From: Level42-request @ worldmachine.com (Level42 Digest) Subject: Level42 Digest V96 #11 _ ____ _ ____ _ _ ___ // //__ // / //__ // /__// __// //__ //__ \\_/ //__ //__ // /__ D I G E S T Level42 Digest Volume 96 : Issue 11 248 subscribers Today's topics: Re: Level42 Digest V96 #9 Pat Flanagan Re: Instrumentals Gary Francis RITF Platinum, Jap. Pursuit, Biography, Changes, LittleHalo @ aol.com Re: Level42 Digest V96 #8 Pat Flanagan V. Belated Intro Marcus Bone ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Level42 Digest V96 #9 From: flanagan @ mwci.net (Pat Flanagan) Date: Thu, 11 Jan 1996 16:55:19 -0600 >Bad Song Lyric - "What if God was one of us, something something stranger on >a bus, going home alone, no one calls on the phone, except the Pope maybe in >Rome." Sorry, I already used "One Of Us" by Joan Osborne, so it's ineligible for further use. :D And it's "just a stranger on a bus." Trivia about that song: it was written by Eric Bazillian, formerly of The Hooters. >What's the deal? We get 5 instrumentals on their first effort,The Early >Tapes, 3 on their second , Level 42 and 2 on their third, The Pusuit Of >Accidents and then NONE!! Well ok, except for Foundation And Empire which >did finally make it to A Physical Presence. >You *might* say A Pharaoh's Dream comes close and *Maybe* The Ape but that >would be pushing it. I don't have True Colours or FN. Are there any >instrumentals on these? Does anyone know why they stopped making >instrumentals? This was definantly one of their strong points, especially in >concert. Why do you think we're all pissed that the Physical Presence CD left >them off. WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?! Personally, I think that, just like every young band starting out, they felt the need to be badasses and show off a bit. As they settled in, they became more comfortable with their talents, and became more understated in their playing. I like the instrumentals, especially Pursuit of Accidents, as much as anyone else, but a) I think the understated playing is just a bit cooler, and b) they were moving in a pop direction with their music, and the instrumentals didn't fit in as well. By the way, if anyone in the band became more understated in their playing, it certainly wasn't Mark, it was Phil. But I like a drummer who doesn't try to be out in front all the time, like most drummers do. (oooo, I'm going to ruffle some percussionist feathers, ooooo) TCOY, Pat {Bad Song Lyric of the Day: "Hangin' tough, hangin' tough" from (you guessed it) "Hangin' Tough" by New Kids On The Block} That song wouldn't have been so laughable if it wasn't being sung by a bunch of 14 year old kids. Pat Flanagan Publishing & Design PO Box 281, Granger, IN 46530-0281 email: flanagan @ mwci.net website: http://magnet.mwci.net/mall/flanagan ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Instrumentals From: Gary Francis Date: Thu, 11 Jan 96 14:43:15 -0700 >>From: RolfieV @ aol.com >I have most of the L42 albums up to Guaranteed (except Early Tapes). >>Get The Early Tapes! Especially if you like the their instrumentals. You're right. It's time to fill that hole in my collection. I was avidly looking for it up to about 8 yrs ago, without any success. It's much more widely available now. Okay, now for a basic question. I've seen it listed on many net music sites as such: Early Tapes Early Tapes (1980) Early Tapes (July/August) Early Tapes (July/August 80) Are there many versions of the Early Tapes, US/UK? Or just one? >>New Subject: The demise of the L42 Instrumental >> >>What's the deal? We get 5 instrumentals on their first effort,The Early >>Tapes, 3 on their second , Level 42 and 2 on their third, The Pusuit Of >>Accidents and then NONE!! Well ok, except for Foundation And Empire which >>did finally make it to A Physical Presence. >>You *might* say A Pharaoh's Dream comes close and *Maybe* The Ape but that >>would be pushing it. I don't have True Colours or FN. Are there any >>instrumentals on these? Does anyone know why they stopped making >>instrumentals? This was definantly one of their strong points, especially in >>concert. Why do you think we're all pissed that the Physical Presence CD left >>them off. WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?! I don't know. But instrumentals were definitely one of their strongest talents. This is one of the reasons why I've always wanted to get the Early Tapes. I suspect that the group/label were convinced that instrumentals weren't commercially viable. (I disagree. It maybe true if you're thinking singles market. But I contend that L42 is also an album band.) Also, it might have something to do with the media (vinyl, cd, etc). There's only so much music you can put on vinyl. Having instrumentals meant less vocal tracks. One would think in cd format you could have both! (I think the Gresham Blues instrumental was a bonus cd track added to ... ??True Colors??) Other than that exception, it's seems like instrumentals