From: Level42-request @ worldmachine.com (Level42 Digest) Subject: Level42 Digest V96 #19 _ ____ _ ____ _ _ ___ // //__ // / //__ // /__// __// //__ //__ \\_/ //__ //__ // /__ D I G E S T Level42 Digest Volume 96 : Issue 19 254 subscribers Today's topics: Stuff lolita @ interserv.com The Chef, Level 42 Tours - 1987, 1989 Cliff Barua Shoddy Richard Meacham German chap Nigel Collier Re: Level42 Digest V96 #18 Mighty Maomoondog loz Laurence Green Re: Level42 Digest V96 #18 TTrudell @ aol.com Freiheit??? Friesen, Alex FAB's movie with Level 42 maarten gorter Re: Level42 Digest V96 #18 Daniel James Now and Forever Bruce Conrad As seen on TV... GVermette @ aol.com Re: Level42 Digest V96 #18 Pat Flanagan FN+4-2, Guaranteed Live, 6year old Mark LittleHalo @ aol.com Is It worth It???? Scott Dawson ------------------------------ Subject: Stuff From: lolita @ interserv.com Date: Fri, 19 Jan 1996 07:50:30 -0800 Hey all: I was gone for the last two weeks, so I've just spent the last hour and a half going through old digests. A few comments: Rolf - My take on the instrumentals issue is that Level 42 stopped doing them on albums as often because they rarely get airplay on anything other than jazz stations, and airplay is what commercially sells albums. I completely agree that their instrumentals are their strongest songs (43 is my favorite Level 42 song of all time). FAB - First of all, welcome to the digest. In answer to your Wally question, we certainly do talk about Wally; I think maybe our last conversation about him was right before you signed on, in December. Quite a few of us own either Words on a Mountain (name may be butchered), Echoes, or the Chief Inspector EP. Chief Inspector is basically Echoes with Novela das Nove added (theme from Kiss of the Spider Woman). If you don't own either one of the last two, you should think about getting them. In answer to your live Level 42 performance question, they were on Saturday Night Live back in the mid 80's ('86 I think). They should've been on Soul Train; they would have been a great hit there. Pat - Thanks a million for the Level 42 screen saver. Everyone asks me about it, and it looks cool. Does anybody have access to Standing in the Light? This seems to be the hardest old disc to find. I have everything else except the White Funky, which I have been told I can find in some NYC record stores, but I have _never_ seen SITL. If anyone can get it for me, I will send the cash and postage for it. Please let me know. My top Level 42 songs are: 43 Lying Still Man Pursuit of Accidents Out of Sight, Out of Mind The Machine Stops 88 Sandstorm (live versions) True Believers Dream Crazy Overtime Sunbed Song I know that isn't five, so I would say the first five I listed are the true faves, with 43 being way above all the rest for me, and the rest in no particular order. Lolita ------------------------------ Subject: The Chef, Level 42 Tours - 1987, 1989 From: Cliff Barua Date: Fri, 19 Jan 1996 09:44:33 +0000 (GMT) Jonathon wrote asking about the "Chef" (where Jakko is involved in some of the music). The Chef doesn't appear to be on PBS anymore, but we still get it periodically here in Canada (on one of our own public television stations). The comedian's name is Lenny Henry (as opposed to Lee Henry - is that Lee Henry Oswald??). Someone else wanted to know about Level 42 headlining a tour of their own in the States. In late 1987 they did - I saw the show here in Toronto right before Phil left (Boon was already gone). They also had a 1989 tour (but I don't think they came to Canada - anyone care to confirm or dispute this). The other day, I read a post that included the titles "On The Level" and "On A Level". What's the difference (I know, I know, I'll be told to look at the @&!?