His first gig as sole drummer was the Greasy Truckers Party at the Roundhouse on 13 February 1972 which was recorded and released on two various artists compilation albums and as the hit single "Silver Machine", earning King an appearance on Top of the Pops.
King remained with Hawkwind until the 1978 Hawklords album, passing some of his drum duties onto Martin Griffin for personal reasons.
During this time he teamed up with Huw Lloyd-Langton and Nic Potter to form a three piece named Jawa,[2] and it is this band that recorded the Steve Swindells album Fresh Blood.
He briefly returned to Hawkwind for their Winter 1979 tour (see Live Seventy Nine), but quit again during the recording sessions for the Levitation album.
According to Hawkwind guitarist Dave Brock, in a 1984 taped interview for Tim Gadd's radio show Zooks, King left the band after 1979.