I met Mark King twice actually . Apart from him being one the finest bass players ever he was the nicest guy you could ever hope to meet. Level 42 in the early 80's were incredible! Apart from Mark you have the superb keyboard work of Mike Lindup and Boon Gould's under rated guitar work and then to top the whole thing off Phil Gould surely one of the UK's greatest ever drummers! I listen to Phil's playing and he reminds me of the late great Jeff Porcaro of Toto. Both amazing at laying down a groove.
I met him too.... humble and friendly right at the top of their careers !!! Simply the best group that line up, the performances live were just amazing, how they could improvise and/or change interpretation of their songs, the sound so rich, every detail just spot on. Amazing.
I can vouge for this too. Met him in 2004 when I was 10 after a gig. Ended up chatting to him, came away with some drumsticks, a guitar pick & a setlist. I also started playing bass after that. Such a nice man.
Closest I've ever had the chance to meeting him was 2nd Row, MapleLeaf Gardens, Tor,ON, Canada, Running in the family Tour. Listened to Level every single minute of my teens.
Who also happen to be from American continent. Around the same time there were Nick Beggs who now plays with Steven Wilson along guys like guitarist Guthrie Gowan and drummer Marco Minneman, George Anderson of Shakatak for example. Perhaps they were and are not seeking after the stardom but to be a member of a band. Please see for this :) watch?v=KMOzo1Ij6Oo
for one you can thank back in the day Larry Graham(?) of sly and the family stone bassist/bass singer, for coming up with that "thumb wacka" technique . and maybe some funk group came up with it before him....i dunno
Mark King plays in a completly other way then Larry graham and other slap bass players (thumbing) He invented a technique that only one other bass player addapted from him: Mr Wojtek Plichowski and he also use the gaffa tape Mark King use when he plays to prevent that that the thumb split's . Mark King use his left hand and slap the fingers on the strings so it sounds like a drum and that make him able to play insane more rythmical patterns then other slap bass players. To play Mr. Pink you need to know that technique to play the song otherwise it sounds totally garbage. The biggest slap idol Mark King had was Stanley Clarke.
@@Dottor_J Mark was the inventor of using the palm slap, i am pretty sure about that, you can ask Davey from Cambridge Lessons too, he loves mark just as much as i do. Larry was the inventor of slap, but he have never used the palmslap technique. There are many videos here on youtube where Mark and Larrry plays together, both Larry Graham songs, such as pow..and some level songs...check it out. It took me some years in the beginning of my bass career to figure out what was the secret thing Mark did to get those tiny but important slaps who is neccesary to do for playing as an example:Mr Pink...there he use tons of palm slap. I have studied Mark Kings playing since i was 15 now i am 44 and played in many bands everything from prockrock, pop, funk.. i even used palm slap technichs on fingerstyle playing in the prog rock band..lol, but if your not convinsed ask Davey on Cambridgebasslessons. Mark started with this already in 1980
@@Dottor_J Pow is pretty easy straight forward and he don't use palm slapping on that. Im 100% sure since i know pow myself and also a big fan myself of the inventor of slap :)
He was a ace guitar player. Just listen to Lying still from the world machine album and Good man in a storm from the same album and not to forget to mention A Floating life from the True Colours Album. He is simply amazing with all music styles, also liste to the Album Early tapes 1980 where he plays jazz fusion chords... i really miss him him in level 42.
Holy Shit! My beloved audio-cassette recorded that night in 1984 from TV died some years later. RUclips is great but I didn´t expect to find that recording here. I did expect to hear it never again. Many thanks to you minx3a!!
Saw them regularly at this time. They used to start off with Dune Tune or Heathrow as a kind of warm up , and you could always see if it was going to be a good gig, by how they were interacting with each other at this point. Lots of nods, winks and smiles at each other, and you knew what to expect. Great live band.
I was there that night. I even had it on VHS, which one of my neighbours very kindly taped over, I was gutted, but I bought it on DVD a couple of years ago, the memory of it is still there.
Mark showcasing how much Stanley Clarke was an influence on him in that intro. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, search up songs like "Silly putty", "School days" and "Lopsy Lu" to hear where Mark King got it from.
My 2nd fav band after the Beatles. There's only one Fab Four! L42 songs have a Beatles trait of having this 2 songs into 1 song thing, which is when a composition is co-composed by more than one person.
Phil is brilliant in this - very experimental, particularly with his use of the Simmons pads. I think this was his first time using them come to think about it.
