From: Level42-request @ worldmachine.com (Level42 Digest) Subject: Level42 Digest V99 #127 _ ____ _ ____ _ _ ___ // //__ // / //__ // /__// __// //__ //__ \\_/ //__ //__ // /__ D I G E S T Level42 Digest Volume 99 : Issue 127 1087 subscribers Today's topics: marks new single? Walter.Franken So when did it happen? Steve Rule One Man's US Release Winman42 Conversations with Silence? Nigel Collier At Last!! ElSavannah Lindup gigs lawford42 ------------------------------ Subject: marks new single? From: Walter.Franken @ frco.com Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 05:01:12 -0500 So, when is this second single being released???? Walter ------------------------------ Subject: So when did it happen? From: "Steve Rule" Date: Fri, 07 May 1999 04:45:26 PDT Given the recent debate of 'new' versus 'old', at what album does one become a 'newbie' versus an 'old hand'? As for my opinion, I reckon the 'old' L42 was before World Machine. It was the turning point for the 'new fangled L42'. But that's just my opinion! Me? I joined the club with RITF in 1987, so I'm aligned with with the 'newbies', but I love the 'old' stuff as well!! What do others think? Steve Rule, Canberra, Australia. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Subject: One Man's US Release From: Winman42 @ aol.com Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 10:05:00 EDT Dont forget folks, Mark King's excellent 'One Man' CD finally get's a stateside release on May 18th. It's being released on PYRAMID records, distributed by Rhino. Check it out at: http://www.rhino.com/UpComing/UpComing_index.html tcoy, Winston ------------------------------ Subject: Conversations with Silence? From: Nigel Collier Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 21:22:54 +0100 Mike Lindup revealed that the song album he's working on at the moment has a working title of, "Conversations with Silence" - and a working title is more than the track from said album had which he played. Last night was anything but a conversation with silence - the evening was an unusual and ambitious format for such a venue and such a personality as Mike Lindup. Beginning at 10pm, the small crowd of fans filed into a tiny auditorium within the new Komedia Theatre - a brash (when they've finally finished building it) looking venue down an unassuming side street in Brighton's city centre. The crowd of about 70 was comprised of a fairly narrow range of people compared to Mark's gigs - there weren't the children or the 'oldies' there - just us 20-30 somethings really. The Digest was very well represented and the crowd (is 70 people a crowd?) also included none other than Nadia - Mike's mum, who chipped in from her seat in the back row from time to time. The format of the evening was part interview and part literary 'Desert Island Discs' interspersed with Mike playing some numbers. The small stage was adorned minimally for the purpose with a single Yamaha keyboard and 2 low chairs with coffee table and jug of water for the interview parts. Mike entered the stage to an incredibly enthusiastic and warm reception - completely surpassing what you might expect from a crowd of its size - the outpouring of good will and affection from the audience was tangible, we were so relieved and happy to see Mike looking happy, healthy and behind a keyboard once again. He also seems to be favouring the 'Soul Glow' hair dressing (remember "Coming to America"?). The atmosphere throughout the 2 and a half hours of the 'show' retained an initial genuine air of serenity established firstly by Mike's own aura of shyness, humility, peace and humour and also engendered by the first song he played: 'Leaving Me Now' - the 'Wembley' version with the extended piano ending. Its conclusion was greeted with huge and very long applause. The second track he played should have been equally familiar but it was played in such an incredible and innovative way by Mike - with just a single keyboard, that it took a long time until people recognised it. When they did they were all blown away - it was 'Something About You' but so incredibly different - the playing of a famous song we'd never heard before. After those 2 familiar crowd-warmers (and 'Mike-warmers' - he was apparently nervous and self conscious and made a few errors to his and the crowd's amusement) Mike settled down to the first 'talky' part of the evening. The 'talky' parts were 'chaired' by Gavin Robertson and he did a good job of engaging the crowd, questioning and prompting Mike with obviously fairly well researched questions, and also of introducing the various readings of the evening. Readings? I hear you say, well, yes - more of those later. Firstly, the interviewing. Mike sat with Gavin and chatted with him in a very informal and natural way about his life - from his childhood growing up with many musical influences around him, through his years of musical training at Chatham school in Manchester and ultimately of course to his years with Level 42 and beyond. There was nothing new there for anyone who has read the Definitive Biography (available from all branches of Loz Books) but it was just great to hear from Mike's own lips stories of how the band got together and jammed at the Guildhall etc - you really got a feeling of how crazy and innocent those early years were - and Mike evidently still enjoyed retelling those stories. Gavin had obviously read the Definitive Biography too as he asked Mike about his abiding love of nature, the outdoors and wildlife and his passion for Citroen 2CVs. That lead nicely into the first recital of the evening - Mike had been asked ahead of the gig to select a handful of poetry and prose. The underlying theme of the evening (and future ones like it at the Komedia) was a journey through literature which has inspired people. To this end, Mike had selected a small number of poems