Level 42 (album)

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Level 42
Studio album by Level 42
Released	1981
Genre	Pop, Funk, Jazz.
Label	Elite
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link
Level 42 chronology
- Level 42 (1981) Strategy (1982)

"Level 42" was the debut album released in 1981, by the british pop/rock musical group Level 42. The album was re-released in 2000 along with "Early Tapes" album on a 2CD set. In 2007, Level 42 is re-released as a 2cd Deluxe Edition.

It's best known for the track "Love Games," which became a successful jazz/funk and dancefloor hit for the band (reaching number 38 on the UK pop charts). It has figured in both L42's and bassist Mark King solo live appearances to this day. Also gaining substantial dance airplay on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean was the track "Starchild," with Lindup on vocals.

The second single, "Turn it On", released in United Kingdom, Spain, France and Canada^[1], had peaked in #47 in the UK single charts.

The third single, "Starchild", has been released in six countries beyond the United Kingdom (peak position: #57), including the United States of America^[2], where it entered the Club Play Singles at #60. In 2001, it was re-released by the label Peppermint Jam Records in the United Kingdom and Germany.

[edit] Track listing

1. "Turn It On" (Badarou, Gould, King) – 5:36
2. "43" (King)" – 7:02
3. "Why Are You" Leaving?" (Gould, Lindup) – 4:34
4. "Almost There" (Gould, Gould, King) – 5:42
5. "Heathrow" (Badarou) – 4:43
6. "Love Games" (Gould, King) – 7:25
7. "Dune Tune" (King) – 4:50
8. "Starchild" (Badarou, Gould, King) – 6:42

• 2000 reissue bonus tracks

1. Forty-Two (Gould, Gould, King, Lindup) – 6:39
2. Beezer One (Badarow, King, Gould, Lindup, Gould) – 7:09
3. Foundation & Empire (King) – 8:27
4. Dune Tune (live) (King) – 5:03
5. Goodbye Ray Schmidt-Volk – 2:07

• 2007 reissue bonus tracks

1. Heathrow (Live, Regal Theatre, Hitchin 1983)
2. Turn It On (Live, Regal Theatre, Hitchin 1983)
3. Starchild (Long Version)
4. Love Games (Live, Ryde Theatre, Isle Of Wight 2000)
5. Why Are You Leaving? (Live Ryde Theatre, Isle Of Wight 2000)

[edit] Credits

• Mark King – Bass, Vocals, Percussion
• Mike Lindup – Minimoog, Acoustic/Electric Pianos, Vocals, Percussion
• Boon Gould – Guitars
• Phil Gould – Drums, Glockenspiel, Timbales, Backing Vocals, Percussion

Plus:

• Wally Badarou – Prophet 5, Korg Polyphonic, Minimoog, Vocalising (courtesy Barclay Records)
• Leroy Williams – Congas, Bongos, Percussion
• Gary Barnacle – Electric Sax Solo on "Heathrow"
• Dave Chambers – Tenor Sax Solo on "Why Are You Leaving"

2007 Re-issue:

• Gary Husband - Drums (Tracks 4 & 5)
• Nathan King - Guitars/Vocals (Tracks 4 & 5)
• Lyndon Connah - Keyboards/Vocals (Tracks 4 & 5)

[edit] Trivia

• The Princess portrait on the cover of the L42 album has become an unofficial emblem of the group. It appears in silhouette on the Strategy/Early Tapes EP from 1982; and in outline on the backs of Standing in the Light in 1983 and True Colours in 1984. A modified version appears on the cover of 2006's Retroglide. The Princess also adorns the cover of the band's 1982 single "The Chinese Way" and 1983 single "Out of Sight, Out of Mind." In 2002, Status Graphite, a maker of custom basses and a company associated for more than two decades with Mark King, issued a "Princess" version of its KingBasses with a color rendering of the famous logo.
  

[edit] Charts

[edit] Album charts

[edit] Single charts

[edit] References

1. ^ The Definitive Online Level 42 Collectors Resource: Media
2. ^ The Definitive Online Level 42 Collectors Resource: Media