Level 42 Digest for Wednesday, December 18, 2002

It’s good to be back after a long while. I only used to make the occasional post on the old digest, but it’s amazing how quickly I came to miss it.

Anyway, to respond to Eric W:

<<The only thing I can fault is the fact that the band are playing to a backing track.... it has crept in more from the Forevernow era but now Mark relies on it so much that Lyndon has very little to do except look into the audience and look 'serious' whilst waiting for a live keyboard part.>>

I’m afraid to say that we’ve had backing tracks since before the Running In The Family album. But, heh, that still won’t stop me going to see a live performance (or semi-live if you’re pedantic like me).

It’d be a nice idea to have the original line-up back together again, but let’s face it, that ain’t gonna happen. So in the meanwhile, I’ll more than settle for the line-up Mark’s band has (I won’t call it Level 42, cos in my eyes it’s not).

And while this post seems to be mainly about MK, let’s not forget (as Loz said) that this is also about Mike, Phil & Boon (and a few others, but let’s face it, these four ARE Level 42).

Enough of my ramblings. I guess I’m just ecstatic to be back.

See ya

Jimbo

1 · Great to be back - and backing tracks
From:	James Watkins <james @ bpbaxter.co.uk>
Date:	Tue, 17 Dec 2002 11:31:00 -0000	[top]
It’s good to be back after a long while. I only used to make the occasional post on the old digest, but it’s amazing how quickly I came to miss it. Anyway, to respond to Eric W: <<The only thing I can fault is the fact that the band are playing to a backing track.... it has crept in more from the Forevernow era but now Mark relies on it so much that Lyndon has very little to do except look into the audience and look 'serious' whilst waiting for a live keyboard part.>> I’m afraid to say that we’ve had backing tracks since before the Running In The Family album. But, heh, that still won’t stop me going to see a live performance (or semi-live if you’re pedantic like me). It’d be a nice idea to have the original line-up back together again, but let’s face it, that ain’t gonna happen. So in the meanwhile, I’ll more than settle for the line-up Mark’s band has (I won’t call it Level 42, cos in my eyes it’s not). And while this post seems to be mainly about MK, let’s not forget (as Loz said) that this is also about Mike, Phil & Boon (and a few others, but let’s face it, these four ARE Level 42). Enough of my ramblings. I guess I’m just ecstatic to be back. See ya Jimbo

2 · Re: Romance
From:	Nathania Apple <n @ nathaniaapple.com>
Date:	Tue, 17 Dec 2002 07:24:27 -0800	[top]
Re: Romance From: dean.osborn @ bt.com <dean.osborn @ bt.com> Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 11:26:59 -0000 I requested if possible for the band to play the very underrated, and quite brilliant track ROMANCE on next year's tour. Dean, ROMANCE is also one of my very favourites as well. I’ve always wanted to see it done live. Don’t know that it would be the same without Mike’s lovely vocals though. And of course, live strings would be preferable. But absolutely gorgeous song.... sigh...... N

3 · 'How long'
From:	mark collins <sub.42 @ ntlworld.com>
Date:	Tue, 17 Dec 2002 16:44:35 -0000	[top]
Hello , new to the 42 Digest, just thought I'd take a look. Been collecting and listening to Level 42 since God was a boy. Does anyone know if there is a secure way of ordering stuff from the official website, cos it isn't a secure server, and don't say by post please, cos it's a pain to wait, and that's why we're online, is it not? Any ideas gratefully received. Oh, & Merry Christmas everyone!!!

4 · quick, calculator needed for Christmas
From:	Pete Willis <peteburywillis @ hotmail.com>
Date:	Tue, 17 Dec 2002 18:32:10 -0000	[top]
Hi All Anyone willing to buy AG a new calculator for Christmas then!! Andrew Goodwin <nightfly83 @ hotmail.com> >Well, when the tour started I went to the Web Digest (spit) and had a look >at the set list, and it looked like about 80% hits I don't ever need to hear >live again. cheers Pete WWW.PETEWILLISMUSIC.CO.UK

