Subject: Level 42 Digest, #356 ===================== * LEVEL 42 DIGEST * ===================== Digest 356 Monday, 04/10/95 133 subscribers Today's messages: Re: Level 42 Digest, #355 Animal Logic, Incognito, ML, etc. Re: Level 42 Digest, #355 Audiophile Imports So Paul Crockford, is he really the blame? The List.... Re: promotion problems The Pepsi Challenge: Guaranteed vs. Forever Now Silver to Gold Bass school ------------------------------ From: "Chris 'Mojo Flopcock' Bradley" Date: Sun, 9 Apr 1995 17:17:38 +0100 (BST) Subject: Re: Level 42 Digest, #355 Name that tune = Follow Me. You're not really trying, are you? How about 'I've seen it both ways, the pleasure and the pain/Life is for lovers, living is a game'. ------------------------------ From: Dale Loyd Date: Sun, 9 Apr 1995 12:30:01 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Animal Logic, Incognito, ML, etc. (General enough subject, eh?) Hi, peoples. Another nod on the Mike Lindup CD. Check my earlier post about the call#, price, and info for CDEurope (don't have the info right now....) Incognito IS *phunkie*. Great stuff...reminded me of Anita Baker meeting Earth, Wind, and Fire. Got "Positivity" on a clue from a friend and is now a staple in my listening. Animal Logic (who I got to see on a club tour here in Nashville in 1990) was Stewart Copeland (ex-Police), Stanley Clarke, and Deborah Holland. They recorded their first album back in 1988, shopped it, and finally ended up at IRS Records (both Stanley and Stewart have so many other projects like writing operas, movie scores, solo albums, etc. that they had to negotiate a wierd deal in order to be able to be in a band and not trample on existing other deals). Their first album was released in 1989, with Steve Howe (of Yes and Asia fame) on a couple of tunes, Pete Haycock (of Wishbone Ash) on a tune, L.Shankar on a couple of tunes, Freddie Hubbard playing trumpet on one tune...overall, it's enjoyable. But not as much as their second release "Animal Logic II". THIS is the funky one: Stanley and Stewart are TIGHT, production slams, etc. Nowadays, the band has split: Deborah Holland, the ex-lead singer, was a piano instructor/song writer in New Jersey whose tapes got to Stewart thru a publishing/A&R guy. Stew, Stan, Deb, and Andy Sumners did a short tour in South America to see if it would work (it did, minus Andy...then Joe Walsh (!) was supposed to play gtr, but backed out). Anywho, to make a long story longer, Deborah Holland now has a solo album available thru IRS Records and the boys are back to doing their thing. Whew! Sorry to talk so much about another band than Level... I'll make up for the blaspheme sometime! Dale ------------------------------ From: Filthy McNasty Date: Sun, 09 Apr 1995 12:22:24 -0600 (CST) Subject: Re: Level 42 Digest, #355 Keep on moving' Silver to gold? Hmmmm... Sounds like "Follow Me" from A physical Presence Live. I have always liked this song a lot and I was sorry that they never cut it as a studio track. Oh well. Keep these obscure lyrics coming... NEIL BIRCH / \/> [=#===========::} <\/ \ \_/\> {::===========#=] "I've been called worse Date: Sun, 9 Apr 1995 14:46:48 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Audiophile Imports Here's the address and phone #'s for Audiophile: P.O. Box 4801 Lutherville, MD 21094-4801 (410) 629-7601 (Phone) (410) 628-1948 (Fax) However, the last two times I tried to call, the phone just rang and rang and rang -- odd, 'cos it was the middle of a business day. Go figure. Good luck! Rob ------------------------------ From: Kim Ivey Date: Sun, 9 Apr 1995 13:00:31 -0600 (MDT) Subject: So Paul Crockford, is he really the blame? First, a big sorry to all you guys. I'm new to this E-mail thing, and because of my lack of expertise, I managed to send out three copies of my last letter ( this is Kim speaking, by the way). Once again ... sorry. This will be the last time I beef about the boy's break-up, but I've got to get this little bit off my chest. 4 years!! Four years I had to wait for a new recording from the group. Between 1988 and 1992, here in the States, well at least in N.J. and NYC, no new music was released by the group. My thirst was only weakly satisfied when "Level Best" came out, which prompted me to purchase "Level 42" after hearing Starchild ( I hadn't bought it earlier, because I had this idea the whole tape was Jazz Fusion instrumentals ... where I got the idea, I don't know. In any case, I've always prefered their vocal arrrangements, specifically with Mark in the lead, more than the instrumentals [oh no! Maybe I'm not a true Levelhead!!? ... actuallly, I guess it's just because I'm not a musician]. In a previous digest, I made reference to Marks butchering of lyrics. But as Pat Flanagan pointed out to me, how can I expect Mark to enuciate each lyric perfectly when he's playing the