From: Level42-request @ worldmachine.com (Level42 Digest) Subject: Level42 Digest V99 #219 _ ____ _ ____ _ _ ___ // //__ // / //__ // /__// __// //__ //__ \\_/ //__ //__ // /__ D I G E S T Level42 Digest Volume 99 : Issue 219 1150 subscribers Today's topics: Re: Muddy TRASH Troels Dahl Double CD Greatest Hits??? The Saint At the mercy of record companies... Kay Anthony The Beautiful South ntheodor Last time, Mr. G, Mr. Z, etc. Winman42 One Man's Trash Steven_Libenson TRASH (cont.) DonZipf Jammy Horns Adam Hankinson Beautiful South Daniel James Trash.. I've got one too now! Clare Reeves Trash!!! Alex.Nunez dough boy Nigel Collier Re: Level42 Digest V99 #218 Tom Trudell The ugly truth of the Beautiful South Bill Burnett I need your help! ElSavannah Flying thumbs...in Skanderborg...MARK LIVE Brian Fogsgaard Album/Compilation EMIKATIE Level 42 Megamix Ark2000 Re: Level42 Digest V99 #218 david richards Allwyn & Laura Kelly my pennies worth Jason Malo trashcount h.rademaker ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Muddy TRASH From: "Troels Dahl" Date: Fri, 06 Aug 1999 12:18:16 +0200 > Troels, maybe some further description of the problem > you identify would help us help you. I think others have noted that the > high-end sound is somewhat distorted while the low end is clear. The thing is that on my copy both low-end and high-end sound extremely muddy. I have noticed high-end distortion on several cd's during the years, but this thing with TRASH is unfortunately a different problem. Something definitely went wrong. I have returned the cd with a letter in wich I describe the problem, and that I of course can wait untill MK has served all the people currently in line for a copy. It wasn't my intention to start a big discussion about the soundquality of TRASH as I'm sure it is exellent. I just wanted to check if anybody else had recieved a "bad copy". Troels PS: Maybe I should just bring up the subject when I see Mark after the concert in Skanderborg tonight ;-) ------------------------------ Subject: Double CD Greatest Hits??? From: The Saint Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1999 10:36:35 -0400 I have seen a L42 CD listed in a few locations called "The Very Best Of Level 42 and More" 2cd set. Has anybody else heard of this? Is the latest hits album a double CD? paul F ------------------------------ Subject: At the mercy of record companies... From: Kay Anthony Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 12:03:42 +0100 >I assume when artists like Level 42 work on an album, they record or > demo many more songs than can fit on one album. They then pick what > they or the record company think are the stronger tracks. > >Maybe Mark shopped this material to record companies, maybe he didn't. > Perhaps he didn't think it strong enough for his album. Who knows? I > just > think that he felt the tunes on One Man were stronger, or more suited > for > the market place. > I mostly agree, but I think there's more choice made by the record companies and less by the artists. At the end of the day the record companies have the ultimate power, maybe there were even better tracks for Guaranteed and Forever Now too that were unallowed because the record company said so, as they thought they weren't "commercial enough". It was obvious that the marketing for the last two L42 albums, (and One Man for that matter) was generally very limited. Obviously being on Eagle records they didn't have as much budget to spend on promotion as someone like Sony. I have heard and read about so many stories how record companies have made bands re-write material and how musical artists want to "move on" and yet the fans don't like the new material. In Mark's case I liked One Man overall, but it still seemed to be lacking a little punch with the great thumping basslines you used to hear with Level 42. I know he probably wanted to move away from that sound, at least for a while, but after all, that is one of his main talents playing the bass (we can hear on Trash that he is evidently a multi-talented player too) and I think he should exploit it more on his future recordings - we can hear this on Sonner or later for example. Let's admit it, that's what we really like and want to hear at the end of the day - less of the mellow please !! It's marketing and promotion that counts as the general public can often be brainwashed into buying tunes which they hear countless times on the radio and TV. Like some have mentioned before, had there been the right LEVEL of promotion, then