& discography on the Home Page). Also, have any of my fellow Canadians bought any of the "Forever Now" releases at regular prices ($12.99 to $16.99). I plan to pick it up but only when I can get it at a reasonable (non-import, non-Audiophile) price. CD Now!'s price is reasonable, but the service (how many weeks??) and exchange rate (40%) make it less attractive. Like others, I too am miffed by the various repackaging options. What's with this? Will the boys continue to do this knowing they now only have a niche market (i.e. 250 digest members who will buy all 20 configurations of the same album). Let's rename the band Level 42 Hendrix Experience. Or how about an album called "Bonus Tracks" (released in 1998) which will compile all the bonus tracks to be released on subsequent albums between now and then (i.e. Forever Now II (+4), Forever Now VII (+16), etc). Sorry for the frustration, but you'd think it would be easier to complete a collection once a group disbands. Cliff Barua Toronto (good lyric of the day: "from Tuscon, Arizona to TORONTO Canada" - Vienna Calling - by Falco - y'know, the guy who submitted the German message to the Digest) ------------------------------ Subject: Shoddy From: R.Meacham @ sheffield.ac.uk (Richard Meacham) Date: Fri, 19 Jan 96 14:30:23 GMT I agree with Eric about the shoddy nature of the FN+4 cover. It looks like something you'd pick up in a Woolworths bargain bin. This doesn't exactly assist in promoting the CD now, does it. It'll probably end up in Woolworths bargain bin by the end of the year... Richard Meacham ------------------------------ Subject: German chap From: Nigel.Collier @ ncl.ac.uk (Nigel Collier) Date: Fri, 19 Jan 1996 14:04:39 +0000 > Ein German-Fan mit schlechten Englischkenntnisen will euch wissen lassen, das > es in Tubingen einen der groSSten Level 42 Fans aller Zeiten gibt. Schade das > man nicht`s mehr von euch hort. I'm extremely rusty on German but I'll have a go: "A German fan with poor knowledge of English wants you [all] to know that, in Tubingen, there is one of the biggest L42 fans of all time - it's a shame that the person in question doesn't hear from you [us?] any more" See you all on the Isle of Wight, Herr Nigel Robin Smith for President and eyes down for a full house. http://www.ncl.ac.uk/~nnac ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Level42 Digest V96 #18 From: Mighty Maomoondog Organization: Industrial Design Engineering TUD Date: Fri, 19 Jan 1996 13:35:54 +0100 (CET) > ABC, A-ha, Adam Ant, Marc Almond, Alphaville, Art Of Noise, Arcadia, > Assembly, Big Audio, Big Country, Blancmange, David Bowie, Bronski Beat, > Buggles, The Church, Clannad, Clash, Climmie Fisher, Cure, Damned, Depeche > Mode, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Thomas Dolby, Double, Duran Duran, Echo And > The Bunneymen, Enya, Erasure, Everything But The Girl, Bryan Ferry, Fiction > Factory, Freur, Falco, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Flock Of Seagulls, > Freiheit, Peter Gabriel, Go West, Jan Hammer, Heaven 17, Human League, Rupert > Hine, Icehouse, Icicle Works, Inxs, Japan, Howard Jones, Joy Division, > Kajagoogoo, Kraftwerk, MARK KING, LEVEL 42, Limhal, M, Madness, Men At > Work, Men Without Hats, Midnight Oil, Modern English, Morrissey, Naked Eyes, > New Order, Gary Numan, No-Man, Philip Oakey, OMD, Mike Oldfield, Pet Shop > Boys, Plus One, Police, Pretendrs, Psychedelic Furs, Queen, Q-Feel, RE-FLEX, > Roxy Music, Simple Minds, Spandau Ballet, Smiths, Soft Cell, Squeeze, > Split-Enz, Stranglers, Sugarcubes, Talk Talk, Taco, Tears For Fears, Thompson > Twins, U2, Ultravox, Midge Ure, UB40, Visage, When In Rome, XTC, Yazoo > (Yaz), Yello, Hans Zimmer, and plenty of other groups that spanned the globe > during the 1980's. > I would include all of these into a current "Alternative" format, and they > all fit in quite well and the shows did very well.... I'd hardly call Level > 42, or a majority of these groups Alternative, yet 80's New Wave and it's > off-shoots, all seem to do well in this format.... The increase in the > popularity of 80's music is on the rise again, and radio stations are > answering the call with specialty shows for 80's music.... From time to time, > LEVEL 42 can be heard..... Something About You is still common on the air > waves in the USA. Surprisingly, at least in the NYC area, you'd be hard > pressed to hear Lessons In Love. > Americans seemed to have forgotten that one...... > > Random notes from an American DJ who likes to expose people to more music > than the American top 40 ever will.... > > FAB > > PS: If any of you are fans of any of the groups I mentioned, or 80's New Wave > music, E-mail me....... Well, howdy. Just about every band or