bass like he does and singing at the same time??). Yet, I was still starving for something new ... and hopefully better than "Staring at the Sun" which, save for "Man", I didn't care for very much. So, I turned to other British exports ... Basia, Sade, Soul II Soul, and got real heavy into the American group, Steely Dan. In fact, for awhile there Steely was almost nudging Level out of its top place spot. But alas," Guarenteed" finally came out. I fell in love with it, and waited patiently for some sort of mini tour here in the States, and more recordings. NOT. All I could keep thinking to myself was what the hell happened? I remembered back to 86 and 87 when I saw the group on Saturday Night Live, and was so proud of them, and of the fact I knew who they were. Then, right before they fronted the Madonna tour, they appeared on American Bandstand. Patiently I waited for them to come on Soul Train. At that time, most African-Americans, like myself, considered any group who appeared on Soul Train to be "the shit" (for lack of a better description). An appearance on Soul Train doesn't account for much these days, but then... it did. Hell, if Go West could be on the show, I knew my boys warrented an appearance! But it didn't happen, and I should have known then something was up. I guess there are a lot of folks to blame for there demise- Polydor, Mark and Mike, for wanting the group to go pop, their management ... etc. And in a sense, the group breaking up creates a sort of Beatles like legacy (am I pushing it?) Like someone mentioned in a recent digest, would I really love them as much as I do, and be so protective of them if they had become enormously successful here in the States? Probably not. The way it is now, I feel like they are my personal group. A serious privilage on my part that most people haven't been able to attain. I like that (I think we all do). Selfish as it may be, I like it. But Paul Crockford, is he really the main blame for them not being promoted as heavily here in the States as in Europe? If so, I guess my major beef with him would be the fact that more recordings weren't released here. Hell, I could go without ever seeing the group in person if I could have half of some of the stuff folks on the Digest have been talking about. Mixes, remixes of mixes, B-side cuts? Damn!! There's a load of stuff out there I've never heard about and may never be able to get my hands on. You know, this kind of makes me think that when the song "Running in the Family" was written, the reference to Dad in the song was sort of an unconcious rendering of the groups feelings about Mr. Crockford. You know: "Our Dad would send us to our room, he'd be the voice of doom ... he said that we would thank him later ...". Okay ... Okay, I'm pushing it again. But if this was so, well, here's my thanks to you Paul. Yeah, thanks ... thanks a whole hell of a lot! Apolgies again for taking up so much space. Bare with me a few seconds longer, I need to make a couple of inquiries. Lolita Jackson and I may be visiting London this summer. Now I know this is going to sound real groupieish, but ... does anyone know about some local haunts where the boys hang out in the city? If so, please- give up the info. ( oh, and Lolita has nothing to do with my asking this). And finally, has anyone out there ever sat with the group or any member of the group and held a conversation with them? If so, I want all the juicy details ( pretty pathetic, huh ); an inquiring mind needs to know. Now with all this off my chest, I shall take rest in being a silent subscriber to the digest. Thanks for letting me vent guys. Kim ------------------------------ From: akb02 @ akb02.slip.uni-koeln.de (Dirk Pilat) Date: Sun Apr 09 22:12:22 1995 Subject: The List.... Yo, fellow Levelians! Heeeeeeere`s the gig list: To be with you again (brillant opener) Heaven in my hands StarChild Microkid Love Games Now the slow section: Silence (In my opinion one of their top 5 slow songs) Out of sight, out of mind Lying Still (definetely their best: Incredible Lyrics, a song to cry over) Leaving me now It`s over Getting more funky: World Machine Hot Water Forever now Encore: Lessons in Love Love in a peaceful world The chant has begun Greetings to everyone, Dirk Dirk Pilat Mail: akb02 @ rs1.rrz.uni-koeln.de Talk: akb02 @ akb02.slip.uni-koeln.de Fax: +++49 221 2408310 Life`s a beach and then you die..... ------------------------------ From: ALOUIS1 @ aol.com Date: Sun, 9 Apr 1995 23:11:57 -0400 Subject: Re: promotion problems I don't really know much about Paul Crockford, besides the fact that his name appears on Level 42's cds. I don't really think he was the whole problem behind their promotion. The record companies were probably their biggest problem. It seems to me that British bands, along with others coming out of Europe, are being promoted in the