From: Level42-request @ worldmachine.com (Level42 Digest) Subject: Level42 Digest V97 #156 _ ____ _ ____ _ _ ___ // //__ // / //__ // /__// __// //__ //__ \\_/ //__ //__ // /__ D I G E S T Level42 Digest Volume 97 : Issue 156 498 subscribers Today's topics: My Last E-Mail Probably Jonathan Doody Digest 154,10 Anniversary of RITF Terry Primus Mark King Before Level 42... Paul Fucito HDCD, a clarification; help with RITF remix Zaphod Beeblebrox Leisure Process J Shuford Re: Bassist newbie seeks advice :) David Kidd Past & Presence Disc One Review! Zak Spice Girls Video... gromit Rare record price guide Julian Arnold FN Tour Video??? Mysterio71 various N Collier ------------------------------ Subject: My Last E-Mail Probably From: Jonathan Doody Date: Thu, 5 Jun 1997 02:57:22 -0700 Well, I'm going to another job that doesn't have E-Mail.....B'stards!!! Thanks for the Digest. It was fun while it lasted. I'd just like to leace you with this thought....... "The ship that was the Titanic was in fact Winston Churchill's bogey" TTFN Jon ------------------------------ Subject: Digest 154,10 Anniversary of RITF From: Terry Primus Date: Thu, 05 Jun 97 12:33:00 PDT Hello fellow Levelheads. Ref digest 154, Yes P Doody I agree, the band were untouchable in those instrumental early days.(I like the "Bruv and Bruv" routine!) Everyone, it is now TEN YEARS since the Running In The Family albumwas released.For me this album is extra special since it was the last TRUE Level 42 release with the band at their peak of popularity(and musical quality IMHO).Sure I eagerly anticipated each subsequent release and true, they came close to capturing the spirit of the original Level 42 with Forever Now but you have to accept that anything put out by anyone other than Phil Boon Mike and Mark is not Level 42, (there was some recent debate on the digest as to ex band members using band names).I know that I have bought music by a band comprising of two founder members, but if your argument is that this made the band Level 42, then there can be no reason in logic why Mark could not carry on as Level 42 in his own right(or why Mike should object to any such idea as was revealed on the digest recently) Anyway, just wack your copies of RITF on, turnup the volume and dream of what might have been and enjoy!! A very public shout out goes to Zaphod.Words fail me,I recently got my copy of AYGB and can honestly say it surpassed all expectations.Is any band worthy of such dedication?? TCOY Terry P ------------------------------ Subject: Mark King Before Level 42... From: Paul Fucito Date: Thu, 05 Jun 1997 10:17:51 -0700 I have done a great deal of research into 80's music being in radio and also discovered (others have mentioned it here) that Mark King was a member of Re-Flex prior to "The Politics Of Dancing"... I'm not sure whether or not he made onto any of thier earlier releases, but he was never a part of "The Politics Of Dancing" although there is a track on the album called "Something About You". Now, about the latest digest project...How do I reserve my copy...? Who do I need to talk to...Already got my AYGB....... Paul Fucito PS: I bet that DJ in Boston looked where the WM album was printed and saw W. Germany and assumed they were German.... Many dj's "think" they know about a group and then sound like total asses on the radio when they screw up... That is why I always researched bands so I had accurate info about them over the air...Of course, with Level 42, that was easy.... ------------------------------ Subject: HDCD, a clarification; help with RITF remix From: Zaphod Beeblebrox Organization: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Date: Thu, 05 Jun 1997 10:13:38 -0500 DonZipf @ aol.com offered. . . > Andre... > What up with this 20-bit FN? I hadn't heard about this - does anyone know > if this is an 'HDCD' disc? (That's 'High Definition CD' from Pacific > Microsonics - gotta have a compatible player to really get the benefits > of the higher bit-rate.) Just for the record, HDCD is High Definition Compatible Digital. The entire idea behind HDCD was to bury some noise shaping information in the cd subcode (the extra bits the digital to analogue convertor gets but does not convert into a voltage). In theory, an HDCD disc, played on HDCD equipment, should have an apparent 3 or four bits of additional resolution. In practice, however, the HDCD process is far from transparent, and does add some amount of glare. Just having an HDCD processor, however, is a pretty good thing for your system because the Pacific Microsonics' standard for the analogue end of the circuit is a good deal better than the cheap circuits most companies where putting into under $1K DAC's. I think that this 20-bit FN would be a remastering from the analogue master, where the original encoding was 20-bit, so that in the final conversion from 20 to 16-bit, the engineer would have more control over where the benefit was reaped. While at Paris Levelfest, Morgan played a version of Running in the Family that I'd never heard before. The remix had a burly voice belting out something like "stop right there", and then the music starts. Can anyone tell me which version this is? I was hoping it would be the mix from RITF, Platinum (which I found in Prague for 320Kc, about $10). Alas, it isn't. :( I also found the L42 Master Series