artist I like is mentioned above, especially ULTRAVOX (incl Midge Ure and Visage), ALPHAVILLE, A-HA, TALK TALK, and, of course, LEVEL 42. The latest news I heard about ALphaville is that they'll release a new album in the spring of '96, which should be pretty good. I also read somewhere that Billy Currie has put together a new Ultravox, without Midge Ure and Chris Cross. Their new album called "Ingenuity" is actually pretty good! It reminds me a little bit of the early Ultravox, although it isn't as good as they were in their 'Rage In Eden' days. About Level 42, well... I wish there was some way I could get my hands on FN+4. This is fairly difficult since I live in the Netherlands and the only version of FN is the RCA release. I only need a few of the extra tracks; I have 'The Bends' and 'Heart on the Line' and 'Play Me' on CD-single. But the other tracks ('Time Will Heal','Learn To Say No', 'Past Lives', and maybe one more but I'm not sure) are the ones I want. Maybe it would be a good idea for everyone to put together a Top 10 list (like Dave Letterman does every night) of personal favorites of Level 42. Here's mine: 10.Man 9.All Over You 8.Leaving Me Now 7.Freedom Someday 6.Dream-Crazy 5.Dance On Heavy Weather 4.Good Man in a Storm 3.Her Big Day 2.The Sunbed Song 1.The Return of the Handsome Rugged Man Actually, there isn't one song that is particularly better than others, they're all great! There's only one song, though, that I dislike: The Ape. Well, that's all for now... gotta go! "...and the fog conceals and hides and eats our souls..." (c) 1989 Alphaville. The Mighty Maomoondog (e-mail: io814336 @ student.io.tudelft.nl) ------------------------------ Subject: loz From: Laurence Green Date: Fri, 19 Jan 1996 13:52:15 PST Hi everyone, those lyrics someone posted yesterday are supposed to be fom 'Play Me'. I phoned Paul yesterday but he wasnt in. Ill phone him tonight. My copy of the Love Games white breaker flexi, says the words Strong Malt Lager round the middle of the disc. I also thought the disc was given away free with 'Melody Maker' and that that was the only place where it was to be found. Does anyone out there have a copy of the disc which DEFINATLEY came form Melody Maker, then they can tell me if it still says strong malt lager. I dont know how many promo collectors are on the digest, but yesterday I got Level 3, the My Fathers Shoes promo, and hey was I in for a surprise. Turns out the cover is the bright purple colour also found on the 1st My Fathers Shoe CD. It says Level 42, Level 3, My fathers shoes promo only not for resale etc. The cover is great, a real must. The record is 1-sided and the track is the radio edit. I also got Heaven In my hands 7" promo. I now have, HIMH 7" black labels, HIMH 7" silver labels, HIMH 7" wlpromo, HIMH CD5, HIMH CDV, HIMH 12", HIMH remix 12", HIMH 12" wlpromo, HIMH remix 12" wlpromo, HIMH US 12". Surprisingly it's not a particular favourite of mine. See you all soon....................LOZ ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Level42 Digest V96 #18 From: TTrudell @ aol.com Date: Fri, 19 Jan 1996 14:41:37 -0500 Bootie and the Ho fish . . . GAAAAwghrplurbrbuthhh . . . Forever Now +4 . . . . Mark in a Plaid Shirt: trying the Grunge thing, or just being casual? Forever Now +4 cover: really really lame fonts that a five year-old could do. What does the real English cover look like? And Wow! What a list of 80's bands! Truly impressive. You forgot Joe Jackson, as many have. Also the Romantics and their one hit. ------------------------------ Subject: Freiheit??? From: "Friesen, Alex" Date: Fri, 19 Jan 1996 14:25:37 -0500 Freiheit??? 