The King Blues

In June 2006 their debut album, Under the Fog, was released on Household Name Records, and coincided with increased gigging. Recorded in the band's flat in Hackney in 5 days, the record became an underground phenomenon. In November of the same year, "Mr Music Man" was released as a CD single, also on Household Name. The single was enhanced with a video chronicling the band's attempt to play more gigs in a 24-hour period than Status Quo's record-breaking four gigs in one day. The King Blues managed seven.[5] Their single "Mr Music Man" was voted Best Punk Song of 2006 by BBC Radio 1.

A 12-inch vinyl version of Under The Fog was released on Tartan Records Tartanrex in 2007. Limited to 1000 copies with the added bonus track of "If Genghis Khan, then Why Can't I", the record was pressed on durable 180g vinyl and hand-printed.

In 2007, the band was signed to Field Recordings, a label co-owned by Rollo Armstrong and backed by Island Records. Under the Fog was partly re-recorded and re-issued in March 2008, and was preceded by two singles, "Come Fi Di Youth" and a new version of "Mr. Music Man".[6]

In 2007, Jonny "Itch" Fox provided additional vocals for Faithless on their album To All New Arrivals and And Now We're Even's first single "Youmii, Hawaii".[7]

In May 2008, the band released a single from their forthcoming second album called "Let's Hang the Landlord" to those signed up to their email list.[8] The lyric is autobiographical, detailing Itch's life as a homeless teenage punk.[9] The track was also released on a split 7-inch single, alongside "Mayday", the debut UK single by Flobots.

Save the World. Get the Girl was released on 20 October 2008 in the UK. The album was produced by Peter Miles, who produced Under the Fog, and Clive Langer (producer of Elvis Costello, Madness, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Morrissey). The album received positive reviews.[10][11]

"My Boulder" was released as a single on 13 October 2008 in the UK. Zane Lowe played this track several times on BBC Radio 1 and recommended it on air to Noel Gallagher.[12] "My Boulder" includes an excerpt from a reading of the poem The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browning. Other tracks from the album, including What If Punk Never Happened, received airplay on Radio 1, from Rob da Bank,[13] Mike Davies,[14][15] and Zane Lowe,[16] and on the Xfm punk show (X Punk) hosted by Pete Donaldson and Phil Clifton. The band have also received considerable airplay in Australia courtesy of Triple R's punk program Bullying the Jukebox.

"I Got Love" was released on 4 May 2009 as the final single from the album; its first air-time was on BBC Radio 1. The band also performed a cover of Dizzee Rascal's "Bonkers" on Radio 1's Live Lounge in June 2009.

The band used their poster budget to hire an empty billboard in the middle of London's financial district and spray painted an open letter to the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown

Over late 2009 and early 2010, The King Blues continued to tour their second album, adding songs such as "Headbutt", "Sore Throat" and "Five Bottles of Shampoo" to their setlist.

In mid 2010, The King Blues were dropped from Field Recordings. This coincided with the departure of band members Fruitbag, and session players Johnny Rich, Al Gunby and Jim Parmley. A controversial message explaining the departures was posted on the Punktastic forum by Fruitbag[17][18] with a reply written by itch. However, the band quickly found a new record label, Transmission Recordings, and new members. Only a few weeks later, the new King Blues line-up went on tour supporting Enter Shikari.

On 23 March, Zane Lowe aired "Headbutt" as his "hottest record in the world" on his Radio 1 show, and Itch stated on the show that the band had completely finished recording five or six new songs. On their UK tour it was announced that "Headbutt" would be released on 16 May 2010 and that Rou Reynolds of Enter Shikari had remixed the track for free download.

The King Blues departed on their "London Brawling tour" (10 April until 5 May) along with four different support bands: Mouthwash (all gigs), Moral Dilemma, The Meow Meows and Dirty Revolution. Most nights of the tour the band invited a speaker on stage, including Sophie Lancaster's mother speaking for the S.O.P.H.I.E. foundation. (The King Blues had S.O.P.H.I.E. bands available on this tour.) The band also played gigs for Love Music Hate Racism. On 8 August 2010 they played at the Hevy Music Festival near Folkestone. During this time, the band showcased songs planned for the forthcoming album Punk & Poetry. However, much of this material, such as "Kissing Frogs" and "We Will Never Grow Old" was shelved due to the band finding inspiration from the UK's anti-cuts protests and riots, and the Arab Spring, which led to them writing new material such as "I Want You", "We Are Fucking Angry" and "Set The World On Fire".

