Level 42

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Level 42 is a popular British pop, rock, and funk band. The group had a number of worldwide and UK hits during the 1980s and 1990s. The band gained fame for its high calibre musicianship, especially that of Mark King, whose percussive slap bass guitar technique provided the driving groove of many of the band's hits. They are also known for the combination of King's lead vocals and keyboard player Mike Lindup's falsetto backing vocals. After originally disbanding in 1994, they reformed in 2001. Level 42 have sold more than 31 million albums worldwide^[1].

[edit] History

[edit] Formation, early years and first successes

Before Level 42 Phil Gould, Mark King and Wally Badarou were members of the pop band M, during 1979. Gould recorded the US number one single 'Pop Muzik'.

Level 42 was formed in 1980 as a jazz-funk fusion band. The Gould brothers, drummer Phil and guitarist Boon, together with then drummer Mark King all came from the Isle of Wight and had played together in various bands during their teenage years. In late 1979 Phil introduced King to keyboard player Mike Lindup, who Phil had met while studying at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Lindup was studying piano but had taken a course in percussion and he and Phil found that they shared musical heroes - Miles Davis, John McLaughlin, Keith Jarrett and Jan Hammer. Boon then returned from the United States in early 1980, after he had given up later on an ill-fated attempt to be "overnight successes" with King. The band needed a bassist, so King volunteered to learn. Lindup was working in London, but would play regularly with the band in loose rehearsal sessions

Initially the band was signed to a small independent record label, Elite Records, after being seen jamming together. Shortly after they released the single "Love Meeting Love", they came to the attention of Polydor Records and signed to them. One of the performers on that track, renowed synthesiser / instrumental keyboardist Wally Badarou, would later become Level 42's longtime co-producer and although he only ever played in the studio with them, he was known as the band's unofficial "fifth member".

In 1981 they released "Love Games", a top 40 hit. They then cut their critically acclaimed, self-titled debut album. This became an immediate success throughout Europe. The following year, a second album The Pursuit of Accidents was made, and singles from the album, first "Weave Your Spell" and then "The Chinese Way" were released, both charting, the latter in particular rising high in the charts and gaining the band a much wider audience than hitherto. Their album went on to become a huge seller. In between, Polydor released The Early Tapes, recorded in the early days of the band when they were signed to the Elite label. A fourth album Standing in the Light generated their first top ten hit in the UK in 1983, "The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up)". Recorded with members of Earth, Wind and Fire, this album debuted a new era for the band, less experimental and jazzy than previous releases. There were no instrumental tracks on this album whatsoever, nor on any of their following albums until Staring at the Sun in 1988.

The quartet followed that with the album True Colours in 1984, which veered between funk, power pop, midtempo rock and moody ballads. It yielded the singles "The Chant Has Begun" and "Hot Water" (a top 20 hit in Britain, and a top 5 hit in the Netherlands where the band became very popular, the song reached also #7 in Belgium). That same year, Mark King pursued a solo project Influences. By this time, Level 42 had also gained acclaim for its power as a live band (as showcased on the A Physical Presence album).

[edit] Worldwide fame

[edit] Polydor Records years

The next studio album, World Machine, was successfully released in 1985. Singles from this LP, "Something About You" and "Leaving Me Now" were UK top twenty hits (top forty hits in Holland). More importantly, "Something About You" was also their first (and only) US top ten the following year; reaching too the Top 5 in Canada and the Top 20 in Italy. "Leaving Me Now" was the second hit from this album, peaking at #15 in the United Kingdom, but was not very successful outwith Europe. During the recording of World Machine, the first major tensions between Phil Gould and Mark King began to surface over musical direction, production and also in their personal relationship. This led to Phil leaving the band for a week and nearly being replaced by Allan Holdsworth's drummer Gary Husband (some three years prior to Husband actually joining Level 42). Gould and King's dispute was resolved and the group enjoyed their most successful year to date.