at fnac in Paris. This one I could've lived without, as I don't recall any of the tracks sounding significantly different from what I already have. Anyone interested in picking up their very own copy of AYGB, let me know. And a big thanks to DonZipf for forwarding me the old AYGB info page. Zap ------------------------------ Subject: Leisure Process From: J Shuford Date: Thu, 5 Jun 1997 08:21:24 -0700 (PDT) I don't know the whole story of Leisure Process, but here's what I do know. This is Gary Barnacle's band (with a bloke who's name escapes me at the moment). The composition of the "band" seemed to change (I have four songs from them--A Way You'll Never Be, Love Cascade, Cashflow, The Emigre). The only one with a true 42 presence is A Way You'll Never Be. In addition to Barnacle, Mark King plays bass, Phil Gould plays drums, and (I'm guessing on this because I can't recall for sure) Wally Badarou provides keys/synths. Robin Scott (M)--whom all of these 42-ish gentleman performed at one time or another on M albums--provides the vocals and lyrics. A Way You'll Never Be is a butt-kicking song. It's rather like The Chant Has Begun, but the bass presence is much bigger. Shuf John Shuford Department of Philosophy University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403-1295 (541) 346-1054 shuf @ darkwing.uoregon.edu ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Bassist newbie seeks advice :) From: "David Kidd" Date: Thu, 5 Jun 1997 18:09:58 +0100 Charl wrote : > ....I would like to learn playing the bass guitar to for my band. > Is there any good bass guitar brands anyone can recommend? What brands > do/did Mark King use; are they internationally available? Also, is > it hard to learn bass by yourself or should one take lessons and/or buy > books. I read somewhere Mark King learned by himself in a music shop after > hours. How long does it take to learn playing at an "average" level(!) ? Well mate, like vintage wines, cars, women etc finding the 'right' bass is down to personal preference. Safe bets would be anything by Fender i.e. Precision or Jazz Basses (solid construction, reasonable second hand value) and being US based you've probably got them coming out of your ears over there ! There are loads of other makes of bass around, so I suggest you get yourself into a 'friendly' music shop (do they exist anymore ?) and chat to the staff. That's what I did when I started out. I know that you'll come across loads of plonkers along the way, but keep an open mind, don't be shy, try out the guitars to see if they feel comfortable. At the end of the day those bastards are after your wonga, so get something outta them first !!! As regards to Mark's axes over the years he's used :- Hayman (Used on the Early Tapes - old crap !) Jaydee (Made by John Diggins in Birmingham UK) Status (Graphite Basses made in the UK) Pangbourne (Another small UK based maker) Zen Ernie Ball Music Man (One of USA's best exports !) Alembic (OK so this one is also one of USA's best exports as well !) I know that the UK made axes can be found in the US, but it may take a while, and you'll probably have to pay thru the nose to get one. Oh by the way, how long it takes to play at 'average' level is the same length as this piece of string is in my pocket..............:) Good luck !! David Kidd Ilford Essex England David.Kidd1 @ Virgin.Net ------------------------------ Subject: Past & Presence Disc One Review! From: Zak Date: Thu, 5 Jun 97 11:28:30 -0800 Howdy hey; So John V invited me over to his house to check out what he was doing with the live tracks for Disc One of the new set. We know there are people with differing opinions on the "ultimate live concert that never happened" concept, and John wanted a kind of reality check to make sure he was doing a good thing. I'm here to tell y'all that I absolutely loved it. This collection of live songs just flows together seamlessly, and it really sounds like it was all one concert on one night, even though they switch drummers halfway through, and then switch back. ;) I know there are people who have every possible recording of Level 42, and will know what crowd noise came from which crowd in what year at which show in which stadium, and why they made that noise, and what the stadium janitor's name was and how he got that nasty boil on his left nostril. There will be a couple people who will listen to it and try to figure out which noise came from where. If you do this, you're completely missing the point; This CD is for pure listening pleasure. For people like me who never got to see them live, and actually, I only have the Live at Wembley CD, this CD is incredible for a number of reasons...one because you get to hear all generations of live L42 songs, like Micro Kid and Man on the same disc, and two, because they all flow together without stopping at any point, just like a real concert (sans a halftime break, obviously). The quality is impeccable, and more than once I asked to listen to a transition from one track to another just to try to hear where the transition occured...and it was virtually impossible. I had to look at the screen to determine where one track ended and the next one started. And of course for the track-flippers, there will be track indexes at the beginning of each track. I honestly cannot say enough good things about this