are a thing of the past. I haven't heard the solo efforts so I can't address them. Maybe someone could tell me if any L42 instrumentals were released as singles either A or B sides? It's probably a small select group, if any. lamenting (listening to "43"), Gary ------------------------------ Subject: RITF Platinum, Jap. Pursuit, Biography, Changes, Mark on Compilation From: LittleHalo @ aol.com Date: Thu, 11 Jan 1996 23:01:21 -0500 Hi my friends, I have a few questions Does anyone know the difference between Running in the Family and Running....Platinum Edition? Does anyone know what is different about the Japanese version of Pursuit of Accidents? Audiophile Imports says it has one extra track or something. I recently got the 1995 catalog and summer update for Audiophile Imports and they don't show anything about having the Level 42 Biography for sale. Didn't people on this digest say that Audiophile were the ones that had it? I want it! Does anyone know what the second to last song on Mike's Changes CD on Resurgence is? The CD booklet or cover doesn't say anything about it. It's an instrumental. Is there much difference between the original Changes and the Resurgence reissue? I'm so excited that I finally have Changes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The is a CD by Various Artists listed in the Audiophile catalog with Mark King on it called "Also Available in Green." It's a CD of a whole bunch of bassists doing songs. It says in the catalog that most of the songs on it have never been released before. Does anyone have this or know more about it? That's about it for now. Tired of Waiting (for FN+4 from CD Now), Angel ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Level42 Digest V96 #8 From: flanagan @ mwci.net (Pat Flanagan) Date: Thu, 11 Jan 1996 13:35:11 -0600 >Billy's Gone... cleanness, crispness, REALLY grooving and sticking the >bassline and snare in your face Yeah, that's what I REALLY like about the RCA version of that song: the "sonic-ness" of it. >Here's something that made me chuckle. I was looking up L42 at the >CDnow site. Listed under similiar artists to L42 they had the following: >Average White Band, Boy George, Culture Club, General Public, >Hall & Oates, The Style Council, UB40 & Paul Young. Hm. With the exception of Hall & Oates (they're ok, but not a favorite), all of those artists rank high on my list. I'd have to agree, though, that for the most part, they aren't the ones I would have picked to describe the genre. AWB, maybe, but General Public's a bit of a stretch. UB40, too. >Hmmmm, maybe early 70's Kool & the Gang or EW&F when they were more >jazz orientated. Yeah, that's more on the line. >Believe it or not, I'd have to agree. I always thought it was too bad >that Milli Vanilli's (or whoever it was that sang them) hit songs were >forgotten as a result of that "scandal". Same with ol' Ice -- he was >a doofus, but that track of his was way cool. Thank you, Vince. I've caught some private email hell for that one. :D >And now, Pat and I will sing a medley of 80's hits ... Oh, ok... "Come on Eileen, oh I swear..." (Sorry, I can't make out any other words from that song besides "poor old Johnny Ray" and "we are far too young and clever, whatever") >I'm 24 and a musician (keys, drums) and my influences (besides the obvious) >have been Thomas Dolby, The Fixx, Peter Gabriel, Talking Heads, Spyro Gyra, >Herbie Hancock and a few other eccentric types. :) Nice group, Zak. Who are the eccentric types? (We're an eccentric bunch.) No takers on my "what the hell does Rag Ruby Red (Boon's publishing credit on Staring At The Sun) mean" question?? TCOY, Pat {Bad Song Lyric of the Day: "I wanna show your beauty like a crystal in an all-night launderette" from "The Flat Horizon" by Wang Chung} (Any other Wang Chung fans around?) Pat Flanagan Publishing & Design PO Box 281, Granger, IN 46530-0281 email: flanagan @ mwci.net website: http://magnet.mwci.net/mall/flanagan ------------------------------ Subject: V. Belated Intro From: Marcus Bone Organization: Kingston University (Science) Date: Fri, 12 Jan 1996 09:03:55 GMT0BST Hi everyone I know I've posted before, but I never did a proper intro - so here goes. I'm 20 years old and a physics student at Kingston Uni which is just outside London. I do play guitar but pretty badly im afraid. I first got into Level 42 when I heard True Colours (borrowed from a friend of my brothers), World Machine came out just after and after buying that I was hooked. My favourite three songs are:- Love Games, The Machine Stops and True Believers. I've seen them twice in concert - Guildford '91 (Gauranteed) and the RAH gig (FN). Overall I'd say they were a band let down a lot by management/record company and hounded by the press. But in a way if they had ever become REALLY popular it might not have been so much fun - anyone agree? Anyway I think the solo projects are going to be great. LAter everyone. I like a good beer buzz early in the morning