Kingmaker – Nostalgia Central

Kingmaker was formed in Hull (Yorkshire) by school friends Loz Hardy and Myles Howell during their gap year. Placing a local advertisement for a drummer, they recruited John Andrew.

The trio made their recording debut in 1991 with The Celebrated Working Man EP before signing with Chrysalis Records and releasing a second EP, Waterproof.

Their debut album Eat Yourself Whole was released on 7 October of the same year and was well received, spending three weeks in the UK Albums Chart.

A single of the same name reached the top twenty of the UK Singles Chart.

After touring in 1992 (supported by a pre-fame Radiohead and Suede), they landed an American recording contract with Chrysalis, releasing their second album, Sleepwalking, in May 1993.

When the first single from the album (Armchair Anarchist) failed to break into the Top 40, the label made a number of changes to the album (including re-writing the album to include more commercial-sounding tunes and moving all the publicity in-house) without approval from the band, causing friction.

Their third album – a compilation named To Hell with Humdrum – contained only a few new songs, and half the tracks were BBC sessions.

The fourth and final album (In the Best Possible Taste) took two years to write and record.

By the time it was released in April 1995, Britpop was the flavour of the day in British music, and Kingmaker were deemed to be past their sell-by date.

After a brief tour, the group called it a day later in the year.

Lawrence ‘Loz’ Hardy 
Vocals, guitar
Myles Howell
Bass
John Andrew
Drums

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