96/01/19 14:14 Hey Fabfriday, In your list of 80s bands you included Freiheit. I just about fell off my chair when I read that! I thought I was the only person in North America ever to have heard of them. In a previous life I worked for CBS Records (now Sony Music), and I picked up two of their albums from a discard bin at work. Both were manufactured in Germany and, as far as I know, were never released in North America. These guys are what I fondly refer to as "Ultra-Pop" - a very synth-heavy sound with way catchy melodies and vocals. Several months ago I was browsing through a local used CD shop and I came across an album that looked familiar. It was one of the two Freiheit albums I already had, but the booklet was printed in German. I bought it, took it home, and spent the next hour or so listening to the tracks I knew, but with Deutch vocals. Quite an interesting twist. Okay, so I can only take so much of this ultra-slick type stuff, but to any of you who are into classic '80s synth-pop, check Freiheit out if you get a chance. Hmmm. Wonder how Level 42 would sound with German lyrics? ...Alex... "The time has come for dreaming..." ------------------------------ Subject: FAB's movie with Level 42 From: maarten gorter Date: Fri, 19 Jan 1996 19:51:38 +0100 (MET) Hi all, FAB wrote: > I remember hearing SOMETHING ABOUT YOU in some 80's movie... I was > during a scene where two people were listening to a radio in their > car, and that song was on... The first time many of us heard the > song... Anyone remember that film? I haven't seen the movie but I have the Soundtrack CD for the film "P.I. (Private Investigations)" from 1987. This CD contains the "U.S. Dance Mix" by Shep Pettibone of Something about you. It also contains tracks by Bon Jovi, Derek and the Dominoes, Was not was and many others. The something about you mix is a short version (5:56) of the mix on the Platinum edition CD of RITF (8:03). Bye for now Maarten Gorter (maarteng @ dds.nl) .... .. ------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Level42 Digest V96 #18 From: djames @ statsci.com (Daniel James) Date: Fri, 19 Jan 1996 10:18:04 -0800 (PST) > I pose this question to folks in the US and CANADA: Anyone else feel like > we're being deprived? Anyone else wish OUR VH1 was more like the one just > mentioned? I mean, think about it: A *REQUEST* show??? Wouldn't that be > great?! But wait a moment - what the heck am I thinking here? That would > require admitting that there *ARE* people that like groups other than HOOTIE & > HIS FRIGGIN BLOWFISH, MELISSA ETHERIDGE and BLUESTRAVELER. Sorry, I don't > know what I was thinking. When I was living in Sacramento, there was a channel called "Video Jukebox" which sounded something like this. Unfortunatly, it wasn't free. You had to call into a 1-900 number and type in the number corresponding to the video you wanted to see. When they aren't showing videos, they are showing a menu of what's available. I think it was about $2/video, so it wasn't cheap, but I'd always tape whatever I ordered, so it wasn't a bad deal. The sound quality wasn't as good as VH1/MTv though. > I've asked once before, but got no reply, I'd like to know what everyone > listened to in the 1980's. As a dj and fan, aside from L42, I also gave the > following 80's groups plenty of US airplay: I really like this selection of music. I'd say that I listened to most of these groups in the 80's. The ones that I didn't listen to then, I've begun recently (Clannad, XTC, Roxy Music), however I've never been much of a fan of Adam Ant, BAD (except E=MC2, I love that song), Big Country, Peter Gabriel, Midnight Oil, Queen or U2 (everything went downhill after the Unforgettable Fire). I'm interested in getting to know some of the groups, like Midge Ure-somebody on the list a few weeks ago mentioned a similarity between The Gift and The Essencial. I'd say that I really like ABC, Arcadia (as I mentioned before a few weeks ago, I think that this is the *best* of the Duran Duran stuff), Enya (her re-release of the Celts is my favorite), Clannad (I love the Duet with Bono), The Human League has always been one of my favorites, so has Howard Jones (he was a lot of fun to see in concert), M (at least Pop Musik, the first music video that I ever saw, inbetween movies on HBO when they used to fill time with them), Taco (I got a kick out of their album), and of course, The Thompson Twins. I'm sure there are a few others, I used to listen to the Manhattan Transfer a lot (I love to sing along with them), and I also was really into The Alan Parsons Project (stay away from their latest album, "Try Anything Once" - I was really happy to see that they had gone back to the practive of including an orchestra in some of their songs, but in fortunatly, the album as a whole sucks). Needless to say, I wish you were around