Level 42
A Physical Presence

THE REVIEW

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.