The Kings blasted out of Ontario in 1980 with the one-two punch of “This Beat Goes On/Switchin’ to Glide,” which became a weekend anthem for a large part of both Canada & the US.  The parent album, The Kings Are Here, came out on Elektra and was produced by the great Bob Ezrin, who helmed classic records by Alice Cooper, Kiss and Pink Floyd. 

Right as all of that was happening in the States, the Kings played to one of their largest crowds back in their native Canada at the Heatwave Festival.  Known as the Punk and New Wave Woodstock, the outdoor concert boasted a crowd at around 100,000 people, and featured a bulletproof lineup of Talking Heads, B-52’s, the Pretenders, Rockpile, Elvis Costello and – the Kings, who closed the night at around midnight. 

40 years later, this historic performance is finally being made available through the band’s Youtube channel, thekingsarehere. We talk with singer/bassist David Diamond and guitarist Mr. Zero from the Mercedes!

They talk about the painstaking process that went in to the restoration of this historic video. Plus, they tell the stories of how they got hooked up with producer Ezrin and how “This Beat Goes On” / “Switchin’ to Glide” became a surprise hit.