Next came "Lessons in Love" in early 1986 - a song taken from Running in the Family to be released in 1987 - which was a massive international hit and gave Level 42 its first number one, in Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and South Africa, increasing its popularity considerably (#2 in Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden, #3 in the UK and in Ireland, #4 in Austria, #10 in Norway, #12 in the US in 1987 and #22 in France). By this time, the band was heading further away from its original jazz-funk sound and towards a much more mainstream pop sound. Elements of Level 42's roots can still be found in the funky "Coup d'État" and "Dream Crazy" on the UK version of the album, as well as a long instrumental track named "Hell", which was also recorded during the World Machine sessions. This last track did not see the light of day until the early 2000s as an MP3 download on the original Napster.

The band's 1987 album Running in the Family became their biggest seller, reaching the top five in numerous countries, and cemented this poppy musical direction, with King's bass and Lindup and Badarou's chugging keyboards serving as templates for smart pop songs like "Lessons in Love", "To Be With You Again" (#6 in the Netherlands and in Ireland), the ballad "It's Over" (#3 in Ireland and #7 in the Netherlands) and the title track (#1 in Norway, #3 in the Netherlands, #4 in Ireland, #5 in Switzerland).

Also in 1987, the band played in the Prince's Trust concert. King and Lindup was play with Eric Clapton lead guitars on "Running in the Family", with Ben E. King on Stand By Me, with The Righteous Brothers in "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" and other classics^[2].

After this success, both Phil and Boon left the group: Phil suffered from nervous exhaustion and reportedly was not satisfied with the band's direction in terms of its newer "pop" sound. He even went as far as to call it "shallow pop music, which I'd had as much fun playing as when I played in holiday camps". Phil's relationship with King had also broken down and they found it difficult to work together. Boon also suffered from nervous exhaustion and decided to retire in order to settle down with his wife and children. King finally recruited Gary Husband to replace Phil and Steve Topping to replace Boon. Husband recommended Topping, but he did not work out due to personality differences with King. Rated session guitarist Alan Murphy joined, formerly of Go West. He had also been Kate Bush's studio guitarist.

A new Level 42 album, Staring at the Sun, was released in 1988, reaching number 2 in the UK and the top ten in several European charts, and including the hit-single "Heaven in My Hands" (number 12 in the UK and also top twenty in the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, etc.). Boon Gould (although he had now left), co-wrote many of the tracks with King, Lindup and Badarou. Gary Husband was credited with his first co-write with King on "Tracie".

In October 1989, Alan died from an AIDS-related illness^[3], and the band took some time off. At this time Level Best, a greatest hits compilation, was successfully released. In December 1990, the band played a record run at Hammersmith Odeon, London which had been booked almost two years before. These concerts also featured Lyndon J Connah on keyboards and backing vocals (who years later would fill in for Mike Lindup), and virtuoso guitarist Allan Holdsworth, who Gary Husband asked to play as a favour to the band, whilst they searched for a permanent guitar player and in tribute to the late Alan Murphy, whom Holdsworth was a hero to and major influence. In this year, Mike Lindup also released his debut solo album, Changes.

[edit] RCA / BMG years

During the early 1990s, the group tried to blend more of their earlier influences, such as Mahavishnu Orchestra, into their sound and Husband asked Allan Holdsworth to provide some guitar work for the album Guaranteed (notably on "A Kinder Eye") . Though well-received, especially by US music critics who appreciated the group's musicianship, many of their jazz-funk fans did not like the set's mostly progressive / rock-oriented style, and the pop music scene in the UK had moved in a different direction. The album did not get good reviews, despite the title track reaching #17 and the album reaching #3 in the UK charts, although some US critics regarding it as Level 42's most musically sophisticated work to date. Also of note is that Husband is credited playing Keyboards as well as drums and co-writing many tracks, with King, Lindup and Badarou. The album includes the only track completely written by Gary Husband (If You Were Mine), which also featured on the Guaranteed single release.

