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Rating: Well, I'm in full funky trip. It comes back every now and then, and I must say it's a good feeling. Cheerful stuff, thank goodness, in these sad festive times... This time I'm reviewing a little-heard album by a band that (they too...) was little loved, much hated, too misunderstood. The Level 42, the quintessential white funky group. They emerged in the early '80s, trying to mix the leftover dance bits of the old disco with the fusion for its own sake that was reigning supreme in those years. Very pop, too, just to not miss potential FM hits.
The band, as many will remember, relied (not entirely, to be honest...) on the juggling bassist Mark King, an English bloke who seemed to have come out of a boxing gym, and yet, with a background in studying drums, taught himself all the funk bass styles like a true autodidact, ironically inventing a new way to "slap" the 4 strings of his instrument. But not only that. Even cohort Mike Lindup added a fresh touch to the keyboards and characterized the group's melodies with a falsetto reminiscent of EW&Fire. Completing the lineup were the Gould brothers, one on drums (a real precision machine, guaranteed because I've seen them live several times...) and the other on guitar, always a bit too understated, to be honest.
For those approaching this band for the first time, I would undoubtedly recommend this live double album, recorded before the release of the successful (and controversial) "World Machine", the pop-infused album that made them famous to the general public. This "Physical Presence" is, let's say, the band's funky epitaph, taken in the ideal dimension: live. Their biggest hits from back then are reproduced here, even suitably rearranged. The recording sounds slightly lousy, to be honest, but you can feel the dynamics, the desire to have fun and make you move your "foot". Mark King is spectacular, of course. Sinuous bass lines, rhythmic, sparkling, and let's not forget... he played and sang simultaneously! "Eyes Waterfalling", a happy blend of Rhodes arpeggios and guitar, "Follow Me" (I believe an unreleased track) where the slapped bass literally makes your stomach go boom boom, "Hot Water" and the famous "Love Games", which perhaps some will remember as a hit on the dancefloors of the early '80s.
Listening doesn't require effort, obviously: it's music pop in the most classic sense of the term, not to be disparaged for this reason. The 4 Englishmen knew how to do their job well. They didn't invent anything shocking, except to have the merit of spreading to larger audiences some principles derived from funky and fusion, making them digestible with a pleasant dance/pop sauce.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Almost There (06:47)
Watch the paper window - see the stars
News and views to show you who you are
Keep the money moving change the scene
Open up the market with our dreams
Almost there - you and I
Catch the fall - touch the sky
Love a lot - paper view
Now's the time - make your move
Keep the money moving
As long as we are using
Almost without knowing
Getting ego's burning
Freightend they stop turning
See the judge adjourning
Play your part and don't get in their way
Black and White they say you must believe
Now they found a sound that we obey
If you wait to long the tide will turn
Then there'll be some brand new rules to learn
Almost there - you and I
Catch the fall - touch the sky
Love a lot - paper view
Now's the time - make your move
Read a million pages
Every headline ages
Nothing ever changes
There's a time for laughing
Time will soon be passing
Make your mark before you fade away
03 Kansas City Milkman (07:17)
born in this place
you only see so far
hear what we say
if we put the truth in your hands
would you really like to know
Kansas city milkman
a row of houses
through the dawn
a sleeping city
where I was born
I hear laughter
in the early light
outside the playground
were I learned to fight
born in this place
you only see so far
hear what we say
if we put the truth in your hands
would you really like to know
Kansas city milkman
I read the papers
every word
my only access
to the outside world
yeah ... survival
that's my game
just a common man
in that there is no shame ... is there? ...
too much talking
information ... in the hands of the few
all the talking
dis-information ... that we take for the truth
born in this place
you only see so far
hear what we say
the world is a stage
and we know just who you are
what part do you play?
if we put the truth in your hands
would you really like to know
Kansas city milkman
04 Follow Me (05:01)
On the streets
There’s no more pavements of gold
In the heat
There's no more golden years –
there your feet
They try to run from the cold
No retreat there's nowhere left to go
Follow me to the end of the earth
Follow me before it all breaks down
Follow me you'll find if you go there
Your waiting there to be found
Steel and stone the city's crushing you
Stand alone but that's no way to be
Follow me you'll find if you go there
Follow me you turn around
We believe the same old story
Where heroes wear the crown
We don't see the fame and glory
And watch the world go down
Silver towns that confuse you with
Silver words that turn your head around
Silver streets that amuse you with
Silver dreams and silver sounds
Follow me to the end of the earth
Follow me before it all breaks down
Follow me you'll find if you go there
Your waiting there to be found
We don’t need these shades of glory
We don’t want that crown
There’s something sacred on this story
The heroes all fall down
It's time now
It's time now to move a bit
Forget about the stone faced angels
Just move along keep moving on
Silver to gold (Repeat)
Follow me (x5)
06 The Chant Has Begun (06:12)
the spirit of the people
the spirit of the people
the spirit of the people
the rhythm has begun ...
