The Royals

There are several groups which have used this band name. Listed chronologically: Band #1: The Royals were a R&B group active on the Federal imprint of the King label in the early 1950s. Band #2: Jamaican vocal group the Royals were founded in 1964 by singer and writer Roy Cousins, and the original lineup consisted of Cousins, Errol Wilson, Keith Smith, and Berthram Johnson, although the Royals were completely Cousins' baby, and he remains the only constant throughout the group's history. Their signature song, "Pick Up the Pieces," was originally recorded for Coxsone Dodd in 1967 (who released it under the group name The Tempests), but Cousins re-recorded an arguably superior version of it in 1973. #1 They rose to prominence after adding Hank Ballard as vocalist, and as the 1950s went on they were renamed first as The Midnighters, and eventually as Hank Ballard and The Midnighters, who most notably were responsible for the original version of "The Twist". Band #2: Jamaican vocal group the Royals were founded in 1964 by singer and writer Roy Cousins, and the original lineup consisted of Cousins, Errol Wilson, Keith Smith, and Berthram Johnson, although the Royals were completely Cousins' baby, and he remains the only constant throughout the group's history. Their signature song, "Pick Up the Pieces," was originally recorded for Coxsone Dodd in 1967 (who released it under the group name The Tempests), but Cousins re-recorded an arguably superior version of it in 1973. Although the Royals worked with Dodd and other Jamaican producers like Joe Gibbs, Byron Smith and Lloyd Daley, Cousins increasingly began to produce the group's material, even starting his own record labels, Tamoki and Wambesi Records, in order to better control and distribute his productions. Cousin's skillful writing and the immense care he took in building rhythms and crafting suburb vocals (usually featuring his own high tenor) and harmonies has made the Royals one of the most respected of the island's vocal groups. Three albums of Cousins' Royals productions were released by Ballistic, a subsidiary of United Artists, between 1977 and 1979: Pick Up the Pieces, Ten Years After, and Israel Be Wise. Cousins moved to Britain in the early 1980s, where he has continued as a producer. Band #3: A hardcore band from Norfolk, UK. Around from 2003 to 2007. Mainly influenced by Terror, Turbonegro, Slapshot and Hatebreed. Band #4: The Royals are a 4 piece small indie band from England, formed in 2007. According to their myspace they "mainly indie and acoustic type music" and "have a wide range of influences from The Beatles to Radiohead and from Foo Fighters to Madness". Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.