I'm 59 years old now. I grew up as a full blown metal head from the early 80's. Played guitar in rock bands for 35ish years . And "there's something about you " ? Is one of my FAVORITE songs of all time! I never tire of hearing it😊🎉😊
What a musician. In an era famous for drum machines, sequencers and artificial instrumentation, Mark cut through it with absolutely brilliant playing. From what I've read and heard from his peers, he was a top bloke as well.
Sad that the two brothers didn't want to continue with the band, but glad Level 42 continued to do their thing. Mark King is a really nice gentleman and an amazing musician. Really happy that I was able to discover their music.
"I don't have to compete with the young Herberts these days" . No, Mark; you don't have to because they can't touch you. You come from an era when musical integrity was important and not image and vacuous vapid lyrics. You will always inspire future bass players for years to come. No current pop star could do that.
He still is and always will be a great musician. I've seen Level 42 play 'Live' four times up to now and I will be seeing them again in October. I can assure you that Mark plays as well as ever.
My dad used to live part of the year next door to Mark's family home on the Island. Very cool visiting dad knowing we were looking out onto the house he grew up in.
Level 42 qué gran banda!! Luego de varios años descubrí que Mark King es un virtuoso del bajo que creó ese sonido característico de la banda (inicialmente pensé que eran sintetizadores), con una riqueza musical notable. Disfrutando desde Perú 🇵🇪🇵🇪
I was Level 42 live in my teens and then again (more recently) thirty years later - with the same friend on each occasion. Abslooutely awesome! Can't wait until the next Level 42 gig!
You are certainly missing out then, as there are a whole load of other great albums and singles by the band just waiting out there for you to discover them. Why don't you have a good browse around RU-vid for more of their material and then you can see what I mean?
As long as it was financially viable, I'm sure that Mark and the guys would jump at the chance to tour the US and Canada again, but the demand for their music simply HAS to be there first in order for them to be able to do it.
It’s an amazing psychology - a band finally gets the break that takes to it the next level and half the members take that as their cue to call it a day. Just happened to my band. Years crafting an amazing show and right when it begins paying off and gaining momentum, half the band hit the self destruct button.
I've met him about four times now and each one was after seeing them play 'Live'. I can assure you that Mark is a very friendly, approachable and down to earth bloke, who is more than happy to talk to fans. Why not get a ticket for one of the band's concerts and then wait outside the stage door to meet him after the gig has finished? That's what I would do.
Funk and slap bass is a standard playing method but Mark King's technique I'm guessing is pretty much unique in that he uses both hands in a percussive manner to form notes and fills? Can anyone advise? Apart from that Level 42 are still spinning on my turntable, just brilliant music.
Yes. He began as a drummer so when he switched to bass he took the two hands hitting something sort of thing with him.A lot of his lines involve using his left hand to percussively hit all four strings at once as a form of muting, especially when he does his "machine gun" rapid slapping. He is also just as good playing more conventional lines with separate fingering of each fret with his left hand too. To cap it all, he is actually left handed!
Mark has been a huge influence for bassists around the whole world, I consider myself a bit of a disciple of him. Love his bass lines, love the band songs, love his vocals and Mike's. Thanks Mark and the guys for all the music that we are still listening to and that it's a part of our life. Saw them in Huesca and Bristol and will be back at one of their concerts hopefully soon.
Mark failed to mention he always wanted to be a drummer first but there were better drummers than him so when he picked up the base his drumming mindset evolved into his bass playing.
funny he wrote the bass line for the bass when it's actually quite easy on a keyboard. didn't think about it being difficult - now i want to try it on the bass.
I was there in the 80's when this song came out, the problem was that it was so commercial it catapulted the band into that horrific category of bands known as "one hit wonders". You can compromise but don't sell out.
Great musician he certainly is but Mark definitely didn't invent slap bass, which was developed by jazz bassists in the 1920s so they could be heard over the rest of the instruments and then by funk bass players in 1970s playing electric guitars.
well.. im only a drummer.. but lets give you a couple dudes to check out. first the slappers: stanley clarke, marcus miller, victor wooten, les claypool and then a few more legends: tony levin and john entwistle (both also do their fair share of slapping), chris squire, jaco pastorius, geddy lee, billy sheehan and justin chancellor come to mind.. i probably still forgot a lot - and i didnt even get to all the not so flashy players (who are still absolute monsters like leland sklar)
Tom Jenkinson AKA Squarepusher, his music isn't to many people's taste but he's something else with a bass. I thought a lot of his tracks where nylon guitar for ages, turns out he was just playing an 8-string bass like one.
