I love Level 42 and Mark King. Heathrow has to be one of my all time favourite songs! I'll be seeing them live for the second time this october. And yes, Mark is a fantastically gifted bassist.
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I just cant help myself...Mark King
- Thread starter manbass
- Start date
Mark's never been - or aspired to be -funky. The only borderline-funky lines of his that I know of are the fingerstyle ones, for example True Believers. Slapping is just a big a part of his playing as, say, fingerstyle is to Jaco. To confuse slap with funk is to miss the point entirely.It would be the same if when I heard a bassist playing with a pick, I would label it 'punk'. Slapping is just an intergral part of his songcraft, and one that helped introduce the bass very prominently into the popular music scene. Mark's very talented gentleman, but funky - no.
It's sometimes difficult, whilst wading through the sea of cheese that is Level 42, to remember just how phenomenal a musician Mark King is. His fingerstyle playing is every bit as impressive as his slap stuff. As to the 'funk' aspect, well, he's got some funky influences in there for sure, but despite the sugary-pop gloop of late 80s 42, I think he probably always thought of himself as a fusion player. Check out his first solo album (which think was called 'Influences'?) - a fusion album through-and-through, or the 'Rockpalast' Level 42 DVD. Killer stuff, the occasional slice of cheddar not withstanding.
Love the music, the band, and delicious bass playing... while he's singing and chewing gum, no less 
.
BTW - does it really matter if it's funk or not, or what color he is?
.BTW - does it really matter if it's funk or not, or what color he is?
+1 that is a great record. The first track is just immense. I've got it sitting in my cupboard somewhere, I should get it out again.
Also, Level 42's "Guaranteed" album is a bit more fusion-y, though perhaps not in the same vein as their debut album's fusion tracks. I mean, with Gary Husband and Allan Holdsworth playing on it, how could it not be!
No - it matters about as much as Bob Marley is grindcore. Great player, great band (cheese and all) - that's all that matters to me!
Correct, matters only when people make it so, and it "masks" the truth.
Call it gross reductionism, if you will. VERY UNintellectual. Very uncool. VERY un FUNK!
Put your sunglasses on children, and SEE the REAL show! Its more beautiful than your eyes can imagine!
Call it gross reductionism, if you will. VERY UNintellectual. Very uncool. VERY un FUNK!
Put your sunglasses on children, and SEE the REAL show! Its more beautiful than your eyes can imagine!
I've been a fan of Level 42 since '83 and Mark has always had the Marmite factor about him (you either love or hate him).
Mark tends to get a lot of negative press, which is replicated by those who don't bother to find out for themselves. I think Mark is an excellent musician and he does what he wants and sounds like he wants to, and that is what every musician is supposed to do.
People tend to think he is a one trick pony, which he clearly is not, but people need to pigeon hole. He's not the best bass player alive or ever, but he is very good at what he does. I just wish he would stop playing to the audience and drop the fast, but no tune solos. If ever there was a bass player that needs to re-invent himself it's Mark, but I doubt he ever will. But then, he's likely to be very happy with what he's got.
Mark tends to get a lot of negative press, which is replicated by those who don't bother to find out for themselves. I think Mark is an excellent musician and he does what he wants and sounds like he wants to, and that is what every musician is supposed to do.
People tend to think he is a one trick pony, which he clearly is not, but people need to pigeon hole. He's not the best bass player alive or ever, but he is very good at what he does. I just wish he would stop playing to the audience and drop the fast, but no tune solos. If ever there was a bass player that needs to re-invent himself it's Mark, but I doubt he ever will. But then, he's likely to be very happy with what he's got.
There isn't much variation but he has it down cold. I've seen other clips before and it's "usually" just more of the same. Still ... I can dig it!
P.S.
If it ain't broke... don't fix it.
P.S.
If it ain't broke... don't fix it.
+1
That said, he can sure play a lot of notes......
And that solo is full of Larry Graham quotes.
Jaymi
Pink Bass Man
- Feb 11, 2008
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If he truly is a one trick pony, then that one trick must be playing the hell of of the bass guitar!
I wanna be a one trick pony too! Tony, the one trick pony... Yeah... I likes it!
I've never been a Mark King devotee, but the other day I decided to check out some random Level 42 and was non-stop floored by him. He kills, regardless of how many tricks his pony can do!
