King for a Day Be sure to scroll all the way down for lots of KFAD info !!!
After the break up of PT109 I found myself jamming with different bands but nothing really came together for very long. After putting up an ad in some local music stores I got a call from a band looking for a guitar player. I met with these guys and it didn't really click though I liked the drummer. His name was Don. He called me a few weeks after we jammed saying that the band he was in had broken up. Don and I got together with Mark Taylor and started working out some stuff. Mark had played for years with Rick Shapiro and was a local player as well. Great singer, guitar player and now bassist. We soon added Jared Earhart on Saxophone and Brian Beck on Keyboards. The photo below is the first official line-up of King for a Day.
King for a Day (1988) L to R: Jared Earhart, Brian Beck, Don Gioia, Me and Mark Taylor.
In the summer of 1989 King for a Day participated in a Battle of the Bands sponsored by the Green Parrot in Neptune New Jersey and local Asbury Park radio station 106.3 WHTG. Below is a picture from the 'Alive" section of the Asbury Park Press dated June 2, 1989. Jared Earhart and I am in the forefront with Don Gioia in the background along with a barely visible Mark Taylor and Brian Beck. We went on to finish 3rd in the overall competition with a "Specials" knock-off band winning first and some angry hair-band winning second. We were cooler, hookier and way more "original" than both of the other finalists but then again this is my website. ;-)
King for a Day (1992) Brian Beck left the band to form a duo with his girlfriend of the time.
Below and far left (sort of cut off) is Bill Colmorgan on keyboards. Bill was an unbelievably talented keyboard player and he stuck it out for a while. He appeared with King for a Day (playing themselves) on an episode of NBC's Another World soap opera in August of 1991. Our friend since high school, Rick Shapiro, was our last and longest running keyboard player.
King for a Day appeared every Thursday night at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park with the Outcry in the early 1990's. We had the pleasure of opening up for such acts as Dion, Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers, Ocean Blue, Dred Zeppelin, Merchants of Venus and some other popular bands of the day.
King for a day at the Birch Hill circa 1991.
King for a Day (circa 1993) Jared, Don, Mark A., Mark T.and Rick pose for a pre-gig photo at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park. Note the "1974" Stone Pony stained glass to the left. Also note the crappy brands of beer for sale.
King for a Day (1995) Don, Rick and I were roommates for years in a great little house off of Main street in Freehold with a 16 track studio in the basement. Pictured here is a living room rehearsal. Mark Taylor (holding the bass) lived a few miles away.
This photo is from 1990 at an outdoor festival at a state park.
In 1995 we released an independent full length CD entitled Ghost in the washing machine. We recorded it entirely in the basement on our 16 track studio. The cover art and many of the photo's of the band are thanks to our old and dear friend Mike Kennedy. He was as dependable as the day is long. The title while alluding to the similarly titled Police record "Ghost in the machine" actually referred to our need to stop doing laundry during the recording process or the microphones would pick up the noise. If you look closely you can see the Clorox bottle sitting on the dryer next to the washing machine. A little dry ice and a light bulb created the cool effect. The silhouette of my 1963 Stratocaster is clearly visible in front. We had our CD release at Cass's Cafe. Cass was a very cool woman and bar owner. She was also Tom Cruise's sister. She eventually closed the bar and King for a Day and some other local bands played the closing weekend. It was a blast though it was sad to see it close. She has since moved to California.
The CD paid for itself and while it was our introduction to the recording/producing process we were and still are very proud of it.
By 1996 King for a Day had pretty much come to a halt. We had gotten very frustrated by the "pay to play" system of many of the local bars and decided it wasn't worth the effort. We are all still friends and play together every now and then in various permutations. Be sure to click on the other pages to see some familiar faces.
