The King Khan & BBQ Show are a Canadian garage duo from Montreal. The band is comprised of King Khan and BBQ, which is an alias for Mark Sultan. The duo formed in 2002 after a series of bands that both Khan and Sultan were playing with disbanded. Prior to this, Sultan and Khan collaborated in a band called The Spaceshits, who disbanded in 1999. When King Khan, then going by the name Blacksnake, decided to live in Berlin, that group ended. He would go on to form King Khan & The Shrines following this. Around this time Mark Sultan formed the garage rock band Les Sexareenos. In 2002, Sultan began performing and recording as a one-man band under the name BBQ. It was not too long after this that Khan and Sultan began collaborating and recording together. With Mark Sultan (aka BBQ) on drums (bass and snare drum), guitar, vocals and King Khan on vocals and lead guitar, the band mixed elements of punk rock and doo wop, combined with their garage rock mentality to create a sound all their own.
The first self-titled King Khan & BBQ Show album was released in 2005 on Goner Records in the US and on Hazelwood Records in Europe. The King Khan & BBQ Show was recorded in Hamburg, Germany by DM Bob. The album captured the band tapping into a sweaty, wild, rock and roll atmosphere. In the same spirit of early rock and roll, The King Khan & BBQ Show featured songs such as “Waddlin’ Around” which chugs along with a 60’s garage rhythm, doo wop, and heart wrenching vocals provided by Mark Sultan and “Fish Fight,” a R&B rave up complete with Chuck Berry rhythms and driving punk dynamics. This song, like many on the album show that even though there isn’t bass on the album, the songs have a lot of soul. “Hold Me Tight” taps into a Cramps-like groove, complete with the words “Hold Me Tight” that come in near the choruses which sound like they are from Bobby Pickett’s 1962 Halloween classic “Monster Mash,” “Am I The One” features Sultan on vocals and a lone electric guitar and echoes 50s rock ballads, while “Mind, Body & Soul” claws and floats with an undeniable groove that sucks the listener into the King Khan & BBQ Show universe.
Invisible Girl followed in 2009. This album was recorded at Moon Studios in Berlin and The Bomb Shelter in Brooklyn, New York. The production qualities seem to be less lo-fi than previous releases from the band, however, there is an undeniable raunchiness and humour that runs throughout. The album features songs such as the innuendo filled opening track “Anala,” the punk infused “Animal Party,” the sure to offend soulful punk of “Tastebuds” and the soulful, 50s/60s rock blend of “I’ll Be Loving You.” The album’s title track could be one of the catchiest songs ever written by the band with its psychedelic guitar tremolo effects and irresistible choruses. The hooks and melodies found here are extremely strong, but also the sleaziness factor is also high. On Invisible Girl the band found a balance between their wild outlandishness that at times offends and their ability to write strong song hooks. During the tour for Invisible Girl, Leo Chip (of the band Deadly Snakes), joined The King Khan & BBQ Show for some live dates as a drummer/organist. However, in 2010 the band split.
In 2015, The King Khan & BBQ Show returned with the album Bad News Boys. Recorded and produced in Sultan’s Berlin studio, Bad News Boys begins with the doo wop, garage stomp of “Alone Again”, a song drenched in 50s rock ‘n’ roll influences. Sung by this duo’s drummer, rhythm guitarist and main vocalist Mark Sultan, the song strikes a powerful, yet melodic chord that not only introduces us to King Khan & BBQ Show’s first album in a while, but it is also seeped in 50’s rock ballad drama. “Alone Again” evokes a togetherness in contrast to the songs surface message. The King Khan & BBQ Show are alone and together again creating their own brand of musical mayhem. “Illuminations” sung by King Khan shines with a 70s punk groove, while he sings of being a spark in the dark within a world of bright distractions as the chorus tells us “Illuminations/Don’t let them leave you behind,” “Ocean Of Love” brings back the band’s soulful influence, mixed with their brand of doo wop and in this case, sand dusted, glassy rhythms. “Snacking After Midnight” brings rusty rhythms and B-horror movie lyrics, along with the murky “Killing The Wolfman.” “Never Felt Like This” is a nostalgic love song, as with ‘’Buy Bye Bhai,” which brings forth strong, haunting soulful melodies.
The King Khan & BBQ Show have continued to tour off and on since 2011/2012. Throughout this band, after their initial split and even currently, King Khan and Mark Sultan have continually collaborated and recorded with other musicians and recorded music on their own. Most recently Mark Sultan has released a full-length album called Let Me Out and King Khan released his solo album Murderburgers in 2017. The music that they create whether it is together, with other groups or on their own taps into a musical world that can be soulful, or raw and dirty rock and roll. As stated in a press release for Bad News Boys “Their mission is to revere rock’n’roll – the real stuff – enough, so that they are permitted to invoke its spirits and ghosts using magick, using their raw soul - for good or for bad - to evoke the smells and feelings that confuse and delight.”
Check out these extended interviews with King Khan and Mark Sultan:
The KK&BBQ Show Playlist:
1. The King Khan & BBQ Show - Illuminations (Bad News Boys - In The Red Recordings - 2015)
2. The King Khan & BBQ Show - I'll Never Belong (What's For Dinner? - In The Red Recordings - 2006)
3. The King Khan & BBQ Show - Fish Fight (The King Khan & BBQ Show - Goner Records - 2005)
4. The King Khan & BBQ Show - Animal Party (Invisible Girl - In The Red Recordings - 2009)
5. The Spaceshits - 60 Nights of Boredom (Misbehavin' - Sympathy For The Record Industry - 1999)
KING KHAN INTERVIEW
6. King Khan & His Sensational Shrines - Spread Your Love Like … Peanut Butter (Spread Your Love Like Peanut Butter - Sounds of Subterrania - 2000)
7. King Khan & The Shrines - Land of the Freak (What Is?! - Vice Records - 2007)
MARK SULTAN/BBQ INTERVIEW
8. Mark Sultan - Believe Me (Let Me Out - Dirty Water Records - 2018)
9. Mark Sultan - Axis Abraxas (Whatever I Want - In The Red Recordings - 2011)
10. Les Sexareenos - Everybody Sexareeno! (Live In Bed - Sympathy For The Record Industry - 2000)
11. The Ding-Dongs - Ding-Dong Party (The Ding-Dongs - Norton Records - 2010)
12. The Tandoori Knights - Bucketful (Curry Up! It's The Tandoori Knights - Norton Records - 2010)
13. The Almighty Defenders - All My Loving (The Almighty Defenders - Vice Records - 2009)
14. The King Khan & BBQ Show - Hold me Tight (The King Khan & BBQ Show - Goner Records - 2005)
15. The King Khan & BBQ Show - What's For Dinner? (What's For Dinner? - In The Red Recordings - 2006)
16. The King Khan & BBQ Show - Ocean of Love (Bad News Boys - In The Red Recordings - 2015)
17. The King Khan & BBQ Show - Invisible Girl (Invisible Girl - In The Red Recordings - 2009)
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