One Man may have sold many more copies. It just goes to show the power of the Internet these days with the number of copies of Trash sold, as well as the high demand for tickets to see Mike Lindup in Brighton. I think the Internet will prove to be a successful marketing base for more specialist music/artists in the future. I just hope that the feedback from Trash makes Mark more aware of what the fans are looking for. He only has to read the mails and see the voting system to realise what's most popular to play at the gigs. Put me down for Heaven in my hands, Guaranteed and Fashion Fever.... Roll on November !!...... > ------------------------------ > >The Lighthouse Family perpetrate the most soulless, lifeless, sanitized bilge > ever to masquerade under the name of music........vacuous, repugnant > effluent > is a festering carbuncle on the rotting corpse of musical innovation. > > Just imagine AG as a film critic !! :-)) > Sorry AG, but I had to get that one in ! > ------------------------------ > > ------------------------------ Subject: The Beautiful South From: ntheodor @ email.ypf.com.ar Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 10:19:30 -0300 For the people who asked about The Beautiful South: I am a fan of The Beautiful South (TBS) since the very beginning of their career, en 1989. Two of the members of the band, P.D. Heaton and Dave Hemingway, were former Housemartins. The Housemartins released only 2 studio albums: - London 0 Hull 4 (1986/7) - The people who grinned themselves to death (1987/8) The also released in 1988 a collection of hits and b-sides, called "That's what I call quite good", which in my opinion is highly recommended. About TBS they released 6 albums and a compilation: - Welcome to The Beautiful South (1989) - Choke (1990) - 0898 (1992) - Miaow (1994) - Carry upon the charts (1994/5) - 2 CD: Hits & b-sides. There is also an edition of 1 cd only with the hits. - Blue is the colour (1996) - Quench (1998) The music is great, a mixture of finest pop and a bit of soul; and the lyrics are also very good. Sometimes silly, histrionic, and sometimes depressing but funny as well. In "Quench", there is a song called "Dumb", and for silly reasons he calls his girl good things, and he thinks he is a total failure calling himself "dumb". Some people think that a compilation of hits is the best way to meet a band. It is a good option, and myself I did so with many bands. But as whole albums, I recommend "0898" and "Blue is the colour". Anyway, if you happen to listen to all their discography, you can notice that there is a clear evolution in their creations. To synthesize TBS and their music in a word, I would say "finest". Regards, NICOLAS THEODOROU. ------------------------------ Subject: Last time, Mr. G, Mr. Z, etc. From: Winman42 @ aol.com Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 09:43:12 EDT Ok, sorry to bore everyone to tears, but my last thought in the 'Great Trash Debate' of 1999. My only reason for giving my opinion that TRASH is a collection, NOT an album was because it was being compared to One Man and Influences. Unfairly compared in my opinion. To me it's like comparing 'True Colours' and "Level Best'. Most folks might like Level Best because it obviously has more great tunes. However, keep in mind that 'Level best' is a collection of greatest hits, and does not really count as an original album by the band. Like most of you I dont give a shit what you call it. Album, Collection, loaf of bread. It's some darn good music. All the flak I've heard over the years about 'The Lighthouse Family' only makes me want to hear some of their stuff. All the folks who dog Kenny G, have any of you heard him play anything but his pop influenced Jazz? If not, check out his work as Kenny Gorelick with 'The Jeff Lorber Fusion'. Killer stuff, especially if you like late 70's fusion. Ok, who told Don Z there was no thematic link between the songs on this album? sorry Don, couldn't resist. :-) Oops, I just called it an 'album'. I give up. Have a good weekend. Winston ------------------------------ Subject: One Man's Trash From: Steven_Libenson @ monitor.com Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 11:15:28 -0400 As to whether Trash is an album or not: doesn't it just depend on your definition of "album"? If you think that an album is any collection of songs from an artist or group (a potentially valid view, in my opinion), then Trash certainly qualifies. If you think that to be an album, all the songs have to be finished versions