No More Kings are the Los Angeles-based musical collaboration of singer/songwriter Pete Mitchell and producer/songwriter Neil DeGraide (sometimes credited as "Neil Robins"). No More Kings' music is known for its frequent references to figures in pop culture,[1] most notably Johnny Lawrence from The Karate Kid, Michael and K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider, Johnny 5 from Short Circuit, and Dungeons & Dragons. The band's songs are written by Mitchell and DeGraide.
The name "No More Kings" comes from an episode of Schoolhouse Rock!, one of many of No More Kings' inspirations. The particular episode dealt with the Pilgrims leaving England, seeking freedom and independence.
Mitchell studied fine art in college and has worked for Disney and the Jim Henson Company; he is an accomplished animator and also speaks Japanese. He designed the interior album art for the band's first album as well as the album art and packaging for their second album. Mitchell claims his main sources of musical inspiration are the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Radiohead, Billy Joel, Beck, and Genesis.
Music videos
Sweep the Leg
No More Kings received much of their exposure from their 2007 music video "Sweep the Leg", which incorporates elements of the 1984 film The Karate Kid and features appearances by nearly the entire original cast. Martin Kove reprises his role as John Kreese, and actors who played the Cobra Kai members in the 1984 film, Ron Thomas (Bobby), Rob Garrison (Tommy), and Tony O'Dell (Jimmy) are also part of the cast. William Zabka, who played Johnny Lawrence in the film, directed the video. Pat E. Johnson, who was the martial arts director for the film as well as the martial arts director for Bruce Lee, worked on this video. Dennis Haskins and Liza Snyder also make an appearance. "Sweep the Leg" was also featured on Sony's MLB 08: The Show.[2][3]
The premise for the music video finds Zabka and members of his Cobra Kai gang living in a trailer in the desert, having become obsessed with the fight he lost years ago. He is haunted by No More Kings and chases Mitchell across the desert until they have a final showdown at the All Valley Under-18 Karate Championships. Johnny then claims victory, but after realizing it was a fantasy, he is run over by Ralph Macchio as Mitchell looks on.
There are various versions of the video, the longest being a little over seven minutes. The video was a collaboration between No More Kings’ record label Astonish Records, and Chapter Seven Films, a film company in Los Angeles.
"Sweep the Leg" received over 80,000 views within its first week of release and became the number one video on YouTube on March 16, 2007.[citation needed] It was featured on MySpace's most-viewed lists, earned nearly a million views on YouTube, and was mentioned on VH1's "Best Week Ever" online.[4]
In 2008, Astonish Records released a special collector's edition CD/DVD.
Michael
In 2008, No More Kings followed up the video for "Sweep the Leg" with "Michael (Jump In)", which was animated by San Francisco animation company GhostBot. In "Michael (Jump In)", lead singer Pete Mitchell is a hero-wannabe who attempts to help people, but just makes things worse. The main character in the video is trying to be like Michael, from the show Knight Rider.
History
Origins
Pete Mitchell and Neil DeGraide started No More Kings by themselves in the 1990s, and were later joined by Adam DeGraide (bass). They broke up in the late 1990s, but reformed in 2006 when Adam DeGraide started a record label called Astonish Records and signed them.
Since the band's reformation, musicians are often added and interchanged according to tours and albums. Pete Mitchell is the band's lead singer and occasionally plays the guitar or piano for shows. He writes songs with Neil DeGraide, who produces their albums and plays a majority of the instruments.
III is the latest album produced by the group in 2013. Following the release of several singles, the group published their 3rd album containing all their newer works, plus a new song called "Tracy's Song". This album contained works such as "They're Coming To Get You Barbara" (a reference to the 1968 zombie film Night of the Living Dead), and the "Zombie Me Apocamix" a remix on their popular track from the first album.
The Karate Kid is a 1984 American martial arts drama film written by Robert Mark Kamen and directed by John G. Avildsen. It is the first installment in the Karate Kid franchise, and stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue, and William Zabka. The Karate Kid follows the story of Daniel LaRusso (Macchio), an Italian-American teenager from New Jersey who moves with his widowed mother to the Reseda neighborhood of Los Angeles. There, LaRusso encounters harassment from his new bullies, one of whom is Johnny Lawrence (Zabka), the ex-boyfriend of LaRusso's love interest, Ali Mills (Shue). LaRusso is taught karate by a handyman and war veteran named Mr. Miyagi (Morita) to help LaRusso defend himself and compete in a karate tournament against his bullies.
Ralph George Macchio Jr. is an American actor. He is best known for playing Daniel LaRusso in three Karate Kid films, as well as in Cobra Kai, a sequel television series on Netflix. Macchio also played Johnny Cade in The Outsiders (1983), Jeremy Andretti in the television series Eight Is Enough, William Gambini in My Cousin Vinny (1992), Eugene Martone in Crossroads (1986), and Archie Rodriguez in the television series Ugly Betty. He also had a recurring role as Officer Haddix in the television series The Deuce.
William Michael Zabka is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Johnny Lawrence in The Karate Kid (1984), The Karate Kid Part II (1986) and the TV series Cobra Kai (2018–present).
The Karate Kid Part II is a 1986 American martial arts drama film written by Robert Mark Kamen and directed by John G. Avildsen. It is the second installment in the Karate Kid franchise and the sequel to the 1984 film The Karate Kid, starring Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. The Karate Kid Part II follows Daniel LaRusso (Macchio), who accompanies his karate teacher Mr. Miyagi (Morita) to see his dying father in Okinawa, only to encounter an old friend-turned-rival with a long-harbored grudge against Miyagi.