Through it all, the band continued to be a potent live draw, with the studio members joined on stage by singer Annie McCaig, who also did backup vocals on the Guaranteed album; and the brass duo of sax player Gary Barnacle and trumpeter John Thirkell, aka The Hen Pecked Horns. Barnacle played on several Level 42 studio albums, dating back to the self-titled 1981 debut. Barnacle had been preceded as Level 42 tour saxophonist by Krys Mach, who also recorded with Level 42 and toured with the group from 1984 to 1988. Also of note, Dominic Miller guitarist of Sting solo career fame, played most of the guitar parts (along w/Mark King on 'Staring at the Sun') on both 'Staring at the Sun' and 'Guaranteed'. (Alan Murphy and Allan Holdsworth came late in the recording of both of their respective projects and added mostly guitar solos.)

After the recording of Guaranteed, and a week long promotional tour, Mark King assumed Holdsworth would be unwilling to play guitar permanently with the band and he hired Jakko Jakszyk. Only after hiring Jakszyk did he discover that Holdsworth was willing to continue with the band. Although not on the record, Jakszyk features on the album's cover photo; he also took part in promotional duties and the tour for the album. He does play to great effect on two b-sides from this era: "At the Great Distance" and "As Years Go by". Jakszyk's other studio input with Level 42 came in the form of two unreleased tracks^[4] (Fire and Free Your Soul) between the Guaranteed and Forever now albums. In 1993 Gary Husband left the band and returned to working with Allan Holdsworth and other session work, both as a drummer and keyboard/pianist. Reasons for this were various at the time, some stated that Husband did not like to play with a sequencer / click track and the band were increasingly using more of these in their performances at the time, however some music industry rumours suggested that record company pressure was on King and Lindup to work with Phil Gould again, who had co-wrote many of the bands early hits, to make a more commercial album, after the disappointing reaction to Guaranteed.

1994's Forever Now album did indeed mark the return of Phil Gould (as studio drummer and principal lyricist), following an out of the blue invitation from King,they both agreed to put their long running differences aside. The album saw the group move closer to its R&B-jazz roots, especially in the lush ballad "Romance", the acid-jazz-influenced "Sunbed Song" and the dance-pop "Learn to Say No." Jakko Jakszyk did not play on the album, (Session guitarist for this album was Danny Bloom), Jakko.com quoted that this was due to record company "politics", as with Husband now gone and Phil Gould just contributing in the studio, Level 42 were now marketed as just King and Lindup. Promo shots and videos for the album's singles (Forever Now, All Over You and Love in a Peaceful World), only featured King and Lindup (The ony other time this happened was for the promo of 1987's Children Say, which was the first promotional video shot after the Gould brothers left.)

With one further album required as part of the band's three album deal with RCA, fans saw a bright future for the band, with the critical success of Forever Now, however, the fruitful (part) reunion was short-lived. Phil Gould, dismayed at what he felt was the record company's ineptitude, did not go on the road with the band on their Forever Now tour. He was replaced for the tour with live session drummer Gavin Harrison and Jakko Jakszyk returned to play guitar for the tour and tv/promotion. It was announced halfway through the tour (on the day of their Manchester Apollo gig) that Level 42 would be disbanding permanently.

[edit] Level 42 no more

In 1996, a Level 42 live album was released featuring a 1988 concert. Its liner notes justify the album as a tribute to a great band no longer with us.

In 1998, Mark King released a solo single "Bitter Moon" (Lyndon J Connor, who played with level 42 at the Hammersmith Odeon live shows in 1990, played keyboards on the track), followed up by his second solo album One Man with lyrics by Boon Gould. The album was not a big commercial success, and King has expressed an unwillingness to get involved in record industry politics again after his experience with Eagle Records. King later toured, initially as Mark King and went back on the road playing his own new compositions and some Level 42 favourites. In 1999 King did some shows at the jazz cafe in London as "The Mark King Group". This was of notable interest as the band included former Level 42 members, drummer Gary Husband and guitarist Jakko Jakszyk, as well as a second guitarist, King's younger brother, Nathan King and Lyndon Connah again on Keyboards. Over the next couple of years King toured with his new band (sometimes called "Grupo Mark King"), this time without Jakszyk and he later included saxophone player Sean Freeman.