and/or be of the same musical genre and/or have a logical track flow (all of these are also potentially valid views, in my opinion), then Trash may or may not be an album. One last note: The "White Album" wasn't an "album"... it was a a double album. Which just goes to show that people can have different definitions of the word. Whatever... there is some great material here and I think that we're all obviously happy that Mark took the effort to make it available. My opinions: tracks like Keep Climbing, Outstanding and Hells Bells are great could be be on any "real" L42/MK album. With a little work on the lyrics and some of the music, Just Like That could be one of his most kick-ass live songs. I even enjoy hearing the songs that I don't like as much (like Bossa Nostra) just to hear Mark playing around with different ideas. So, basically, I was glad to get it all. As we say in the States, "One Man's Trash is another man's treasure." ------------------------------ Subject: TRASH (cont.) From: DonZipf @ aol.com Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 11:04:24 EDT > This discussion over Trash being an album or whatever cracks me up. > On the back cover Mark clearly states it's a 'selection of demo songs > that were never finished or used. Please enjoy!' Come now, you don't believe everything you read, do you? :o) We also were told that Mark had a complete album in the can prior to starting over with ONE MAN. Who knows the truth. Really, my only point was that TRASH plays like a perfect album, IMHO. Some folks find it disjointed - I don't. If Mark didn't intend this as an "album," and if he considered the songs on TRASH throwaways, then he needs to submit everything he does to an impartial party and let them decide what to release. I've noticed with a lot of the musicians/songwriters I've known, that when choosing favorites from their own work, they never pick the stuff everyone else likes. It's as if an artist is somehow precluded from being able to recognize his own best work. Interesting...hmm. Peace - Z. ------------------------------ Subject: Jammy Horns From: "Adam Hankinson" Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 14:43:43 +0100 Lolita sang... >>>>If you are a fan of Jamiroquai, you have to get Emergency on Planet Earth. It is much better than Return of the Space Cowboy. The title track and Too Young to Die alone are worth the price of the CD. You talk about cohesive arrangements! The horns on this CD are to die for<<<<< The Horns on this album are no other than the "Hen Pecked Horns" Gary Barnicle and John Thirkell. Check out http://www.ahartiste.demon.co.uk/jam.jpg Adz ------------------------------ Subject: Beautiful South From: Daniel James Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 09:17:49 -0700 (PDT) > Have any of you Brits heard of The Beautiful South? They got a very > good writeup in the NY Times, and I'm interested in picking some up one > of their CDs. They were described as a really good Brit-soul group. Well I'm not a Brit, but I'll speak up anyway :) I was introduced to The Beautiful South when I was in Paris this past winter. They're a rather interesting band to say the least. Some of their music is quite beautiful actually, but it's their lyrics that make them stand out. Many of the songs are musically quite beautiful but with very silly lyrics. In some respects, they remind me a bit of Crowded House but I'm not sure that's the most accurate comparison. I'd recommend giving them a listen. I think they've got three regular albums plus a greatest hits album called "Carry on up the Charts." ------------------------------ Subject: Trash.. I've got one too now! From: Clare Reeves Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 17:27:32 +0100 Hello Microkids.. Well.. I can finally join in now I have my very own copy of Trash. I was impressed with how quickly it arrived and Mark has signed it.. he wrote: "Clare, you old 'slapper' love Mark xx" it's not often a girl likes to be called that but I think I know what he's driving at. I think we're so lucky to have a hero in a guy who makes each and every one of us feel that we are important to him. Can't exactly imagine Jaykay doing that can you?! So far I've only managed to listen to a few tracks.. I'll give it a proper listen this weekend. But I love what I hear so far.. as others have said I hear echoes of past styles and albums in the songs.. and I hear loads of gorgeous bass! Yes.. the quality of some of the recordings are a bit dodgy but no worse that One Man