'Portrait of Jonathan King' by Sean Bw Parker
Kenneth 'Jonathan' King is one of the UK's most successful songwriters and producers of the pop era, being the hand behind tracks such as Gloria by Laura Branigan, Ooh Ah, Just a Little Bit by Gina G and Tubthumping by Chumbawumba, as well as his own multi-million selling 60s breakout Everyone's Gone To The Moon. He named Genesis and produced their first album, was head of Eurovision in the 1990s and counts Stephen Fry and Elton John (amongst many others) as friends. It was when he was in line for Chairman of EMI, with a salary of £3 million, that he claims publicist Max Clifford orchestrated a press mob against him, and the corruption began.
King was tried and prosecuted for alleged offences that begin in an arc that spans from Oscar Wilde in Victorian times, to Alan Turing in the inter-war era, to Kevin Spacey very recently. Activities and orientations that were once considered illegal are now not, but the parameters change slowly and unpredictably. Wilde's The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name is still invoked when there are big bucks to be had, and scores to settle. Including in his legendary Michael Parkinson interview from 1981, King has never been afraid to speak truth to power, and call out those he considers to be taking themselves too seriously. With the 'right' journalists and the right incentives, even the most sexually liberated 'old queen' (as JK has called himself) might find himself doing time. But this was one artisan that the prison experience didn't break, and his A Victim Bites Back series is now a regular YouTube travelogue treat, exploring rocklore anecdotes and European travelogues in equal measure. In it, Ken King in his cap and Rolls is a masterclass in the punk spirit of Innocence Art.
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