King Kong (British band)

King Kong (Band UK) is a Manchester band active from 1995 to 1997 consisting of Nicola Rushton (Vocals) Nicolas Gibson (Vocals) Timothy Jackson (Guitar) Christopher Chan - "Channy" (Bass) Damien Allen (Drums).

The band were linked with Pop Star Jason Orange during 1996 who mentored and assisted them after the split of Take That. Often King Kong gigs in the city would be followed by the local media who had a keen interest in Orange's next career move. The Manchester Evening News would report the fact that Orange was attending a King Kong gig rather than focusing on the band themselves, much to the annoyance of the musicians.

King Kong were musically different from their Manchester indie peers of the time, opting for a more rocky, funky sound driven by fluid basslines and heavy guitar hooks. The band's songs were written by Jackson and Chan, some formulating from extended jam sessions. The two had played together with Allen in numerous bands preceding King Kong.

They attracted a firm loyal support at local gigs, hosted a monthly gig at the Attic Club on Oxford Road, as well as playing Manchester's many other venues. They headlined "Rock on the Quays" - the opening celebrations of the building of the now famous Lowry centre and development.

The band recorded two self-financed EP's both containing four songs. But they were more notable for their energetic live shows, where the combination of the two singers styles and Rock fueled riffs would stand out from the "shoe-gazing" indie bands of the day.

The members split in 1997 with some of the musicians joining together again in various acts, however nothing has been heard since musically from Rushton or Gibson.

Jackson has been linked with Liam Frost & The Slowdown Family as a session guitarist, and even had a stint playing drums with HeadFunk who now go under the name of The Yellhounds.

It is believed that Allen and Chan still play together, although details are scarce.

Stand out tracks from the band were the anthemic "Bored and Crazy" which illuminated live shows with its Radiohead-esque chorus, "Invisible Tears", a beautiful guitar part with a haunting vocal provided and written by Rushton, and "Rollin'" a blues rock jam perfectly suited to Gibson's raw rocky vocals.

References

Manchester Evening news City Life http://www.theyellhounds.com/ http://www.liamfrost.co.uk/ https://web.archive.org/web/20090217004032/http://liamfrost.net/shows.php