U.S. less than they have been in the past. Of course you'll see new videos from Elton and Duran on Mtv and Vh1, and thats okay. However, you rarely see any new ones from Anything But The Girl, Swing Out Sister, or any of the other British artists who are still out there. Nothing makes me angrier than when I go to a used CD store and find CD's from artist's like Midge Ure that came out two years ago and I'm wondering, "why didn't I hear about this then?" The same thing happened with Forever Now, I never even heard a peep about it when it came out a year ago, not to mention that the band had broken up. Thanks Mtv news! It's just not as easy to find out about new British music as it used to be! It was a hell of a lot easier ten years ago. All the record companies seem to be interested in these days is promoting the next Mariah Carrey or Boys to Men. Maybe they just think that we just want more commercial trash, like that new album from Jacko coming out at the end May. Balderdash! Ah, I feel much better now! ........Give me the chance to speak my mind. ------------------------------ From: John Edward Martin Shuford Date: Mon, 10 Apr 1995 00:42:10 -0700 (PDT) Subject: The Pepsi Challenge: Guaranteed vs. Forever Now I'm listening to Guaranteed right now, for the first time in many months, with a few things in mind. First, I just re-read some articles during the Guaranteed release period that reminded me of what tracks were supposed to appear initially on the album (Lasso The Moon, The Ape, and With A Little Love were originally tabbed as b-sides, with All She Wants scheduled as one of the tracks), and Mike Lindup talking about the production of the album. Where I see strength in Forever Now, I see shortcoming in Guaranteed. Simply put, they should have worked with more live musicians to get the most out of the big and complex sound they wrote. Guaranteed should have used real percussion, Overtime a real string section, and so on. Also, they should have put forth a more "cohesive" album. The track selection is schizophrenic. Now, I don't think diversity on an album is a curse. Rather, I think it is a treasure...when it is done right. Forever Now, I think, walks that line very well because overall there is a consistency in the production value and the quality of lyric and songwriting which doesn't show up for the most part on Guaranteed. But all the fault was not L42's. While I happen to like Lasso The Moon very much as a song (especially Mark's wandering playing), I don't think it fits very well. All She Wants NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES should have been consigned to life as a b-side. Bad decisions on all fronts just crippled that album before it ever hit the stores. All this being said, there is still much to like from the album. A Kinder Eye, If You Were Mine, and Overtime are all great pieces of music. My Father's Shoes gave them the freedom to write Don't Bother Me, which are two of my favorite songs from them. Holdsworth and Husband are a nice addition (even tho Phil just seems to fit better with Mark). And the album does bear repeated listening. BobC, if you read this post, might you suggest where you think you can almost hear the click tracks (just an example would be nice)? I listened to the title track tonight, and I thought there was something very odd going on with the clopping percussion underneath the rest of the rhythm work, but maybe I'm just trying to show off. :) ------------------------------ From: dcrowson @ amoco.com (David Crowson) Date: Mon, 10 Apr 95 09:23:46 BST Subject: Silver to Gold >From: PFlanagan1 @ aol.com > >Sorry to be cocky for a newcomer, but we need a more challenging name that >tune, like > >"Keep moving on, silver to gold" Well now, that's a hard one ....NOT. Follow Me NEXT !! ;-) David Crowson Freelance Oracle Consultant (since 1983) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- igotan @ ombomb.demon.co.uk/weirdguy @ cix.compulink.co.uk/dcrowson @ amoco.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Follow Me, To the end of the Earth, Follow Me, before it all breaks down" Level 42 - Follow Me ------------------------------ From: dcrowson @ amoco.com (David Crowson) Date: Mon, 10 Apr 95 09:40:37 BST Subject: Bass school Well I had my first lesson at BIT on saturday and it went quite well. I've been skirting thru' the assigments etc. and I've noticed that next week we are down to study Level 42's song Lessons in Love as it's a good example of using triads. If anyone is interested I'll post the tab for Lessons in Love up here. Any takers ? Got to go...I've got homework to do ;-) __________________________________________________________________ David Crowson Oracle Consultant (since '83) igotan @ ombomb.demon.co.uk weirdguy @ cix.compulink.co.uk 'Hit them in the Face, with a Funky Bass, for a Happy Smiling Race'