You are not alone
This guy is an absolute virtuoso of the highest order, but his tone does nothing for me. Hell... if you are gonna slap, it will always sound so much ballsier with a Fender or a Stingray.
Mark King is an incredible musician...But Funky??? the jury is still out on that one for me IMHO. Slap does not equal funk. Funk is an attitude
Listen to his playing in "The Sun Goes Down" and tell me it's not funky.
One must always consider that Mark lusted after and actively chased success as a musician. He originally wanted the big house, the cars, the money. I'm sure he still enjoys that to some extent even though he really seems to have grown up in the 90's.
His desire to make Level 42 a "big name" has cost him, no doubt. Heck, the original band lost two members due to them not being happy with how poppy things were getting. But Mark was not afraid to go commercial to chase success. This is testament to Mark's drive. He always was, in my mind, the most talented member of the original lineup. He had chops that could run rings around the other guys. This did not concern him, and he was not above TV spots just to show off his bass playing skills (his fantastic skills were of great repute, he was to bass playing in 1980's England what Flea was in the US in the 1990's, he got the kids playing). It was all about exposure, getting the name out.
Ultimately, I think he succeeded, I don't think you can argue any other way when you consider that the band sold out Wembley 5 nights in a row in '86.
Yes, chasing success has cost him, it cost him band members, it saw him being accused of a one trick pony, he became synonomous with what some would call "cheese pop" (and I'll not deny it, they have cheesy songs at times). In the end though, it afforded him the opportunity to play with fantastic musicians (Gary Husband and Allan Holdsworth to name but two, and Billy Cobham is drumming for Level 42 at a one off show this year) and it gave him the opportunity to keep making music. Yes, Level 42 still tour today.
And it must be said that in the 1980's in England, if you asked who the best bass player around was, people would tell you it was Mark King.
Love the guy!
One must always consider that Mark lusted after and actively chased success as a musician. He originally wanted the big house, the cars, the money. I'm sure he still enjoys that to some extent even though he really seems to have grown up in the 90's.
His desire to make Level 42 a "big name" has cost him, no doubt. Heck, the original band lost two members due to them not being happy with how poppy things were getting. But Mark was not afraid to go commercial to chase success. This is testament to Mark's drive. He always was, in my mind, the most talented member of the original lineup. He had chops that could run rings around the other guys. This did not concern him, and he was not above TV spots just to show off his bass playing skills (his fantastic skills were of great repute, he was to bass playing in 1980's England what Flea was in the US in the 1990's, he got the kids playing). It was all about exposure, getting the name out.
Ultimately, I think he succeeded, I don't think you can argue any other way when you consider that the band sold out Wembley 5 nights in a row in '86.
Yes, chasing success has cost him, it cost him band members, it saw him being accused of a one trick pony, he became synonomous with what some would call "cheese pop" (and I'll not deny it, they have cheesy songs at times). In the end though, it afforded him the opportunity to play with fantastic musicians (Gary Husband and Allan Holdsworth to name but two, and Billy Cobham is drumming for Level 42 at a one off show this year) and it gave him the opportunity to keep making music. Yes, Level 42 still tour today.
And it must be said that in the 1980's in England, if you asked who the best bass player around was, people would tell you it was Mark King.
Love the guy!
That is from the same concert as the OP link - Live at Reading 2001. Not old by Level 42 standards, but you are right - just before he started playing Ashdowns.
He recorded all of the CD "Forever Now" on a 'Ray. On the one hand, I want to say it sounds really good (and it does), but on the other hand, it mostly sounds like Mark King to me and I did not know it was a 'Ray on that album until I read so.
All that said, as much as I love Mark King's playing, I do not aspire to his tone either. Since very early in the Level 42 timeline, he has been using synth support to complete the low end of the total Level 42 sound spectrum, enabling him to get away with that upper-midrange snappy top tone that we hear on these Reading clips. It would simply not be appropriate for most of us.
Sorry...but I dont think his playing on "The sun goes down" is funky at all...and moreover, his tone on that cut is just awful.
I think its the way he has his bass eq'd. To me it just doesnt sound bassy enough...When it comes to thumping and plucking, I use Larry Graham and Louis Johnson as the yardsticks by whom all others are measured. MK doesnt hold a candle to those cats in the tone department !!
