LEVEL 42 - WHAT'S THE DEAL

[QUINNY]

I noted recently that certain posters here referred to Level 42 as a 'pop' band. Tonight on the Craig Charles Funk Show, guest, Keb Darge, dismissed all their post Elite records as crap and Craig even dissed the track '43' that he had just played. A few weeks previously he had more or less said that he wouldn't be playing any of their records 'cos they weren't funky.
Where have they got this (bad) reputation from? Anyone know?
Personally, I was never such a fan that I thought every record was brilliant, I never craved to see them live. However, I do remember that they had one hell of a following among dancers, DJs, the Soul & Funk boys and various other factions. It was almost like a religion. They did release some great dance records, some of which (if only for the bass) were incredibly funky grooves. So how come that groundswell of popular support doesn't count for any serious approval now? I'm rather bemused.

[SandraDee]

Well Q, like a lot of artists who 'cross over' & achieve chart-topping success, Level 42 have had to endure the typical 'backlash' from the notoriously snobby soul & funk followers in the UK. I have to admit to prefering their ealier 'jazzier' stuff myself such as 'Love Meeting Love' & 'Flying on the Wings of Love' but their later more commercial stuff is pleasant & inoffensive enough, with the exception of the dire 'Tracie' & 'Running in The Family' (what are? their noses?). When they first began to cross over to the pop charts I remember feeling really pleased that this talented group were being recognised at last; it beats me why some people resent someone attaining success. I suppose they are like children having their 'toy' taken away from them aren't they?

[Nano]

I don't know their early output; heard them just since "Something about you" onward. However, for me they always sounded like crap. Great bass, sure, but where are the songs? And you can't say "oooh, so funky" about output of the same years when Prince was putting pop and funk music head down...
And the more time passed, the worse they became.

[QUINNY]

Oh well, it looks like they were just a minor blip and not the mega rock stadium, crowd pleasing band I thought they were. Perhaps there was just that certain something missing?

[NickNack]

Is (Are?) Level 42 British? I didn't really know anything about them until there Polydor release, "Something About You". I thought it was nice, I liked the sound but I wasn't raving what a fantastic group.

You and Steely give me the impression they were around long before this song with a following overseas. Also, that they were originally more 'jazzy'. Give me just a little more ( :P time :P )... background :) please.

Steely, it is funny when little-known groups with cult followings gain some commercial success how some of their fans now consider them 'sellouts'. Hello? Isn't nice to have the public appreciate your music enough to buy it? I never got those putdowns, either. :-?

[markydefad]

Ah, Nicky...

The CLASSIC was "Starchild"...you must know that one.

The flip of that was "Turn It On"--both from 1982.

That's where I first heard them. You would love this. :D

[NickNack]

Ah, Nicky...

The CLASSIC was "Starchild"...you must know that one.

The flip of that was "Turn It On"--both from 1982.

That's where I first heard them. You would love this. :D

I'm gonna check tomorrow and see. Was this on Polydor also? I have to ask since I'm still dealing with 12"s filed by label. It's gonna take forever to shift all this to A-Z format.

[BrunoRepublic]

The first I'd ever heard of Level 42 was "Micro Kid". I thought it was dreadful.

"Something About You" is a nice enough song, but has since died from overexposure. It's one of those songs that was a mainstay of advertiser-friendly corporate radio for years.

[K-Bee]

I'm one of those who did refer to level 42 being a pop band but that doesn't mean it's automatically bad music.
I mean Wham was pure pop & I love 'em. There is still (or at least used to be) such a thing as pop perfection.

Admittedly, the early level 42 was way more interesting than what they did later. I'd say the commercial turning point for them was propably the "world machine" album in 1985. It culminated with "Running In the Family" in 1986.
Both album did produce some great singles but you really have to turn to the Shep Pettibone remixes in order to get something really special. His "lessons in love" and "Something About You" mixes are classics today.
After "Running.." their music got rather formularized and boring with many of the band members leaving too.

In my opinion, the high point of Level 42 was their double live album "A Physical Presence" from 1985. The recording pre-dates the big hits but the music is a rather good example of british jazz-funk; not too many vocals and great solos.