In August of the same year, three quarters of the original Level 42 line-up reunited for a private show. Phil Gould invited some musician friends to play at a party, including his brother Boon and Mike Lindup. Two years later, King, Lindup and Phil Gould played together (at Lindup's wedding) for the first time in ten years. This led to a tentative get together of the original line-up along with Wally Badarou, to work on a new studio album only. However, the reformation was short-lived, and old tensions began to resurface, particularly between Phil Gould and Mark King, who decided they could not work together again and subsequently the sessions were abandoned.

[edit] Level 42 return

Increasingly King and his band were playing more and more Level 42 tracks, so in late 2001, King came to a business agreement with Mike Lindup for the rights to the name Level 42 (Lindup agreed to play on future albums, but did not want to tour) and subsequently King reformed Level 42 with ex member Gary Husband on drums, Nathan King on guitar, Lyndon Connah on keyboards and Sean Freeman on Saxophone.

On 13 February 2005, Level 42 played a historic date at The Forum in London. For the first time since 14 October 1994 at The Royal Albert Hall, Mike Lindup joined Level 42 on stage. In March, the two Rockpalast shows from 1983 and 1984 were released on DVD, and in April, a show from 1983, recorded in Scotland, surfaces on CD called "The River Sessions". In June, The Ultimate Collection II is released including a brand new song called "Genius Of Love" by Hardage featuring Mark King on vocals and a sample of "I Want Eyes".

[edit] Retroglide

A new album, Retroglide was announced in February 2006 with a supporting tour throughout the UK, Netherlands, Germany and some other European countries. Chiefly recorded by King and co-written by Boon Gould. Gary Husband plays drums (his first studio album since 1991's Guaranteed) with Nathan King on guitar/vocals, Lyndon Connah, keyboards and Sean Freeman on sax. It also has some contributions from Mike Lindup on keyboards/vocals as well as a guitar solo from Boon Gould on the track "Ship".

In May 2006, prior to the start of the tour in October, level42.com announced that Mike Lindup would return full time to replace Lyndon J Connah on keyboards. Although Phil Gould is uncredited on the album, the track "Ship" is the first song since 1986 worked on by all four original members - Phil originally arranged the track with his brother Boon.

On Sunday 26 August 2007, Level 42 played a landmark outdoor gig at the Arundel Festival in West Sussex. Set in the grounds of the ancient Arundel Castle, in the village of the same name, the performance was notable due to a number of unexpected changes to the setlist. Running in the Family, a top 10 hit from 1987, was the second song in the set for the first time ever. The track usually appeared towards the end of the show in a medley of the band's most successful singles, which King affectionately refers to as "a string of knackered old hits". The concert is Level 42's only UK show of 2007. At the end of the concert Mark King promised a full UK tour for 2008.

In 2008 Universal Music is set to re-issue the Running in the Family album in the label's 'Deluxe Edition' format, which takes a single disc album and turns it into a double disc package with previously unreleased bonus material. Extended re-issues of the True Colours and Standing in the Light albums will be released at the same time.

Both original members have been quoted (King in the magazine Record Collector, Lindup at level42.com) saying they are considering releasing a new studio album possibly comprising new acoustic versions of Level 42 songs, after the success of performing this way on various European radio shows in 2006, when promoting the Retroglide tour and album. Two notable points in these live radio performances were King singing and playing acoustic guitar (along with his brother Nathan), instead of his trademark bass playing and both Lindup and Husband on acoustic piano's. The possible "Acoustic" album was also mentioned in syndicated radio interviews.