when I was listening to the radio. I have completely given up on it now. The only radio I listen to is the Classical station, NPR, and talk radio during the afternoon (gotta listen to Tom Leykis hang up on people that don't agree with his liberal views). > I would include all of these into a current "Alternative" format, and they > all fit in quite well and the shows did very well.... I'd hardly call Level > 42, or a majority of these groups Alternative, yet 80's New Wave and it's > off-shoots, all seem to do well in this format.... The increase in the > popularity of 80's music is on the rise again, and radio stations are > answering the call with specialty shows for 80's music.... From time to time, > LEVEL 42 can be heard..... Something About You is still common on the air > waves in the USA. Surprisingly, at least in the NYC area, you'd be hard > pressed to hear Lessons In Love. > Americans seemed to have forgotten that one...... I think the reason that the 80's music is popular is because the 90's music sucks so badly. Hence, the reason that I never listen to any of the popular stations on the radio. Every now and then, I hear the radio because someone around me is listening to it. You know what 90's music is? It's 80's music with a different lyric track. Gesh, can't anyone write their own music anymore?? Phew... -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daniel James - Database Administrator djames @ statsci.com StatSci, a div of MathSoft, Inc. (206) 283-8802 x284 ------------------------------ Subject: Now and Forever From: "Bruce Conrad" Date: 19 Jan 1996 12:27:31 U I recently got my Resurgence copy of FN, (the 2nd FN release). I, too = thought the graphics looked cheap/cheesy. It was nice to have lyrics and = pictures, though. [anybody know where they took those pictures?] {the = sticker on my CD said 'Made in Austria" fyi} I was bummed out that 'Tired = of Waiting' isn't on this copy, although 'Play Me' is, which seems like a = good tune. This CD sounds slightly more 'upbeat' than FN1. If Rob Steen is out there, please email me. I don't have your E-address. = I'm looking into travelling to Ireland, and I'm looking for info. I know a little German-she's my neighbor :) I don't speak it, but I'll = have her translate that Deutsche email that u got. Auf Wiedersehen! ------------------------------ Subject: As seen on TV... From: GVermette @ aol.com Date: Fri, 19 Jan 1996 11:46:11 -0500 Hi Folks! TTrudell, the Level Best video is indeed a collection of the videos included on the Level Best Album. There are a few missing, but some old gems like "Love Games" are classics. I especially dig the sports shits with "Level 42" in giant block lettering on them. FabFriday, you wanted to know about 42's American TV appearances. As far as I know, they've only performed on "Staurday Night Live" once, and that was in April of 1986. The host was "Esquire" columnist Jimmy Breslin. The episode can be seen now and then on Comedy Central on cable. They were one of two bands on the show, and they only performed "Something About You". P.S. Anyone get those lyrics yet? -Greg Vermette (Bad Lyric - "It's funky.....funky...funky, funky funk...It's funky.....funky...funky, funky funk...It's funky.....funky...funky, funky funkayyy." - Dusic - Brick) ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Level42 Digest V96 #18 From: flanagan @ mwci.net (Pat Flanagan) Date: Fri, 19 Jan 1996 18:12:06 -0600 >'Standing In The Light' with the original lyrics ie 'An empty house he >calls his home, the place becomes a temple to a silent dream, >sometimes he will clap and sing then deep in fascination he will learn >to be..........' Since we're getting technical ala Freedom a-Go-Go, Loz, the lyric is actually "deep in MEDITATION he will learn to be...". :D >just got my Resurgence FN+4. So who sings the vocals at the end of The Bends? >I figure it's got to be either Phil or Wally. I kinda thought it was Mark doing a rare falsetto, with the very end of the vocal part being electronically altered up an octave. >And what's with the cheesy text graphics on the cover of this release?! >Could they possibly have put _less_ effort into designing cool fonts? >(Pat, even *I* can do better than this with PhotoShop!) I