On 29 August, The King Blues released their single "Holiday" along with "I Got Hate" and an acoustic version of the previous single "Headbutt" as B-sides. On the same day, the King Blues played the main stage at Reading Festival.

The King Blues took their "Lil Bast*rd" soundsystem to one of Tony Blair's speeches and drowned out the sound in the building.

On 21 January 2011, The King Blues posted a 40-second preview of a song, "We Are Fucking Angry". It received radio play on Mike Davies' Radio 1 Punk Show and a few days later the band posted a free download link to the song on the internet.[19]

Set The World On Fire debuted on Mike Davies' Punk Show on 7 February, receiving more plays on the same show and Zane Lowe's show over the next few weeks. On 26 February, the official music video for the song was posted online. It was released on 10 April on digital download with a Dr Meaker remix version of the song as the b-side. On 1 March, Itch co-hosted Mike Davies' Radio 1 Punk Show, previewing songs "The Future's Not What It Used to Be" and "Five Bottles of Shampoo". On 5 March, the track listing for Punk and Poetry was announced, and the album was released on 18 April to further positive reviews.[20][21][22][23] It reached the Top 40 of the UK Album Chart, just missing the Top 30.[24]

On 12 February 2012, the fourth single from the current album, Does Anybody Care About Us? was released as a digital download, backed with a live recording of Five Bottles of Shampoo.[25]

At the 2011 Leeds Festival, The King Blues announced the commencement of work on the follow-up album to Punk & Poetry, and debuted the song "Power to the People", which was also played on their subsequent debut European tour.[26][27] At The Roundhouse in November 2011 they debuted another song, "Modern Life Has Let Me Down".

The band recorded Long Live The Struggle in LA with producer John Feldman after he flew to UK to watch the band perform and fell in love with their uniquely British style and lyrics.

The song "Can't Bring Me Down" features Jason Butler of Letlive.

On 6 March 2012, Itch again co-hosted Mike Davies' Radio 1 Punk Show, previewing the song "Tear Us Apart".

On 27 February 2016 The King Blues released their comeback record Off with Their Heads on their own Meatball Records with the physical released on Speech Development Records. The title track video, directed by Scroobius Pip, received over a quarter of a million views on the first day. The artwork by Oh Bones depicts a severed head of state in the hands of singer Itch. Facebook banned the video from being advertised and Apple banned the release from iTunes for the first week of sales.

On 11 April 2017, The King Blues released their fifth studio album The Gospel Truth on Cooking Vinyl Records. Their first album since 2012, it attained a number 1 spot on the cassette chart, a top 20 placing on the vinyl chart and a top 40 placing on the overall chart.

A single, "Tory Is a 4 Letter Word", was released as a download on Cooking Vinyl Records around the time of the UK general election.

A soundtrack by The King Blues to a punk puppet opera written by Jonny Itch Fox. It is based on the false alarm that went out in Hawaii in 2018, informing residents there was an imminent missile and took 38 minutes before they were told it was a false alarm. The musical theatre production has one date in Camden, London and sold out months in advance. The album entered the UK Top 40. It is the first album put out on Jonny Itch Fox's "Meatball Records"

• Jack Emmings
• Mike Moore
• Peter Jolliffe Thomas
• Jamie Jazz – guitar, vocals
• Fruitbag – guitar, vocals, keyboards
• Jack Usher – drums, percussion, backing vocals
• Kat Marsh – bass, backing vocals
• Josie Dobson – keyboards, vocals
• Ade Preston – guitar, backing Vocals
• Louis Bennett - Frontman, vocals

• Johnny Rich – bass
• Al Gunby – drums
• Jim Parmley – percussion
• Chris Goodman – bass
• George Lindsay – drums
• Perkie – keyboards, vocals
• Charlie Wilson – guitar