Michael Louis Johnson - vox/trumpet/guitar, Colin Bryden - bass, Eva Moon - drums,
other members have been:
Jud Ruhl - guitar,
Lenny Miller - drums,
Darcy Yates - bass,
Tara-Lynn White - bass,
Andrew Innanen - drums,
Derek Downham - drums,,
Dean Drouillard - guitar,
Tarik Zaky - guitar,
Jake Ulrichs - drums,
Mike Overton - bass,
Ben Huband - bass --
plus many collaborations with Richard Underhill and the Kensington Horns,
Ainike & Sambe Elegua
Influences
ACDC, The Clash, Bad Brains, Toots & the Maytals, Stooges, Dead Kennedys, MC5, Bad Religion (Suffer), Tom Waits, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Zeppelin and Sabbath
Sounds Like
Liberation Rock---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Intense show! Reminded me of the first punk shows I went to as a kid in the Bay area scene."...or something like that.... I was drunk, talking to Tim Armstrong after we opened for Rancid.-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"...(Michael Louis Johnson) has funneled his earnest commitment to humanist, anti-capitalist rabblerousing into a charged, confrontational mix of Strummer-ish outrage and galvanizing, jazz-warped rhythms...."
Ben Rayner, Toronto Star, Sept. 22, 2005
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"...the New Kings' Take Back the Streets makes scathing indictments against everything from corporations to bad "police-state propaganda" TV shows. Nothing light 'n' frothy here, to say the least."
Chris Rolfe, Eye Magazine, Mar. 31, 2005
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"My first face-to-face encounter with New Kings mastermind Michael Johnson happened when he was dancing atop an über-gross Hummer obnoxiously parked outside the El Mo.... a goofy political performance that took big cojones and makes the title of the Kings' new disc seem particularly apt."
Sarah Liss, Now Magazine, Mar. 31, 2005
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"Take Back The Streets!" is real music. It has teeth, a reason to exist, a sense of humour and is quite simply great rock'n'roll.
Michael Proudfoot - TV producer
--activist rock band formed in 2002 by protest singer Michael Louis Johnson, who
led 90s Swing-Punk revolution as side-man and executive producer of Big Rude Jake
--opened for Rancid at Koolhaus in Toronto. Said Tim Armstrong, “It’s punk rock, but
you’ve got the smarts to back up your ranting.”
--released five-song EP – STREET FIGHTER in 2004
--released full-length – TAKE BACK THE STREETS in 2005, www.cdbaby.com
--live recording 16.05.06 sold off the stage
Noted in Canadian national press for "taking back the streets" by hosting
all-candidates debates; playing guerilla gigs in vacant lots and road-construction
areas; staging parking-meter parties and jams at car-free Kensington street
festivals where "everyone is in the band”
--musical style fuses rage and wit of Henry Rollins and Paul Weller with schooling
of Count Basie and Duke Ellington and fun of ze Klownenfuhrer
--fan comments: "It's like watching Johnson walk uphill in a lightning storm with a
golf club over his shoulder. Someday it'll end with two husky guys in uniforms
carting him away.”
"Brilliant songwriting ... The best analysis of urban absurdity in the world today."
CJ in ASIA, war correspondent
Soul Shaker by the New Kings, opening for RANCID at the Kool Haus Dec.10, 2006
Let's Make a Deal by the New Kings with the ReEvolution Day Arkestra
at PS Kensington, July 2005
video by Michael Proudfoot
Our first single, Drunk Tonight EP, and our first DVD Drunk Rock Videos DVD is now available for pre-order from the store section of our website. Click the above images for info.
Hey, Thanks again for all the support. Make sure to sign up for our newsletter on our official website and receive a free download of our With You Demo. Hope to see you at a show soon! Keep in Touch
dude who used to chill with kev and the shalyn gray boys, from kensignton, rapper guy bout the politricks etc. i saw you a few weeks ago and you mentioned you have a a thursday night spot, i was wondering if me and my crew could rock out with you guys on may 28th. i know it's short notices, but it would be dope if possible.
You may like to check out my recently released book - 100 Great Albums. It's a 220 page review of the best music recorded during the period 1965-08 featuring the Beatles,Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Sex Pistols, Joy Division, U2, Nirvana, Radiohead, the Strokes and many more!
My aim is to prolong the existence of something close to my heart, something currently under severe threat from the download generation - The Album! With the modern world increasingly more interested in cherry-picking individual tracks, it seems to me a great shame that the sacred long-player is losing its importance. I'm on a mission to save the album before it's too late. ether new or old to the scene, can appreciate the importance of that.
If you click on the button below you can access further details about the book (including an option to preview some of the content) before deciding whether you want to buy. All the best Andy.
That would be great, except we don't have the money to get out of Thunder Bay for the time being. If you're ever coming through again you should let us know, and vice verca.
