THE KINGS

THE CANADIAN QUARTET The Kings celebrate the 40th anniversary of their hit “Switchin’ to Glide,” which reached No. 43 in the U.S. in 1980, a lively song beginning with the line, “Nothing matters but the weekend, from a Tuesday point of view.” Their DVD The Kings: Anatomy of a One-Hit Wonder includes Dick Clark introducing them on American Bandstand and saying, “These guys have worked so hard and hit it so well,” before the group energetically performed “Switchin’ to Glide.”

- WARREN KURTZ

The group’s guitarist and songwriter “Mr. Zero” (nicknamed by lead vocalist, bassist and the group’s other main songwriter, Dave Diamond) echoed Clark’s sentiment to Goldmine, “I hope the DVD’s main message is that when opportunity came knocking, we were ready because we had worked hard.” That opportunity was the availability and interest of the successful Toronto native producer Bob Ezrin, who had worked with Alice Cooper, KISS and had just wrapped up The Wall with Pink Floyd. He was able to get the group, including Sonny Keyes on keyboards and Max Styles on drums, signed to Elektra and produced their first two albums for the label, The Kings Are Here and Amazon Beach.