Let's keep it simple.

You need to know that the Groove Kings came out of nowhere - without the
aid of a record company- to put a song on the International pop charts for six months.

You should know that the Groove Kings are a Montreal-based band led by
guitarist/composer Howard Forman and lead singer Irene Marc.

And you should know that the Groove Kings have a 2 CDS, their first
self-titled debut "The Groove Kings" and their second CD "Into The Groove Age".

After CBC Toronto's "The News at 6" did a feature story on the Groove Kings, anchor-man Bill Cameron said "I think I could listen to the Groove Kings until I die, especially the lead singer ... Irene Marc."

Cameron ain't heard nothin' yet.

Neither has Dini Petty, who after the Groove Kings' second appearance on her national variety show said: "It's wonderful music ... if we could have a house band, we decided we'd like to have the Groove Kings."

And that was when the Groove Kings were still trying to decide what they wanted to be when they grew up.

Their second CD - "Into The Groove Age" - is a warp-speed leap beyond that stunning first effort. First time out, they did it the hard way. They put out a three-song CD for radio stations only. Suddenly, they were getting air play from Penticton to Poland and from Anticosti Island to Australia - so they went back to the studio and recorded their first, self-titled CD, and soon "Everybody Knows" became a Top 40 single, with "Set In Stone" also getting tones of air play. For their second CD, they were fully prepared.
Forman spent a year writing songs for this CD and six months in studio producing a meticulous recording which boasts a half-dozen singles with "Tell Me" becoming a Top 20 Hit.

Somewhere between working as a session musician at the famed Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama and appearing as a featured soloist on the Cirque du Soleil's "Alegria" soundtrack, Forman managed to write a full-length CD that is a tour de force of the songwriter's art. Forman has a knack for writing sophisticated melodies that set up a delicate tension with his edgy lyrics.In Marc, he has found the perfect voice for his music. Marc can turn on the
power or the passion, break your heart with a ballad or have you rocking your shoes off. She's been compared to both Annie Lennox and Janis Joplin, but her voice has that unmistakable something you look for in great singers - a sound that is distinctly and entirely her own. Marc, a singer with tons of raw talent whose primary experience before she joined the Groove Kings consisted of years spent directing and singing in a church choir, crossed
paths with Forman once before they began performing together. Marc has a degree in civil engineering from Montreal's McGill University, and before she turned to music full-time, she supervised construction of the sidewalks in Forman's neighborhood. Forman's lyrics - witty, caustic, romantic and heart-breaking by turns - gives her something concrete to work with. Marc has also been involved with the Cirque du Soleil, singing lead in the Asian
(Japan & Hong Kong) production of Alegria in 96 and now, singing in the new Alegria movie (Spring 99 release) and on the movie's soundtrack CD. While Marc and Forman were blowing out television tubes and radio sets last time out with knockdown performances of the Joplinesque "Set In Stone" from their first CD, a few critics complained that the Kings were too "radio friendly".

Forman responded by writing "Raised On Radio" which he calls his "polite way of saying take a flying bleep at a rolling donut' to people who say we're too radio friendly. We like being on the radio. That's where we heard the artists who influenced us."

You'll hear the influences when you listen to their CD's - but above all you'll hear two confident, supremely talented performers stretching the envelope of popular music. Actually, you don't need to know any of this. All you really need to do is to take either one of their albums and pop it into the tape deck in your car, or the CD player at home, or the ghetto blaster you take to the beach - and listen.

Somewhere between "Set In Stone" and "Burn It Down", you're going to discover that the Groove Kings have an attitude. Somewhere between "Tell Me" and "Everybody Knows" you'll hear them do ballads that would melt the heart of your credit manager. Somewhere between "State of the Art" and "Never Gonna Give Myself Away" you're going to fall in love with the Groove Kings.