and prose which had influenced him or had particular resonance or significance in his life. This part of the evening kind of worked but wasn't a roaring success. Many of the poems Mike selected were from his childhood or from school. I got the feeling that had Mike had a little more chance to put more thought into his selections he might have chosen slightly differently - don't ask me why though. I also think Phil Gould may have been a more fascinating candidate for this kind of format. Anyway, readings also included a snippet (7 lines) of Shakespeare read by Gavin to a piano accompaniment from Mike all about someone's father dying at sea, a poem about cities being beautiful in the early morning as sun rises and the city being at one with nature (I think that was the gist of it - the inspiration for that one was that Mike loved travelling - the thing he most missed about not being in Level 42 any more, and he loved getting up early in the morning to experience cities before they 'woke'). There were other readings connected with Mike's Christian faith, the multi-ethnicity of England and his love of nature. So, we had chat, we had recitals and we also had an element of interaction - the audience were invited to ask Mike a few questions - nothing of real consequence was learned - he isn't gay (no, nobody asked him but he did mention in passing that he had girlfriends) - and that 'Level 42' was a closed chapter - he had 'moved on' but he did also, like Mark, say "never say never"! Had the evening not finished so late I'm sure more meaningful and in-depth chat could have been had in the bar with Mike but the club had to close...perhaps tonight will be different - especially since Mike hinted at a special guest...... Other songs Mike played included 'Changes' from the album and 'Life Will Never Be The Same' from the same album (not a dry eye in the house!). He souded VERY GOOD - fantastic vocals - he's sounding more like Stevie Wonder to my ear - and he made a passing reference to Stevie when a fan revealed she had come from New York ("New York , just like I pictured it") He also played one or two songs from the 'songs' album he's finished and is currently trying to find a label for (which he confessed was a tough new experience for him - now he has no manager) and another album of classical piano pieces. We left the venue at 12:30 with only a brief interval and a short moment of high drama when the fire alarm went off to punctuate 2 and half hours of entertainment. Mike graciously thanked the crowd for coming to see him (acknowledging that fans had come from as far afield as the US, Belgium and the Netherlands) and saved his final thanks to his mum for "the gift of life" - his mum responded by urging us all to come back the following night. So, I'm sure it wasn't what many of the audience were expecting or had seen before, but it was interesting and above all great to see Mike again - he deserved his standing ovation. Nigel Collier, 7 May 1999 "...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/ ------------------------------ Subject: At Last!! From: ElSavannah @ aol.com Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 16:45:50 EDT HI there all Level buddies! Having got back at 3.30am this morning I was slightly too tired to post to yesterdays digest about Mikes gigs so forgive me if a lot of this has already been said. Mike looked slightly nervous when Gavin Robertson introduced him on stage and we were off. For the first time in five years there was Mike and a keyboard and we were about to be treated to something completely different. Amongst the things discussed were Mikes literary influences and a brief run down on the start and growth of Level 42 as a band. It was interesting to hear that Mike saw himself as the Levelling influence in the band when mark and Mike were both pulling in different directions and it was also nice to hear him say 'Never say never' on the subject of Level 42 reforming in the future. The new songs that Mike performed were magical, One song in particular which will be on his song album was absolutely amazing and I for one cannot wait for this stuff to come out. We were also treated to a couple of songs from his Classical album which was so refreshing to hear as it is not something you would expect at all considering the type of music Level used to make. I think most digesters will find this next comment from Mike amusing, he was asked after the show what he thought of Marks show on the One Man tour. He said that it was really strange as the set was pretty much what level had performed on the last tour and he found himself thinking 'Wait a minute I know these songs and I know the words!' The concept of that comment struck me as hilarious. Overall I found the whole night a treat and a refreshing change and loved every minute of it. In honour of this I have completely revamped my web site and added some of the pics from last night in a new section. Most of you know where to go to have a look so off you go! If anyone does not know the address you can find a link to my site on both www.level42.com and www.forevernow.com I am going to have a nice long sleep now to recover - To all the guys and gals I met up with again, HELLO AGAIN, It was as always a pleasure! Oh Yeah - The sight of Loz trying to take a picture of Mike's back (he was wearing his changes jacket) will stay with me forever.!!! See ya'l later Lisa 'Mrs Pink' ------------------------------ Subject: Lindup gigs From: lawford42 @ juno.com Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 21:29:16 -0400 Just out of curiosity, did any of you lucky folks who went to the Mike Lindup gig(s) bring along some equipment to "capture the moment"? Needless to say, anyone who has video/audio please e-mail me at lawford42 @ juno.com. Thanks! Chris ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]