In case some of you didn't know, there was a formal connection between Level 42 & keyboard maestro Wally Badarou (who made the great "Chief Inspecter" instrumental in 1983).
Baderou did produce and played on many of their songs, including World Machine.

[QUINNY]

So far as the UK disco was concerned, the remixed 'Lessons In Love' was the zenith of their popularity.
My personal faves were 'The Chinese Way' from '82 and 'Love Games'. I also liked a few others and personally thought their 'pop' output was better than their early jazz funk stuff.
The one disco record to really get hold of with Level 42 connections (apart from Wally Badarou) is without doubt:
Thunderthumbs & Toetsenman - Freedom
This is a pure gem of a record. 127 BPM electronic samba disco type of rhythm, nice acoutioc guitar figures, slightly coy vocals, strong horns and scorching solos (especially on Freedom a Go Go 'B' side). It zips along really strongly.

[SandraDee]

They were really passed their best by the time of 'Something About You' in '85 & I never could understand why it was such a big hit for them.
Nicky, you are better IMO to search out their stuff from 1980 to 1982 as this was the stronger material & was also generally more 'disco/pop/jazz' in appeal rather than 'dance/rock' if you get my drift (sorry about the classifications but that is the nearest I can get to describing the stuff!). The tracks that Marky mentioned are amongst their better work.

[markydefad]

The cover to the "Starchild" 12" is a big fave of mine. It's got a drawing of a woman in profile with a sorta-gladiator-headdress in the center and is surrounded by a nice shade of midnight blue. Well, somewhere people were talking about artwork. I just don't remember where. Duh. :roll:

And then the song is just classic jazzy/trippy/smooth and sexy. I am just a starchild born in space

[SandraDee]

It was I Marky who started the topic on cover artwork but I did it in the 'discuss dico music' section by mistake (& I talk about others being dizzy queens!). That 12" cover you mentioned sounds the same as the cover of the LP that 'Starchild' & 'Turn It On' were taken from (called, imaginitively, 'Level 42'!). I so agree about 'Starchild'; its perhaps their classiest single release.

[NickNack]

Yeah, baby. I'm playing "Starchild" 8) right now. How could I forget this. The minute Marky described the jacket I said, I HAVE THAT!

Sweet, breezy, jazz-eze... help kick-off the night or "find that right-time" morning piece.

I HAVE TO GET THIS FUCKING COLLECTION ALPHABETIZED! :evil: :cry: There are 13 freaking crates of records on the floor that I'm stepping over as I pull and sort vinyl off the shelves. Geez.... :roll:

[Leanmean]

Ah ha! Now I know what happened! I heard Sea Level at one point, which IS a jazz group led by Chuck (where the Sea - or C - came from) Level or Levell and then a few years later(?) heard something by Level 42 and mistook them for the former. I wondered how the jazz band had slipped so awfully into the pop dregs. But, now I realize they weren't even the same group at all! Jeez!

[QUINNY]

And Sea Level scored big in discos with '54' which one could hardly describe as jazzy, although I did play it and enjoy it also.

[SandraDee]

Leanmean & Quinny, I have Sea Level's '54' on a jazz-funk CD compilation (Mastercuts) & notice it's produced by Stewart Levine. Is this the same Stewart Levine who produced Simply Red's early stuff? (he's no relation to Ian Levine of hi-nrg/ northern soul fame BTW.)

[QUINNY]

Did Stewart Levine do Culture Club too? Could be completely wrong but have vague memories.
Steely: I too have the Mastercuts CD and what a disappointment. I bought it specifically for what I thought was going to be a full length 8.13 version of 'Black Is The Colour by Wilbert Longmire. Instead it's 3.55 and fades just as the track gets interesting. Back to vinyl I guess.

Leanmean: Don't worry, my wife confuses the hell out of herself with Level 42, U2, and UB 40, so that UB40 are the band from the Isle Of wight, U2 are from Birmingham, Level 42 are Irish, UB 40 plays disco funk, U2 play reggae and Level 42 play that bullshit rock crap, or any permutation of these. What is the problem, I ask myself?