Loved Level 42 throughout their whole band career, but there was something funky-jazzy-fusion special about this early line-up with the brothers Gould on drums and guitar: 4 equal parts that made more than a whole - brilliant!
Huey Lewis & The News were performing before Level42 on that Rockpalast Night and Lewis always took the towel to dry his face from sweat. Mark made a joke out of it at 02:12 🤣🤣😂😂🤣🤣
That Jaydee cost £500 quid 30 years ago, but I still reckon it defines MK's bass playing and just has so much more tone and added funk than the current Status basses that he plays, which to my ears always sound tinny and lacking in real depth. Come on Mark, how about you bring out the Jaydee for a couple of numbers on tour next year?
@@fragwagon You're wrong, Mark always kept that one, the first one. movingtheriver.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/mkguitars.jpg King's collection in 2015, very easy to spot his JayDee.
Lindup is underrated Keyboard player, he is one of the greatest
He is genius.
hardly underrated
Who underrates him?
The reason this band are so tight is because they are all drummers 🙂
I met Mark King twice actually . Apart from him being one the finest bass players ever he was the nicest guy you could ever hope to meet. Level 42 in the early 80's were incredible! Apart from Mark you have the superb keyboard work of Mike Lindup and Boon Gould's under rated guitar work and then to top the whole thing off Phil Gould surely one of the UK's greatest ever drummers! I listen to Phil's playing and he reminds me of the late great Jeff Porcaro of Toto. Both amazing at laying down a groove.
I met him too.... humble and friendly right at the top of their careers !!! Simply the best group that line up, the performances live were just amazing, how they could improvise and/or change interpretation of their songs, the sound so rich, every detail just spot on. Amazing.
I can vouge for this too. Met him in 2004 when I was 10 after a gig. Ended up chatting to him, came away with some drumsticks, a guitar pick & a setlist. I also started playing bass after that. Such a nice man.
Closest I've ever had the chance to meeting him was 2nd Row, MapleLeaf Gardens, Tor,ON, Canada, Running in the family Tour. Listened to Level every single minute of my teens.
Hammer
It is always refreshing to see comments from the LGBTCDSG1.5WEOOJH Club😂
These guys brought jazz fusion to the pop market.
Nobody else managed to do this quite as well
Jazz chops, scatting, it;s all here.
I was in pursuit of happiness(!) in 83 and this song brought it to me! Absolute perfection
Best bassist in the world, in history and forever. Mark King, you are the slap bass King.
its crazy that hes never mentioned whenever people talk about great players, its always victor wooten/geddy/les/etc
Who also happen to be from American continent. Around the same time there were Nick Beggs who now plays with Steven Wilson along guys like guitarist Guthrie Gowan and drummer Marco Minneman, George Anderson of Shakatak for example. Perhaps they were and are not seeking after the stardom but to be a member of a band. Please see for this :) watch?v=KMOzo1Ij6Oo
Tampaterry54 that is because he is a god !
I AGREE
i honestly don't know why anyone else bothers playing the bass they will never ever ever be any where near as good as MARK KING ,so just give up !
One of the FUNKIEST BASS LINES IN A SONG EVER!!!
for one you can thank back in the day Larry Graham(?) of sly and the family stone bassist/bass singer, for coming up with that "thumb wacka" technique . and maybe some funk group came up with it before him....i dunno
Mark King plays in a completly other way then Larry graham and other slap bass players (thumbing) He invented a technique that only one other bass player addapted from him: Mr Wojtek Plichowski and he also use the gaffa tape Mark King use when he plays to prevent that that the thumb split's . Mark King use his left hand and slap the fingers on the strings so it sounds like a drum and that make him able to play insane more rythmical patterns then other slap bass players. To play Mr. Pink you need to know that technique to play the song otherwise it sounds totally garbage. The biggest slap idol Mark King had was Stanley Clarke.
@@MatsEvensen I don't think Mark invented the palm slap. Larry Graham uses that technique in "Pow" for example.