On various fan sites, there are rumours that King, Lindup, Husband and the other members of Level 42 are working on new material, co-writing with both Boon Gould and Wally Badarou again, with a view to recording a new album, possibly for release in 2009.

The band is contracted to deliver a further two albums to Universal Music subsidiary W14 Music, as part of a Distribution deal signed prior to the release of Retroglide in 2006.

A new twenty date Level 42 UK tour for 2008 was announced by the band on the 16th January. ^[5]

[edit] Band members

Main article: Level 42 members

The first meeting of the group which would eventually form Level 42 involved Mark King (Vocals/Bass guitar), Mike Lindup (Keyboards/Vocals), Dominic Miller (Guitar) and Phil Gould (Drums). At all subsequent meetings Rowland 'Boon' Gould replaced Dominic Miller on guitar; Phil and Boon are brothers. The two brothers, along with King and Lindup, are known as the 'original and founding members'. Studio keyboardist Wally Badarou contributed to many of the band's early hits, and is considered by many to be the unofficial fifth member of the group. Initially, the instrumentation responsibilities were not easy to decide. King was primarily a drummer, but also played bass. Boon played bass and guitar equally well. Lindup and Phil Gould were training as percussionists and both played drums, although Lindup also played keyboards. None of them sang. Eventually they settled with the arrangement shown above. Boon also played saxophone. Although they considered looking outside the band for a vocalist, eventually they decided to split vocals between King and Lindup.

Over the years full time band members have included, drummer Gary Husband, guitarists: Alan Murphy, Allan Holdsworth, Jakko Jakszyk, Nathan King, keyboard player: Lyndon Connah, and saxophonist: Sean Freeman.

The band still performs live shows and a new album, Retroglide, was released on 18 September 2006.

[edit] Current members

This lineup stays since 2006, when Mike Lindup returned definitively to the position of keyboardist of the band.^[6]

• Mark King: Bass, Vocals (1980 - 1994, 2001 - present)
• Mike Lindup: Keyboards,Vocals (1980 - 1994; 2006 - present)
• Gary Husband: Drums (1987 - 1993; 2001 - present)
• Nathan King: Guitars (2001 - present)
• Sean Freeman: Saxophone (2001 - present)

[edit] Studio member

• Wally Badarou: Keyboards/Vocals/Co-writer/Producer (1980 - 1994)

[edit] Former members

• Boon Gould: Guitars (1980 - 1987)¹ - left due to ill health, but continues to write with Mark King
• Phil Gould: Drums (1980 - 1987; 1994) - left due to being unhappy with the musical direction, but returned in the studio for one final album, 1994's Forever Now
• Alan Murphy: Guitars (1988 - 1989) - replaced Boon Gould, but became ill and died of pnuemonia, the band stated they could "not replace Alan"
• Allan Holdsworth: Guitars (1990 - 1991) - filled in for the deceased Alan Murphy (Holdsworth was Murphy's hero)
• Jakko Jakszyk: Guitars (1991 - 1993; 1994) - toured with the band until they originally stopped working together in 1994
• Lyndon Connah: Keyboards (2001 - 2005) - filled in for Mike Lindup, until he returned to the band in 2006

¹ Boon subsequently wrote lyrics for the albums: Staring at the Sun (1988) and 2006's Retroglide. He also played a guitar solo on the track Ship, which was originally his composition, which was added to by King.^[7]

[edit] Original formation

The original formation stayed intact during the period of 1980 up to 1987.

• Mark King: Bass, Vocals
• Mike Lindup: Keyboards, Vocals
• Rowland "Boon" Gould: Guitars
• Phil Gould: Drums

[edit] Origins of the name

The origin of the band's name has been variously described as being inspired by a sign in a lift in a very tall building in the US; the top level of the biggest car-park in the world, in Japan; the floor on which Jonathan Pryce's character resides in the film Brazil (which was released long after the band gained international recognition); or after Tower 42 (also known as the NatWest Tower) the tallest building in the City of London.