[SandraDee]

Quinny, the guy that produced Culture Club was Steve Levine (Levine was a popular name for record producers in the 80's n'est pas?).
You're absolutely right about the Wilbert Longmire track fading early but it actually states on the sleeve notes that the length is 8.14! (could they be done for 'trades desciptions'?). However, it's still a blinding compilation IMO with totally fab tracks from Hubert Laws, Paulinho Da Costa, James Mason & Sonny Rollins. (I'd been after some of those tracks for years!)

[Greg Wilson]

During the early 80's Jazz-Funk days Level 42 were regarded as one of the best British bands on the black music scene, voted 2nd to Linx in the 'Best British Act' section of the Blues & Soul Readers Poll for 1981 (they were also voted 6th Best Group overall, 6th Best Live Show, the single 'Love Games' was #21 in the Top 30 Best Soul Singles, and their LP 'Level 42' came in at #9 in the Album section).

As Steely Dan pointed out, their earlier singles were highly regarded, '(Flying On The) Wings Of Love', being especially popular on the dancefloors of the North, along with 'Love Meeting Love' and 'Love Games' (which were both minor chart hits). They appeared live at a number of Jazz-Funk All-Dayers, always going down well, and with Mark King's Bass playing receiving critical acclaim (at first in specialist circles and later with the mainstream music media).

However, as the scene began to move away from Jazz-Funk and towards the New York inspired Electro-Funk, bands like Level 42 and their Polydor labelmates and fellow Jazz-Funksters, Shakatak, quickly began to lose credibilty. The only British band that made the transition from Jazz-Funk to Electro was Freeez, who had a monster Jazz-Funk hit in 81 with 'Southern Freeez' and an even bigger Electro-Funk hit in 83 with 'I.O.U' (both making the UK Top 10).

After failing to reclaim their earlier status with the black music crowd, Level 42 re-invented themselves (or rather their record company re-invented them) as a Pop act, complete with the full glossy video treatment. This resulted in their most successful period (between 85-87) when they scored a run of UK Top 10 hits with tracks like 'Something About You', 'Lessons In Love' and 'Running In The Family'.

From underground band to international stars, Level 42 were undoubtedly the biggest act to emerge from the early 80's Brit-Funk boom (at least in terms of record sales), but many would say that they sold their soul in the process.

[Greg Wilson]

Steely Dan & Quinny: Mastercuts were primarily compiled with vinyl in mind (4 sides, 3 tracks per side) , so when it came to the CD it often came in over the allowed time, and a track had to be edited or faded. I'm sure if you checked the vinyl version of 'Jazz-Funk 7' the 8:14 version of 'Black Is The Colour' would be on there. No excuse though for not making the customer aware of this.

I thought the worst example of this was on 'Jazz-Funk 2' when 'The New Killer Joe' by Benny Golson was edited, with the entire intro rap section (so vital to the track) taken out. However, in this case, Mastercuts did list it on the CD as Edited Original 12" Mix.

I compiled 'Classic Electro Mastercuts' and when I heard the cut, I was horrified to find that 'The Adventures Of Grandmaster Flash On The Wheels Of Steel' had been faded to save a couple of minutes. I voiced my objections to this on the grounds of sacrilege ('Wheels Of Steel' in my book being one of the definitive records of all-time) and thankfully Mastercuts rectified the situation, taking the time out elsewhere.

Having said this, I still rate Mastercuts as a brilliant series of quality classic dance compilations. Especially during the early years when Ian Dewhirst, who came up with the whole concept, was at the helm.

[billywho]

Greg: That probably explains something that had always bugged me. My Classic Salsoul Mastercuts Volume 2 CD has track number 9 listed as "Sing Sing" by Gaz, which doesn't even appear on the CD. Interesting that the series was planned for vinyl. The first one I bought (and I think it was the first of the series) was "Classic Mix Mastercuts", which I bought as a tape. What year was that, maybe around 1990? The rest of them I have on CD.

The other good Disco-Funk series apart from Mastercuts is the "Deepbeats Essential ..." series, many of which appeared in the early 90s.

[Greg Wilson]

Billywho: Yeah, there's only 11 tracks on the 'Classic Salsoul 2' CD (although Gaz isn't listed on my copy). 'Classic Mix' was issued in 91.

'Deep Beats' was also the brainchild of Ian Dewhirst (and more recently, 'Simply Vinyl').