Cobra Kai is an American martial arts comedy-drama television series and a sequel to the original The Karate Kid films created by Robert Mark Kamen. The series was created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, and is distributed by Sony Pictures Television. The series was released on YouTube Red / YouTube Premium for the first two seasons, before moving to Netflix starting with the third. The series stars Ralph Macchio and William Zabka, who reprise their roles as Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence, respectively, from the 1984 film The Karate Kid and its sequels, The Karate Kid Part II (1986) and The Karate Kid Part III (1989).
Martin Kove is an American actor. He is best known for his role as John Kreese, the main antagonist of The Karate Kid (1984). Kove reprised the role in The Karate Kid Part II (1986), The Karate Kid Part III (1989), and the television series Cobra Kai (2018–present). He also appeared as Nero the Hero in Death Race 2000 (1975), and afterward as Clem in White Line Fever (1975). Kove was a regular on the TV series Cagney and Lacey (1982–1988), portraying Police Detective Victor Isbecki. He appeared in Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019).
Tony O’Dell is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Cobra Kai member Jimmy in the 1984 film The Karate Kid, and the second season of its spinoff Cobra Kai, and as preppy Alan Pinkard on the ABC sitcom Head of the Class (1986–91).
No More Kings is the debut album by Los Angeles rock band No More Kings. It was released March 6, 2007.
Daniel LaRusso is a fictional character and the protagonist of The Karate Kid media franchise portrayed by Ralph Macchio. He is introduced in The Karate Kid (1984) and returns in its sequels The Karate Kid Part II (1986) and The Karate Kid Part III (1989). Nearly three decades later, Macchio reprised the role in the sequel television series Cobra Kai (2018–present), which is set to conclude with its sixth season. Additionally, Macchio will return in the upcoming sixth film, Karate Kid (2025).
The Karate Kid is an American martial arts drama franchise created by Robert Mark Kamen. The series follows the journey of various coming-of-age teenagers who are taught in the ways of martial arts by an experienced mentor in order to stand up for themselves after being bullied, or assert their dominance towards others.
Jacob Bertrand is an American actor who began his career as a child actor appearing in the 2009 film Duress and playing guest roles on television series such as The Cape and The Middle. He is known for playing the titular character in the 2014 Disney XD series Kirby Buckets, and Jack Malloy in the 2016 Disney Channel Original Movie The Swap. Since 2018, Bertrand has played the series regular role of Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz in the YouTube Premium and Netflix series Cobra Kai.
Johnny Lawrence is a fictional character of The Karate Kid media franchise, portrayed by William Zabka. Introduced in The Karate Kid (1984) as Daniel LaRusso's rival, Johnny briefly returns at the beginning of the sequel, The Karate Kid Part II (1986). 32 years later, Zabka began to reprise the role in the sequel television series Cobra Kai (2018–present), where he serves as the secondary protagonist.
Robert Scott Garrison was an American actor known for his role as Tommy in the 1984 film The Karate Kid and the second season of its spinoff Cobra Kai.
Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues is a side-scrolling beat 'em-up video game based on the American streaming television series Cobra Kai. Developed by Flux Games and published by GameMill Entertainment in North America and Maximum Games in Europe, it was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on October 27, 2020, and for Windows on January 5, 2021. The Nintendo Switch version was released in Europe on November 24, 2020. Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Jacob Bertrand, and Gianni DeCenzo reprise their roles as Daniel LaRusso, Johnny Lawrence, Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz, and Demetri Alexopoulos respectively, while the rest of the other characters are voiced by different actors. A sequel developed by Flux Games and published by GameMill Entertainment titled Cobra Kai 2: Dojos Rising was released on November 8, 2022 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows via Steam, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
The first season of Cobra Kai was released on YouTube Red on May 2, 2018 and consisted of 10 episodes. The series is a direct sequel to the original four films in The Karate Kid franchise, focusing on the characters of Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence over 30 years after the original film.
The second season of Cobra Kai, stylized as COBRA KAII, was released on YouTube Premium on April 24, 2019, and consisted of 10 episodes. The series is a direct sequel to the original four films in The Karate Kid franchise, focusing on the characters of Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence over 30 years after the original film. This is the final season to be originally released on YouTube's streaming service as Netflix would acquire the streaming rights to Cobra Kai following YouTube's decision not to renew the series past a third season.
The third season of Cobra Kai, stylized as COBRA KAIII, was released on Netflix on January 1, 2021, and consisted of 10 episodes. The series is a direct sequel to the original four films in The Karate Kid franchise, focusing on the characters of Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence over 30 years after the original film. This is the first season to be released on Netflix after YouTube decided to sell the series following the first two seasons. YouTube ordered the season in 2019 and initially set a 2020 release date which was delayed after Netflix's acquisition.
The fourth season of Cobra Kai, also known as Cobra Kai IV, released on Netflix on December 31, 2021, and consisted of 10 episodes. The series is a direct sequel to the original four films in The Karate Kid franchise, focusing on the characters of Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence over 30 years after the original film. It is the second season to be released in 2021 and second to initially release on Netflix after the first two seasons released on YouTube. The season was also released on DVD on September 13, 2022, a few days after the premiere of the show's fifth season.
The fifth season of Cobra Kai, also known as Cobra Kai V, was released to Netflix on September 9, 2022, and consisted of 10 episodes. The series is a direct sequel to the original four films in The Karate Kid franchise, focusing on the characters of Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence over 30 years after the original film. This is the third season to be released to Netflix.
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