IMHO. I hope he'll play a song or 2 from Trash in the tour.. especially for us "die hards". I really like Just Like that (what's all that stuff about a nose at the begining?!) Song for Ria is a bit yukky but I suppose we're all allowed to be soppy from time to time! Hello to Lisa Hack with her bad leg.. ouch. Also.. who was thinking about getting into the Beautiful South? NO! DON'T DO IT!!!!! They are my worst group.. you know how much that guy hated the Lighthouse Family..? well I'm worse than that about the Beautiful South. Sarcastic, bubblegum with no soul.. and they can't play live for toffee I hear! You see we have high standards to live up to.. Rant over. Does anyone else get to listen to Trash and email the Digest at the same time at work?! Clare Clare Reeves Studio Manager, Africa and Middle East Region BBC World Service ------------------------------ Subject: Trash!!! From: Alex.Nunez @ phs.com Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 10:31:53 -0600 Just a note: I was thrilled when I got home, and my wife told me that I must have been a good boy because my fairy godmother brought me something - it was Trash!!!!!!! Well, the real thanks goes to Mr. Mark King, who signed the disc himself. Thank you so much, Mark King!! I am lovin' the disc! (it's 53/400, by the way) -Alex ------------------------------ Subject: dough boy From: Nigel Collier Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 18:06:27 +0000 >Have any of you Brits heard of The Beautiful South? They got a very good >writeup in the NY Times They are from my home town of Hull (they emerged from the Housemartins, whose bassist became none other than Fat Boy Slim) and I assume the name is an ironic dig at people from the south by a group of musicians from the clumsy and ignorant north (non-UK Digesters may not be aware of the traditional north/south rivalry - people from the north are friendly and warm but thick and poor, people from the south are vacuous, pretentious and self-obsessed but rich and posh - or so the theory goes). They are little more than a pub band I reckon who borrow styles from all over the place - but they're very varied, always come out with fresh stuff and have a good following. The vocals are shaky in my view and not my cup of tea. >If you are a fan of Jamiroquai, you have to get Emergency on Planet Earth. I've never really liked Jamiroquai and I still don't really know why. They are exactly the kind of group I would normally love but there's just something 'plastic' about them. I don't actually have any of their albums but all the stuff I've heard of their sounds just so 'samey' - I've never been a fan of disco, especially that disco 'violin' sound. They mimic that 70s disco funk sound very well but, mimics are all they seem to be which is really unsatisfying. My grandma always said, "if you can't fight, wear a big hat." >The erudite and eloquent N Collier esq. Uh, yeah, and I reckon the Lighthouse Family are shite aswell > It reminds me of two starving men sitting outside a bakery and the baker >walks up to the men at the end of the baking day and hands them some >scraps left over and unused. The scraps are fresh and delicious but not in >proper 'loaf of bread' form. The men devour the scraps. Then they start >debating if the scraps are a proper loaf of bread or fresh scraps Dawayne, were you a Talmudic sage in a previous life? That's one of the best allegories I've ever read on the Digest - and absolutely right on the button. That Mark has labelled the CD as a collection of demos puts paid to any further such discussion. It's not entirely erroneous as a thread however - it is interesting to try and put some time stamp on the various tracks from comparing them to tracks from other ambums. And don't forget that Mark had an 'album' that he didn't release - so it seems inevitable to ponder whether this CD of demos is the phantom album. And what DOES make an album? Do the tracks have to be recorded within a timescale? Do they need to hang together musically? Or, to qualify, does the artist him/herself need to select which tracks are included? I don't know, selecting the tracks for an album is like being a baker who bakes some bread and then.....puts them back in the oven, no wait.....he bakes some dough and puts half of the dough into a loaf tin and.....no, that's not right....he gets a loaf....oh forget it. 