of sessions with the
likes of Barenaked Ladies, Big Wreck and Arkells) and mixed by Garth
Richardson (who has produced Rage Against the Machine and engineered records by
the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nickelback and numerous other heavy hitters).
The song comes from The Kings’ most recent album,
2023’s The Longest Story Ever Told, which kept the faith with the
group’s hardcore following while earning widespread critical acclaim. “Call it
a comeback if you will, but regardless, it’s clear The Kings still rule,”
raved American Songwriter.
With more than 2,000 live shows under their belt, these boys
are perpetually in demand as a concert act throughout the Western hemisphere.
The latest jewel in their crown was an August gig at the Kitchener Blues
Festival Canada, and come November 8, they’ll be “gettin’ gone” all the
way down to Planet Hollywood Cancun for the five-day The Sands festival, where
they’ll appear alongside fellow ’80s survivors Rick Springfield, Bret Michaels,
The Fixx, Level 42, Lou Gramm and Ace Frehley.
And believe it or not, they’re even bigger virtually: The
official video for “This Beat Goes On/Switchin’ to Glide” has
surpassed 6 million views on YouTube. In a further test of the hit’s enduring
appeal, Chicago DJ Bob Stroud included it in his audience poll of the greatest
one-two punches in music history—songs no listener or programmer would ever
dare separate. The Kings landed at #1 on that list, above ubiquitous musical
conjoined twins like “Living Loving Maid/Heartbreaker” by Led Zeppelin and even
“We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions by Queen.
Now, with “Nowhere to Go But Gone,” The Kings are back to
prove there’s plenty more gas in their tank. More than four decades later,
we’re all still “holding hands as David Diamond sings” (as they once sang on
their haunting “Love Store”). To say this beat goes on is an understatement:
Once the world switches to glide, apparently, it just never switches back.
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