5 · The Man Who Knew Too Little
From:	Andrew Goodwin <nightfly83 @ hotmail.com>
Date:	Tue, 17 Dec 2002 23:36:47 +0000	[top]
>3 · Sense and Sensibility >From: alex.friesen @ sickkids.ca < <mailto:alex.friesen @ sickkids.ca> >alex.friesen @ sickkids.ca> > >Yeah, "Captain Autumnal Golden Showers" or something, n'est pas? Very >subtle. Remove the last shred of mystique, why don't you? There are readers of the Web Digest who have spent many a long hour intrigued by the identity of the mysterious Captain. My favourite exchange was the one where someone referred to the contributions of AG and nightfly to the previous incarnation of this journal, to which I responded "Those tossers? Good riddance", only to be swiftly informed that those tossers were a lot funnier than I would ever be. Actually, you know what I like about the Web Digest? As soon as anybody starts up with that old "I thought this was supposed to be about Level 42" stuff, we can tell them where to go. Both literally and figuratively. >9 · Digest workings... >From: Eric J. Hansen < <mailto:ehansen @ worldmachine.com> >ehansen @ worldmachine.com> > >Alternatively, perhaps AG could come up with a one-liner synopsis for each >Digest, and we can just archive that instead of the fulltext. See that Friesen? The opportunity to summarise you out of existence, ahahahaha! What do you want Hansen, blood?! Is it not enough that I'm working a full time job, then spending a couple of hours a night cataloguing records for the princely payment of 25p a line, raising three children (four by February - I wish someone would explain how this keeps happening), getting by on an average of about 6 hours sleep a night AND supporting a crap football team? Now you want to tap into my apparently endless resources still further? Get Friesen to do it. He's clearly got nothing better to do with his time than think of different ways to insult me, and pretend to be Cliff Barua. Anyway, middot and top top to one and all. AG _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

6 · Paving the way...
From:	DonZipf @ aol.com <DonZipf @ aol.com>
Date:	Tue, 17 Dec 2002 19:01:20 EST	[top]
Eric, nice job on the new formating today. Finally, a good use for rich text e-mail! > Well, when the tour started I went to the Web Digest (spit) and had a look > at the set list, and it looked like about 80% hits I don't ever need to hear > live again. And after the superb, abstruse set they put together last year, > it was a major disappointment. I suppose that's partly just because I was > never the biggest fan of some of the singles anyway, but it seems like such > a retrograde step artistically. And when Mark King sits there in his Radio 2 > interview and justifies it on the grounds that there are loads of new, young > fans for whom this material is all new... Pull the other one. A few maybe, > but the majority of people attending those shows are reliving their history > just as much as he is. I'm really not slagging him off for it - he's earned > the right to trade on that back catalogue, and if he's satisfied doing it > then fair enough. But I won't be going to one of the shows again unless it > gets a little more interesting. Don't worry, Andrew, it will. Let me reiterate the analysis I made when the "Greatest Hits" tour was announced: it's all just to make use of what clout MK already has, to position himself for doing a come-back album HIS way, instead of some label's way. There WILL be a new album in 2003--I'll take bets from any doubters. Peace - Don Z.

7 · RE: Paving the way...
From:	Eric J. Hansen <ehansen @ worldmachine.com>
Date:	Tue, 17 Dec 2002 22:47:46 -0500	[top]
Message DonZ wrote: Eric, nice job on the new formating today. Finally, a good use for rich text e-mail! Yes, I figured that if I was going to start this thing up again, I at least ought to update the software... so folks can post in any text format. cheers, Eric

8 · RE: The Man Who Knew Too Little
From:	Eric J. Hansen <ehansen @ worldmachine.com>
Date:	Tue, 17 Dec 2002 22:56:31 -0500	[top]
Message AG writes: What do you want Hansen, blood?! Is it not enough that I'm working a full time job, then spending a couple of hours a night cataloguing records for the princely payment of 25p a line, raising three children (four by February - I wish someone would explain how this keeps happening), getting by on an average of about 6 hours sleep a night AND supporting a crap football team? Now you want to tap into my apparently endless resources still further? Get Friesen to do it. He's clearly got nothing better to do with his time than think of different ways to insult me, and pretend to be Cliff Barua. Anyway, middot and top top to one and all. AG _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail See, isn't it more fun when Mr. Goodwin gets worked up? Speaking of which, I think we need to contact MSN... the "advanced junk mail protection" being promoted clearly is not working... not on AG's outbound emails anyways... Hey Hammond, isn't this your purview?