old men with their protocol
lead us off to war
sometimes we don't even know
what we're fighting for
marching to the beat of their drum
leaders we no longer trust
told too many lies
the promises they made to us
were never realised
hear me now the chant has begun
nowhere left to turn
no-one left to turn to
voices raised in anger
they don't have the answer
our whole world's in danger
oil slicks on the ebbing tide
progress out of hand
blind men choke on swallowed pride
heads down in the sand
don't wanna see the damage they've done
trees destroyed by acid rain
falling from the skies
when our children place the blame
who will tell them why
hear me now the chant has begun
why is love so rare
all this talk of warfare
voices raised in anger
they don't have an answer
pass the word along
we can wait no longer
too much blind destruction
follow love's instructions
now the chant has begun
(chant)
make your choice there's no escape
add your voice, the chant has begun
07 The Chinese Way (04:47)
Take a journey back in time
Leave the western world behind
Cross the mountains to Peking
Where the paper lanterns gently swing
The Chinese way
Who knows what they know
The Chinese legend grows
The Chinese way
Who knows what they know
The Chinese legend grows
My eyes wide open
I feel a breeze
Words softly spoken
In Cantonese
Standing at the master's side
Then with patience he confides
Secret knowledge, sacred ways
Pearls of wisdom from the dragon days
I could never lie
For honor I would die
Following the Chinese way
So many years ago
Heroes ruled the world
(Some died for love in a cruel world)
They were the only ones in a cruel world
I could never lie
For honor I would die
Following the Chinese way
From the mountains to Peking
Where the paper lanterns gently swing
The Chinese way
Who knows what they know
The Chinese legend grows
The Chinese way
Who knows what they know
The Chinese legend grows
The Chinese way
Who knows what they know
The Chinese legend grows
The Chinese way
Who knows what they know
The Chinese legend grows
08 The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up) (04:59)
Though I live in the edge time is on my side
All the doors to my life are open wide
Just as long as the wheels keep on turning round
I will live for the groove 'til the sun goes down
Living it up ... living it up ... I can feel it
Living it up ... is it a crazy notion?
Living it up ... living it up ... I can feel it
Living it up ... I got forward motion
I don't wanna go to war, I don't wanna go to war
I said I know what I want an' I don't wanna go to war
Do you follow me?
I saw a soldier standing in a bar, looked so tired, he'd come so far
He said "I need to love someone before they drop the atom bomb"
There's a girl at the back making eyes at me
And her hair long and black is a sight to see
But I get kind of scared when love's around
I just live for the groove 'til the sun goes down
Living it up ... living it up ... I can feel it
Living it up ... is it a false emotion?
Living it up ... living it up ... I can feel it
Living it up ... I got forward motion
So I'm-a-taking you out but I'm-a-faking
I'm married to the beat
To the music I gave the heart I could have given you-hoo
Still there's something 'bout the way that you move
And the way the people stare, it's the shock of the new
I want my friends to see me standing next to you
The sun goes down
Time is on my side
I don't care what they say, I'll enjoy the ride
But I get kind of scared when I turn around
So I'll stay with the groove 'til the sun goes down
Living it up ... living it up ... I can feel it
Living it up ... I got forward motion
Ooh watch her dance
There must be one like her in every club in every town
But I don't mind if that's the way she wants to be
There something 'bout her that reminds me of me
She's my soulmate - we'll be together 'til the sun goes down
The sun goes down
Living it up ... living it up ... I can feel it
Living it up ... I got forward motion
09 Hot Water (06:24)
Tell me something
Why do I always find it hard
Just to get along
Try my best for nothing
Every little thing I do is wrong
Feel it in my brain
Driving me insane
Round and round
The same old tune
Daddy's on the phone
You know you're not alone
Turn that down
And clean up your room
Sons and daughters
(Don't fall in)
In hot water
Sons and daughters
(They don't do)
What they oughta
Tell (tell) you something
Music is the key to set me free
To the beat (on the street) I'm jumping
Forgetting all the things they said 'bout me
Here it comes again
Chugging like a train
Round and round
An impeccable groove
I know it's getting late
But I won't hesitate
Can't slow down
Got to do what I do
Sons and daughters
(Always in)
In hot water
Wasting time
Is a crime in their eyes
But I'm still young
So much time to decide what to do
I don't need confirmation
For my boyhood extrapolation
Though I'm not sure of my direction
I have the groove for my protection
Here it comes again
Chugging like a train
Round and round
An impeccable groove
I know it's getting late
But I won't hesitate
Can't slow down
Got to do what I do
Sons and daughters
(Don't fall in)
In hot water
(When they fall by the way)
Sons and daughters
(They don't do)
What they oughta
Tell me something
Where you staying tonight
Your folks
Have waited up for you
Now they've locked the door
And turned off the light
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