haven't seen it, but, jeez, if that's the case, they MUST be bad! :D >I can't imagine something lame like "The Chant Has Begun" mixing into the >later, better "World Machine" stuff . . OOOOOfff, that hurt. If you don't like "The Chant", at least check out the extended remix version (Loz will correct me with the exact name of the remix, I'm sure :D ). It cooks. >Were they ever featured on on American television, such as David Letterman, >The Tonight Show, etc? I know MTV featured Live At Wembly in it's full length >comercial free sometime in 1987-88. There were on Saturday Night Live, back in its dark years, 1985 or so. They only did one song, Something About You (of course), as they were paired up with a second musical act (did SNL do this much? I don't remember it happening), E. G. Daily. They were also on a Friday night show that was on for a season or two (the name escapes me), somewhat like Top of the Pops, but consisting of live performances, with the group getting to do two or three songs. This was RIGHT before they opened for Madonna. Speaking of Top of the Pops, how many Americans remember the American incarnation of TOOP, which was on in the mid 80's for a few seasons? It was sort of a hybrid, with 66% American segments, and 33% segments from the British show. I remember seeing Level 42 doing It's Over in a British segment (which was hilarious, because Mark started off by acting like he was playing his bass, then just stopped halfway through -- it's all mime and lipsync, you know -- it was luck he just said "frig it" and all of a sudden, the bass was playing itself...), as well as Rick Astley and Terence Trent D'Arby MONTHS before they were released over here. By the way, great list, FabFriday! TCOY, Pat {Bad Song Lyric of the Day: "Are you man enough to be my man" from Are You Strong Enough To Be My Man by Sheryl Crow} Pat Flanagan Publishing & Design PO Box 281, Granger, IN 46530-0281 email: flanagan @ mwci.net website: http://magnet.mwci.net/mall/flanagan ------------------------------ Subject: FN+4-2, Guaranteed Live, 6year old Mark From: LittleHalo @ aol.com Date: Sat, 20 Jan 1996 01:56:07 -0500 Hi everyone, I got my FN+4 finally! I like Billy's Gone bassiness on the RCA version better but I like how the words make more sense on this one. I wonder what prompted them to make it more bassier (love my grammar) and to change the words on the RCA....hmmm...I don't remember who said it but about Heart On the Line: I agree that it doesn't sound like a Level 42 song until it grooves at the end. I know, I know there are so many Level 42 sounds! - but it indeed doesn't seem finished. Maybe I was just expecting another 'Silence' from what people explained about it. It'll probably grow on me though just like Two Hearts Collide, Take A Look, and My Father's Shoes did. I notice now that no one ever mentions Two Hearts Collide much on this list. Interesting.... Re: the 99 dollar Guaranteed Live shown on CDNow, I don't have it either (as I may have mentioned before but I know none of you memorize everything I say) and I was wondering if anyone ever bought it from CD Now and it ever actually arrived at your home. If so, maybe I'll actually splurge and order it. I know, I know..that's a lot of money and people can make a copy for me but I want it in the cover w/ a picture and credits y todo. Re: the guy with the "6 year old" level 42 fan...Was that letter you posted really from a six year old?! He has a pretty extensive vocabulary for a little tyke. Nevertheless I think it's a great story about how he'll only answer to Mark or the other boys. I can't remember what else I wanted to say today. Check Mark's face on the Resurgence FN back cover. Peace out (as my R&B listening friends would say), Angel ------------------------------ Subject: Is It worth It???? From: Scott Dawson Date: Sat, 20 Jan 1996 01:10:42 -0500 I was looking through Audiophile Imports Catalog and found the Japanese version of Guaranteed for $40.00 I was wondering if anyone out there had this version and could tell me if the extra track is worth it??? Any word about the upcoming albums as described in the latest news section of the homepage? Hopefully we wont have to wait "seven Years" for a new release Scott Dawson