King and Boon Gould decided the band should be called simply by a number, and they both favoured '88' - the number of the bus they used to catch to the recording studio. However, Lindup and Phil Gould saw a poster for a band called Rocket 88 so their idea was abandoned (although '88' was later used as a song title). King and Gould both claim to have been reading Douglas Adams' comical science fiction novel, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy wherein the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything, is '42'. Therefore '42' was suggested as a name for the band. It should be noted that their then producer, Andy Sojka (now deceased), similarly claimed to have been reading the book, and claimed to have put forward the number as a suggested band name. It is known therefore, that the use of the number '42' in the band name came from either King, Boon Gould, or Sojka. The appendage of the word 'Level' is claimed to have been from either Sojka's lawyer, or John Gould's (the third brother and band manager) lawyer.

Other names considered for the band were 'Powerline' and 'Kick in the Head'. 'Powerline' was rejected and given to another of Sojka's groups, and it was on a white label promotional record numbered 'DAZZ 4' that the words 'Level 42' first appeared. The band providing the B-side - a track called "Sandstorm" (a track which they also wanted to call "Kick in the Head"). The A side was provided by 'Powerline'.

'Kick In The Head' was finally used by the band as a working title for the song "A Floating Life" on their True Colours album. The lyric features in the song.

Three further songs (all instrumentals) were 'numbered' by the band: '43', '88' and the B-side 'Forty-two'.

[edit] Trivia

Rowland Gould's childhood nickname was "Boon". The nickname supposedly came from his uncle, who found him so quiet and well behaved as a baby that he informed Rowland's mother that the baby was 'a real boon'.

At the band's peak Mark King, whose nickname was "Thunderthumbs"^[8] was often cited as "The world's best bass player", and his thumb was reportedly insured for over £1 million. He was also one of the first artists to have LED lights up and down his bass guitar neck/frets.

At school in Cowes Isle of Wight Mark's nickname was "Joe" -Joe King- because his sense of humour was legendary and he was never without a smile or a joke on his lips.

Mark King appears in an episode of the UK comedy show French and Saunders, along with Dire Strait's Mark Knopfler, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, Gary Moore, Motorhead's Lemmy and Ralph McTell, in a sketch about learning how to play the guitar.^[9]

Level 42 also appear in the closing credits of an episode of the UK comedy The Fast Show, in which they are interrupted by Paul Whitehouse, who asks them to "turn it down". ^[10]

In 2006 Anthony David recorded a cover version of "Something About You" on The Red Clay Chronicles album.

In the Mighty Boosh episode "Hitcher", the character known as the hitcher claimed to have a thumb war with Mark King, who lost the thumb and thus his place as the Slap bass president.

[edit] Discography

Main article: Level 42 discography

[edit] Studio albums

• 1981 - Level 42
• 1982 - Strategy - The Early Tapes
• 1982 - The Pursuit of Accidents
• 1983 - Standing in the Light
• 1984 - True Colours
• 1985 - World Machine
• 1987 - Running in the Family
• 1988 - Staring at the Sun
• 1991 - Guaranteed
• 1994 - Forever Now
• 2006 - Retroglide

[edit] Top 40 singles

Between 1980 and 1994, Level 42 had a total of 30 Singles in the UK charts. The following 20 singles reached the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart:

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• http://www.Level42.com/ – Official website.
• http://www.facebook.com/pages/Level-42/10399501101/ – Official Facebook Site.
• http://www.myspace.com/level42music – Official Level 42 MySpace Site.
• www.ultimatelevel42.com – Ultimate Level 42 Discography.
• www.forevernow.com – Fan Site
• http://www.level42info.com/ – Most accurate Level 42 Resource Site
• http://www.level42webdigest.com/ – Level 42 Web Digest
• http://www.level42digest.com/ – Level 42 Digest Email mailing list from 1993 to present
• http://www.rocksite.info/r-level-42.htm – Level 42 full history
• Level 42 discography at MusicBrainz