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/ ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Level42 Digest V99 #218 From: Tom Trudell Date: Fri, 06 Aug 1999 10:39:33 -0700 Hello. Trash is a concept album - the concept is, "here are some demo songs for the internet faithful." If you are ever in or around Astoria, Oregon, check out 91.9 on Thursday evenings - I might be playing "Love Wars" from the underappreciated One Man CD. That's one of the best songs from MK I've heard in a while. . . . and has anyone every heard Maceo Parker "Elephant Stepped on My Foot?" Just wondering. Sorry, no analogies using bakers or open running sores. -Tom ------------------------------ Subject: The ugly truth of the Beautiful South From: Bill Burnett Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 19:15:19 +0100 In message <199908061000.GAA11893 @ worldmachine.com>, Level42 Digest writes >Have any of you Brits heard of The Beautiful South? They got a very good >writeup >in the NY Times, and I'm interested in picking some up one of their CDs. They >were described as a really good Brit-soul group. I would love to expatiate upon my utter revulsion of this band, my personal first entry into Room 101, but I fear that Nightflys' Lighthouse Family rhetoric has stolen all the available thunder. Suffice to say Lolita, I must warn you that this is certainly no soul band, but to me the most irritating pop band of all time. To paraphrase AG they are to pop what Jar-Jar Binks is to comedy side- kicks. Love - Bill. P.S. I'm off to Cornwall for the eclipse - so I may be gone a very long time! -- ======================================================================== Bill Burnett http://www.sphere3.demon.co.uk/ ======================================================================== ------------------------------ Subject: I need your help! From: ElSavannah @ aol.com Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 14:39:00 EDT Hi all, I have just started to build a new page on www.mrspink.co.uk but I need all of you out there to make it work! have you had your photo taken with any Level 42 band members, (Mark, Mike, Phil, Boon, Gary, Jakko) or even with any of the guys from the last Mark King tour? If you have I would like to hear from you, I am composing a Rogue's gallery with a load of YOU LOT with band members! So if you would like to be on this page with your photo, email it to me in JPEG or GIF format to webmaster @ mrspink.co.uk and I will put you in the hall of fame! I have started the ball rolling with a couple of pics of myself and Mark, Mike and Nathan and MY other half with Mike. Get those pictures coming in people and try and keep the file small so it doesn't take so long to download on my crappy AOL mail receiver! I look forward to lots of amusing poses and funny looks. See y'all Lisa 'Mrs Pink' ------------------------------ Subject: Flying thumbs...in Skanderborg...MARK LIVE From: "Brian Fogsgaard" Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1999 21:56:49 +0200 Okay.......A King without a crown.......???? It can Only be Mark !! 2 hours ago I came back from my 2. Mark K. live gig this year........WAAAAUUU Mark K and Gary Husband kicked some ass today!!! It was nearly the same set as the ONE MAN TOUR..........only without Kansas City Milkman, Halfwritten Songs and Take My Hand. The crowd really loved Mr. Pink..........and the Gary Husband drumsolo.....and ofcourse Marks solo. A man standing next to me, asked me : Who is this ???..........The man was nearly 50 y.o. and didnt know Mark King was solo. He had listened to L42 in the 80`s only in the radio......and he was stunned......he told me that he had never seen a man play bass like this before.....and he was impressed. I told him that Mark often has been mentioned as the best bassplayer in the world.....The man said : I undertand why! It was a low budget MK band performing at the Skanderborg festival ( www.smukfest.dk ) look at the webcam pics on the site) . the band was: MK, Gary H, the crazy keyboard-player.....forgot his name...and was it Nathan King ??looked like his beard..!! If it was Nathan ( I think it was ) he was real skinny....and looked ill !! but happy. Lost his sunglasses a couple of times. No horns (Mark shouted : horns...in the bridge in"Lessons in love" the weather was perfect.....nice and hot.....no rain, no clouds....PERFECT! I have never seen so many flying thumbs before.......a lot of the crowd just standed playing their own air-bass......including yours truly.......!!! Fantastic gig!! THANKS MARK..................see you next year in Skanderborg ??? I do hope so. Brian "Forever your fan" Fogsgaard ------------------------------ Subject: Album/Compilation From: EMIKATIE @ aol.com Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 19:56:26 EDT I have to agree with Winston. I think it goes to "intent". If Mark wanted this collection to be an album, he would have polished it off a bit more. Why put together an album and leave it in an unfinished state when he could have really put togther an outstanding work and peddled it as an album? Instead, he can release whatever he wants in any form he wants and call them demos. I can't call Trash a "concept" album as many of you pointed out. But in any regard, with the proliferation of digital recording devices, one can simply combine any of the Trash tracks with any of the released albums and put together whatever they want and call it whatever they want. Regardless of his intent, we are all winners!!! The machine stops, John ------------------------------ Subject: Level 42 Megamix From: "Ark2000" Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1999 01:00:30 +0100 People Level 42 megamix (DMC UK) is now available as an mp3 file at : http://www.ark2000.ukgateway.net/levelmix.mp3 WARNING : 11.21meg Regards, Ark ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Level42 Digest V99 #218 From: "david richards" Date: Fri, 06 Aug 1999 19:01:48 PDT Re: The Trash Debate Dawayne Bailey wrote... >To get this kind of service from such a major artist makes me think it's >better than an album-it's a rare gesture to fans. >The scraps are fresh and delicious but not in proper 'loaf of bread' > >form. >Either way, they aren't hungry any longer. >Trash is manna from above. Amongst the most sensible words I've read on the subject. Thanks for the crumbs Mark Thank you Dawayne... She bad !!! Pass the Vegemite please. dr we love it down here :@) ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Subject: From: "Allwyn & Laura Kelly" Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 20:24:05 -0600 >> Subject: Halibut and Bittermoon >> From: "Allwyn & Laura Kelly" >> >>Heard Bittermoon over the weekend. Was at Red Lobster in Monterey with the >>fam and stuffing my face when it played over the speakers. Pretty strange. >You certainly are. I know, I should of ordered the Mahi Mahi instead. laura ------------------------------ Subject: my pennies worth From: "Jason Malo" Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1999 08:14:23 +0100 Hi folks, Just thought I'd throw my thoughts in on a couple of topics that have cropped up in the digest over the last couple of days. Firstly the 'is Trash an album' debate. I'm finding certain people to be rather contradictory with regards to Trash. Their saying that the album isn't an album because of the noticable difference between the first and second halves of the CD. Crap. Would it become an album if Mark had changed the order of the tracks, would it then have 'hung' together in the way previous L42 albums have. I have to agree that an album is a collection of songs and that is what Trash is. Therefore it is an album. End of. Secondly, staying with Trash, why do all you technically musical wizkids out there persist in saying that the top end is a bit fuzzy and the bottom end is very clear and did he use a thingywatsit wave distortion thing and how this track sounds like this and that track sounds like that......blah blah blah. Take the album for what it is, fantastic. Stop picking holes, consider yourself lucky that you have it, I know I do. I also know what I like and what I don't like. In conclusion I like Trash in whatever way shape or form it comes. Finally the Lighthouse Family stuff that seems to be flying about on the digest of late. I must say I'm a little taken aback by 'Nightfly's' comments regarding the Lighthouse Family. The word I think he needed to use was 'inoffensive'. The Lighthouse Family are yet to release a record that is capable of being 'hated' by anybody. It is so inoffensive that it is impossible to say that it is bad. Funny, I knew a band back in the 80's that I considered to be inoffensive and I loved their stuff to.......think about it. Speak to you all soon Jason ------------------------------ Subject: trashcount From: h.rademaker @ excite.com Date: Sat, 07 Aug 1999 01:28:35 PDT oh yeah! Just received copy #2 today. 41/800 (bummer!) 800? Did I read that well? Or should it be 500? Help! Best regards/vriendelijker groeten, Huge Rademaker ________________________________________________________________ Get FREE voicemail, fax and email at http://voicemail.excite.com Talk online at http://voicechat.excite.com