@@Dottor_J Mark was the inventor of using the palm slap, i am pretty sure about that, you can ask Davey from Cambridge Lessons too, he loves mark just as much as i do. Larry was the inventor of slap, but he have never used the palmslap technique. There are many videos here on youtube where Mark and Larrry plays together, both Larry Graham songs, such as pow..and some level songs...check it out. It took me some years in the beginning of my bass career to figure out what was the secret thing Mark did to get those tiny but important slaps who is neccesary to do for playing as an example:Mr Pink...there he use tons of palm slap. I have studied Mark Kings playing since i was 15 now i am 44 and played in many bands everything from prockrock, pop, funk.. i even used palm slap technichs on fingerstyle playing in the prog rock band..lol, but if your not convinsed ask Davey on Cambridgebasslessons. Mark started with this already in 1980
@@Dottor_J Pow is pretty easy straight forward and he don't use palm slapping on that. Im 100% sure since i know pow myself and also a big fan myself of the inventor of slap :)
All the band members are absolute top musicians. ...a great performance
Playing bass, singing and chewing gum at the same time, what a combination.
Awesome drums complementing one of the best bassists of all time!
Boon Gould was such an amazing guitarist and the whole band is just tremendous! NEVER HEARD OR SEEN ANYTHINH LIKE IT
He was a ace guitar player. Just listen to Lying still from the world machine album and Good man in a storm from the same album and not to forget to mention A Floating life from the True Colours Album. He is simply amazing with all music styles, also liste to the Album Early tapes 1980 where he plays jazz fusion chords... i really miss him him in level 42.
Holy Shit! My beloved audio-cassette recorded that night in 1984 from TV died some years later. RUclips is great but I didn´t expect to find that recording here. I did expect to hear it never again. Many thanks to you minx3a!!
Saw them regularly at this time. They used to start off with Dune Tune or Heathrow as a kind of warm up , and you could always see if it was going to be a good gig, by how they were interacting with each other at this point. Lots of nods, winks and smiles at each other, and you knew what to expect. Great live band.
Much love for the band, the song, and Marks' bass playing. How his thumb hasn't been reduced to hamburger is beyond me.
Duct tape on his thumb! 😃
This is the real Level 42 , later lineups are great but these 4 lads had a real magic!
Jazz perfection
I'm just coming up on magic mushroom, this is gonna be a blast.
HELL YES !!!!!!!!! I've tripped to Level 42 many times !!!!!
dear lord please bring back the music!
I totally agree!! Where’s it all gone!!
I was there that night. I even had it on VHS, which one of my neighbours very kindly taped over, I was gutted, but I bought it on DVD a couple of years ago, the memory of it is still there.
Mark showcasing how much Stanley Clarke was an influence on him in that intro.
For those who don't know what I'm talking about, search up songs like "Silly putty", "School days" and "Lopsy Lu" to hear where Mark King got it from.
My thoughts exactly.
Ha! I was just listening to the School Days album…granted this is 7 years after your original comment!
I just want to hear them jam on that intro groove for like 5mins.
Insane ability on that bass, he is just something else.
Total respect. ✊🙏
Level 42 are the REAL Fab Four !!!! Nobody writes better hooks, with such MONSTER musicianship.
My 2nd fav band after the Beatles. There's only one Fab Four! L42 songs have a Beatles trait of having this 2 songs into 1 song thing, which is when a composition is co-composed by more than one person.
This is my favourite band ever. From 1982 on, when "The Cinese Way" came out. 👍
Snap! I was 'weird' cos I liked them then WORLD MACHINE! BOOM!
what a tempo and pocket on this version - sooo thick!
Epic. Timeless. UK soul 100%
I swear that acid jazz found its origin with Level 42, Mark King did what Stuart Zender with Jamiroquai: inspire people to play bass.
The origins is Jazz Funk not Level 42
@@elliotvansertima2039 But I'm pretty sure that if you ask the bands from back then, they'd happily name Level 42 as a prime influence too.
And Shakatak
You will never have a funky band backing you up again like this one. Come on Mark reunion already dammit!
Nice thought but it's never going to happen.
+Michael Beston Bummer man
Why not?
Money disputes?
Chuffed to find this, had mp3 of the bass solo which is cool but to see it is sweet. It's the day I bought my first bass! Cheers :)
That classic JD bass sound, superb! Not going to comment about MK or L42 because it's all been said before so nothing more to add. Fantastico!!!!
Don't know if anyone has said this....Mark King in the 80s: 😋
Gosh they were brilliant.
Phil is brilliant in this - very experimental, particularly with his use of the Simmons pads. I think this was his first time using them come to think about it.
Amazing ! By the way its the fiirst time i see a Les Paul in a funk concert.
They are the BEST!
RIP MrGould!♥️
This band is amazing not only King in bass, but hi es the one, the KING.
