Rhythm King

Beginnings

Starting out as an offshoot of Daniel Miller's critically acclaimed Mute Records Rhythm King's initial focus was dance music - specifically house music, acid house, acid jazz, sampling culture and hip hop/rap. Strongman's rap/funk offshoot, Flame Records, signed proto-gangsta rapper Schoolly D and Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers amongst others. James Horrocks left the label at the end of 1987 and subsequently went on to form React Music Limited in 1990 which also had a focus upon dance music. This left Martin Heath in sole charge of the label; however by the beginning of 1988 Rhythm King was to enjoy a period of short term success which went hand in hand with the dominance dance music had in the UK singles chart from the late 1980s to the beginning of the 2000s.

January 1988 - First UK Singles Chart breakthrough - The Beatmasters / Bomb the Bass

The breakthrough was the single "Rok Da House" by The Beatmasters featuring The Cookie Crew. Initially reaching #78 when first released in July 1987 the single was re-released in January 1988 and reached #5 in the UK singles chart in February 1988 and is acknowledged as not only one of the earliest British house tunes (recorded 1986) but also as the first record to merge hip-hop and house into a style known as hip house. This was followed up by "Beat Dis" by Bomb The Bass. The identity of Bomb The Bass was shrouded in mystery until it was revealed that it was the work of London's Wag Club DJ Tim Simenon and record producer Pascal Gabriel. Simenon brought his DJ experience, record collection and techniques gained from a music production course to create a cut and paste style which with Gabriel's help, successfully merged sounds and samples from various genres within dance music - in particular old school hip hop, house, electro and funk with samples from film and TV - most notably The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Thunderbirds. The record reputedly cost £500 to make and had a big impact on the UK singles chart debuting at #5 in the UK singles chart in February 1988 - what was then the highest debut position for an unknown artist. It eventually reached #2 for two weeks and was kept off the top spot by Kylie Minogue's debut single "I Should Be So Lucky".

Theme From S-Express hits #1

Rhythm King didn't have to wait too long for its first UK Singles Chart #1. S-Express was the brainchild of London DJ Mark Moore who in collaboration with producer Pascal Gabriel (also in Bomb the Bass) put together the single "Theme from S'Express". This mixed many of the contemporary dance music sounds of the time with a sample from Rose Royce's 1970s disco anthem "Is It Love You're After" to great success. The single shot to #1 in April/May 1988 and 1988 to 1991 would be a golden period for Rhythm King with its artists - in particular The Beatmasters, Betty Boo, Bomb The Bass, Merlin and S-Express doing well in the UK album and singles charts.

Outer Rhythm and Renegade Software

With rave culture going mainstream from the late 1980s Rhythm King also became interested in this and formed Outer Rhythm in 1989. The emphasis at Outer Rhythm was electronic dance music/techno and was influential in developing the initial music careers of Leftfield and to a lesser degree Moby. Briefly Outer Rhythm was also associated with Sheffield's Warp Records - and the Yorkshire Bleeps and Bass scene which launched Warp, along with Belgium based R&S Records before the labels and their artists - including Aphex Twin, CJ Bolland, Dave Angel, Jam & Spoon, LFO and Nightmares on Wax went on to do big things in their own right. Martin Heath also diversified into computer games software in association with the Bitmap Brothers. Renegade Software was very successful and some of Rhythm King's artists - including The Beatmasters, Betty Boo, Bomb The Bass and Nation 12 contributed music to some of Renegade's titles.

Deal with Sony Records

The commercial success of Rhythm King enabled it to link a distribution deal with Sony Records subsidiary Epic Records. Rhythm King was no longer associated with Mute Records from 1991 and towards the end of 1992 it closed down the Outer Rhythm offshoot. Coincidentally Mute set up Novamute Records around this time - also with a focus on techno and electronic dance music.

Direction of Rhythm King in the 1990s

As the '90s progressed many of the established artists on Rhythm King's roster - including Baby Ford, The Beatmasters, Betty Boo, Bomb The Bass, Leftfield, Moby and S-Express either left the label and/or concentrated on producing for other artists - most notably Tim Simenon and The Beatmasters, the latter in particular immediately achieving spectacular success with their work on a string of singles taken from the 1992 Shamen album "Boss Drum". Dance music was dominating the UK singles charts during this period and in addition to labels like FFRR, Big Life, AM:PM, 10 Records, Circa, Champion and Cooltempo which like Rhythm King specialised in dance music and likewise emerged in the mid/late '80s the '90s would witness the rise and success of 'dance' focused labels like Deconstruction, XL Recordings, Positiva, VC Recordings, Network, Perfecto, Junior Boy's Own, React/Resist, Bedrock, Soma, Talkin' Loud, Mo' Wax, Skint, Wall of Sound, Ninja Tune, Suburban Base, Reinforced, Metalheadz, Moving Shadow and many others. Some of these were subsidiaries of the majors pitched towards the 'poppier' end of dance scene while others were independents focusing upon and developing niche/underground forms of dance and electronic music. Possibly as a consequence of this along with the rise of the Britpop scene the musical focus at Rhythm King in the mid '90s shifted away from dance music and more towards indie and alternative rock. Acts signed during this period had varying levels of critical and commercial success and included David Devant and his Spirit Wife, The Dharmas, Echobelly, Sheep on Drugs, The Sultans Of Ping FC and X-CNN.

Enter Arista exit Rhythm King

Rhythm King's distribution deal with Sony Records expired around 1995/96 so a new deal with BMG's Arista Records was signed in 1996. Rhythm King was subsequently closed down and merged into the main Arista concern when Martin Heath became head of the label but this was not to be the end of Martin Heath's involvement with an independent record label. Lizard King Records was formed by Heath and Dominic Hardisty in 2001 and its most notable artist was US act The Killers who were signed to Lizard King in the UK and Ireland. They had a #1 UK album with Hot Fuss along with several UK top 40 singles during 2004/05. In 2005 Hardisty bought out Heath and Heath moved to New York to set up a new label. As part of the deal he was permitted to re-use the name Lizard King but the Killers remain signed to the original company which has now been renamed Marrakesh Records.

Artists

Rhythm King had a varied roster of artists. Some of these had only a short-term relationship with the label and others had more of a longer term relationship releasing a number of singles and albums to varying degrees of commercial and critical success. The artist roster for the label therefore included the following: