Jonathan King

Pandora's Box cover has the eccentric Jonathan King in suit and tie, leaning against a piano in a compact and well-decorated living room. The back cover has a devil's tail slipping out of his backside as he's turned away from the camera. The music is quirky, from the poppy "Mary, My Love" with its cheery chorus about a thankful heartbreak and a cute little guitar lick that works alongside the strings, to songs that are totally decadent, and not because they are about his alternative lifestyle. This is not the Jonathan King crooning "Everyone's Gone to the Moon," his Top 20 hit from 1965, a re-worked version of which would have been a nice addition to this collection. This is music that takes the Kinks' "Lola" down to the docks. "I'm standing every chance of you loving me," he sings at the end of "Mary, My Love," making it clear it is his choice nothing will happen. This is probably one of the first openly gay albums by a major artist, an aspect of King's career that's not been accentuated. "Colloquial Sex" is "Lawrence's song" -- a beautiful departure from the up-tempo folk of "Be Gay" and "A Little Bit Left of Right," both songs sounding like a washboard could fit in perfectly with the scribbling guitars. If King wasn't the owner of U.K. Records it is difficult to believe this album would have seen the light of day; it's a real oddity, musically, lyrically, and stylistically. Everything is suspect here. Is "Black Girl Buttons" about going out in drag? "Supershit" is a precursor to Johnny Rotten; this is the Sex Pistols in a musically laid-back setting -- true angst and creative songwriting -- and violently Clockwork Orange. Tony's song, "Jesus Can't You Leave Me," is even more soul searching and poignant -- clearly about identity crisis and religion not accepting the gay lifestyle in the early '70s. "It's a Tall Order for a Short Guy" has a "Cleanup Woman" vibe, the Betty Everett hit which came out the year before this album. King compares his life to that of Walter Mitty, the character with a secret life. The final track, "A Modest Proposal," is an idea to feed the poor by killing every two out of three newborns, set to a Roger Williams-type piano score. Pandora's Box is just that, a major British figure being openly gay, but not helping the gay cause with anti-religion and violent imagery taking the focus off of the pioneering aspect of this disc, and creating a troublesome kettle of twisted thoughts and ideas. A real Pandora's Box, all songs under three minutes except for the grisly "A Modest Proposal," and the sentiment pretty much summed up in the biographical "A Little Bit Left of Right," which at one minute 48 seconds, is the shortest song here, but says the most. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide