King Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys, one of the world’s greatest jump, jive and swing bands, are preparing to celebrate their 40th anniversary in 2026.

The rocking band launched in a milk bar in the Black Country town of Darlaston in 1986 and today still features original members King Pleasure (vocals and baritone saxophone) and Bullmoose ‘K’ Shirley (guitar).

Jim Simpson of Big Bear Music, who has managed the band from the beginning, explained how his team were now busily planning an “exciting year of celebrations”.

“They’ve recorded 14 albums, 11 with Big Bear Records, plus they’ve performed for 75 radio broadcasts and more than 70 TV appearances, including, somewhat bizarrely, five episodes of Teletubbies.

King Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys have won many plaudits, but perhaps the most quoted is Paul Jones, original lead singer and harmonicist of rock band Manfred Mann, who described them on his BBC Radio 2 The Blues Show as “the hardest act to follow since the parting of The Red Sea”.

The band will be performing a series of special gigs in 2026, some featuring reunions with original band members. They will also headline the Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival next summer, for what will be the 15th time.

And to mark the 40th anniversary, Big Bear Records is also planning to re-issue Blues and Rythym Volume 1, an album where King Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys perform a dozen songs with star guests. These include Americans Charles Brown, Gene ‘The Mighty Flea’ Conners and Howard McCrary, as well as Val Wiseman, considered by many to be the UK’s finest ever female jazz singer.