Jonathan King

Jonathan King (born Kenneth George King; 6 December 1944) is an English singer, songwriter, impresario and record producer. He is the author of three novels, Bible Two (1982), The Booker Prize Winner (1997), and Beware the Monkey Man (2010, when he used the pen name Rex Kenny), and an autobiography, 65 My Life So Far (2009).

King first came to prominence as an undergraduate at the University of Cambridge in 1965 when he wrote and sang "Everyone's Gone to the Moon," an international best seller. He went on to become a media entrepreneur, discovering and producing material for a number of artists, including Genesis, whom he signed up in 1967, giving them their name and producing their first album, From Genesis to Revelation. He ran Decca Records twice and created his own record label, UK Records, reported as the most successful independent label in the business, and worked with 10cc and the Bay City Rollers.

He also became known for a string of 1970s hits, such as "Paloma Blanca", "It Only Takes A Minute", "Johnny Reggae", "Lick A Smurp For Christmas (All Fall Down)", "Loop di Love" and "Sugar Sugar". Billboard reported in September 1972 that he had produced ten of the Top 30 singles in the UK in the previous 12 months. Rod Liddle described him in 2010 as "truly talented and fabulously cynical, someone who could storm the pop charts at will, under a hundred different disguises ...".

King was convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison in 2001 for the sexual assault of five teenage boys between 1983 and 1989. He protested his innocence, arguing that he was unable to defend himself adequately because of the length of time that had passed. He was refused leave to appeal but was released on first parole in 2005.