This lot seem like quite a good popular beat cobo. I'll keep an eye out for their other stuff.
it reminds me of the time when we were young and energetik
Loved Level 42 throughout their whole band career, but there was something funky-jazzy-fusion special about this early line-up with the brothers Gould on drums and guitar: 4 equal parts that made more than a whole - brilliant!
Golden sweet memories sophisticated genuine technic 80s song everlasting
Perfect, they sound like how butterflies feel like in ur stomach while walking with ur love on the street at night.
Seen them in London with my bro a few times the best days of my life ...
Mark King ,Forever the best bass .beautiful so much..
This band just does it for me!
Still sends chills but the best thing was being with my brother my boy love him more than my life xxxx
still playing still brilliant . saw them in newcastle last week.
i prefer the sound of the jay dee bass compared to the status ! it has got more fiber and roughage and higher in vitamin B (vitamin bass)
I love Mike Lindups vocals!
Nothing but love for this band
I have those beautiful TAMA superstars.. Same finish... Luv em
Magic live tempo. They really caught it that night.
Huey Lewis & The News were performing before Level42 on that Rockpalast Night and Lewis always took the towel to dry his face from sweat. Mark made a joke out of it at 02:12 🤣🤣😂😂🤣🤣
What a band great act to see ....
Just AWESOME!!!
I love seeing this live. Used to hate seeing Mark on Top Of The Pops not even bothering to mime playing. No hiding place live
fantastic group! ♥ and excellent bass, slapping bass
Mark King the best I love you ❤
Máster Mark King! The King! Singing and playing bass together IS very, very hard.
That Jaydee cost £500 quid 30 years ago, but I still reckon it defines MK's bass playing and just has so much more tone and added funk than the current Status basses that he plays, which to my ears always sound tinny and lacking in real depth. Come on Mark, how about you bring out the Jaydee for a couple of numbers on tour next year?
I think he gave it away. Maybe he could borrow it for a while...haha
@@fragwagon You're wrong, Mark always kept that one, the first one.
movingtheriver.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/mkguitars.jpg
King's collection in 2015, very easy to spot his JayDee.
@@RastaSaiyaman Here they are, Mark has two different models:
www.pinterest.com/pin/561753753505420283/
That’s a lot of money back then. It’s near 1600 quid in todays money
Level42 best band in the world.
You could find their L.p. 's in any music store in the80s.
Fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Crazy just Crazy ……… Level42 👍👍👍
I love this song and I love Dune Tune as well!
Sensational, awesome band!!!!!!!!
Nearly 64 and still listening.
Dune Tune's in there, and then from 1:45, onwards where the drums kick in, we're given a snipet from the end of The Essential.
These guys are amazing
Amo mi familia por criarme escuchando esto
Hes an awesome bass player!
Loving this
RIP BOON
TCOY
Perfection 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼
Playing bass, singing, and chewing gum all at the same time!
Love it. Thanks Mike, I love that vid! xxxx
Very under rated band
Great basist
Oh yes!
Yes
First time I heard this song in 1994 on the radio, at that time I thought the bass track was generated by a synthesizer loop.
R.I.P. Boon Gould. 🖤
Marking The Best !!!
Reminds me of their 90's/00's successors Jamiroqai, such a tight unit with talent off the scale
Mark King is no 1, l.u. man keep goin' (70) germany
tempo is A1 on this version. Top draw!!
Better than the recording.
legendary proceding sensitive-art of music selection beats and rythms act's
Mark on the old JD Supernatural, Are we ready ?? Oh yes Mark , lets fucking have it !! ..... class
From 1:36 , I remember dropping my jaw when I heard that slap for the first time. Took days to get the jaw back..
Beyond compare and smashing chaps
its the accendance tour ,
movac its about right ,
they were absolutly up for it
brit funk at it best ,
"markin king the best!!!" Nice one Robert!
Mark King in the 80s 😍😍😋😋
Mark and Phil (drums) are gods
it's so hard to get that real slap sound putting the thumb that far from the fretboard, but he does it!
かっこいいです！！
とてもかっこいい !!
yes there is a korg poly800
on stage
just do way ...😁level42 😁😁😁
Klasse Band!Boon Gould SpitzenGuittarist.
Amo!!
R U OK!?!
so cool and funky :-)
Gonna see them tomorrow in The netherlands....
Mark is The king
the guys really laid things down in this one.
Welcome Sammy!