CD; if you like their live stuff, you'll love it. It truly is a custom-made concert just for us, and it truly sounds great. So that's my opinion, but I really think most if not all of the people who receive this disc will be thrilled with it. See some of y'all in Vegas, Zak Nilsson Xaqtly Music http://www.primenet.com/~xaqtly ------------------------------ Subject: Spice Girls Video... From: gromit Organization: Unorganized...and proud of it Date: Thu, 05 Jun 1997 12:17:58 -0700 Hi peoples... I was watching VH-1 last night, and they have a show called Pop-Up Video. It's a show where they play music videos, and have added little info blurbs that pop up during the clip, such as where the video was shot, who is in it, funny quotes and comic quips, etc. It's actually pretty entertaining. Well, anyhoo...last night they played the Spice Girls video that has meen mentioned here, and I think I remember there being a question or statement about whether or not it was one continuous shot. According to the info that "popped up", it was not one long shot; rather 3 shots carefully edited together with, what they called, "careful digitizing and distracting camera moves". They even went so far as to mark where one shot ended and the next began with...you guessed it...a pop up! One pop up even went to far as to call attention to the fact that it was "noticeably cold" on the set where the video was shot. If you have a chance to catch this show, give it a look...it's funny! They even have a phone number posted at the end of the show where you can call and give tips and such about music videos that might be a candidate for a future show...I'm *sure* with all the knowledge out there on this mailing list we could have some L42 videos made up to be shown! TCOY, Mike Dutra gromit @ aimnet.com ------------------------------ Subject: Rare record price guide From: "Julian Arnold" Date: 5 Jun 1997 12:09:17 -0700 Wow, Imagine having all of the (Level42) vinyl listed in that book eh? Yesterday Bill Miller wrote: > And can anybody shed any light on the song 'Journey To The Powerline' > and the LP 'Strategy' And can anybody supply me with a tape with the > following songs on: > > 'The Return Of The Handsome Rugged Man' > 'Beezer One' > 'Journey To The Powerline' > and 'Barcelona' by Mark King The first two are available on the digest-created CD: 'As Years Go By' affectionately known as' AYGB'. Journey to the Powerline, I have no clue but if someone else can help with this, COUNT ME IN TOO!. Barcelona is really the second half of 'The Essential' a brilliant 18min 32sec track from Mark King's 1984 solo album, 'Influences'. Seriously though, if Lazlo or anyone knows about the Powerline number lets investigate it. Slainte, Jules. ["Journey To The Powerline" is the B-side for the "Sandstorm" promo 12". No one seems to know whether or not it is really Level 42... after hearing it myself, my personal opinion is that it isn't. More conjecture can be found by doing a search through the Digest archives. -Eric] ------------------------------ Subject: FN Tour Video??? From: Mysterio71 @ aol.com Date: Thu, 5 Jun 1997 15:57:53 -0400 (EDT) Level-heads, I havn't written in a while. Partly because I'm so busy and... also... nothing interesting has been going on with our boys. I mean, the last "Latest News" dates back to freaking November. What's going on with Level 42? What have they been doing? And don't one of you say that Mark and Boon are working on solo albums, people have been saying that for a year now! If anyone out there has any secret news, please, don't be shy, tell the rest of us. For Example: 1.) It's been a year now that we've been talking about those re-issues that L42 is supposed to release.......SO WHERE ARE THEY and WHEN ARE THEY COMING OUT???? 2.) Weren't some of you guys talking about a Level 42 video in the works? It shows some concerts and backstage filming of the Forever Now Tour. Also, you guys said it would contain footage recorded by Mark and Mike themselves!! Am I correct? Is there supposed to be a video like this? Someone E-mail me and please give me some info. before I lose my mind. Thanks. Tim W Pittsburgh ------------------------------ Subject: various From: N Collier Date: Thu, 5 Jun 1997 21:21:30 +0100 > my head's spinning faster than a longtailed cat in a room full of > rocking chairs Tucker A Hass lives!!! Tucker A Hass lives!!! A while back Lolita started a thread about 'tight' sounding albums. No matter how many times I listen to 'Eyes Waterfalling' on 'The White Funky', I can't believe how tight Mark's playing is. It's no tighter than, say, 'Classical Thump' by Victor Wootten or 'Teen Town' by Marcus Miller but it's played live when Mark is full of adrenaline, slapping really hard and singing at the top of his lungs - not in a hermetically sealed studio. With that in mind, the sound is fantastic (really 'metallic') and mark never puts a thumb wrong - incredible. On the same CD is an incredible version of Dune Tune. The intro to that track is amazing - Phil, Mike and, most effectively of all, Boon lay down a sort of musical 'mist' on the stage; an eery fog through which Mark's crisp bassline just emerges - makes me shiver every time. Regards, Nigel "...friends all over the world, none in this country but all over the world" - Tony Hancock, The Radio Ham http://www.ncl.ac.uk/~nnac/