Mark King

[lapolpora]

[quote name='doctor_of_the_bass' post='632006' date='Oct 21 2009, 12:39 AM']Plus he sold more JayDees, Statii, Alembics, Pangborns and Trace Elliot than anyone else!

I recall my first serious bass rig, a Trace AH250 head with a 4 x 10 cabinet (and later, an additional 1 x 15 and Brite Box!) back in 87 when I was 16 - my parents never gave me pocket money and I was never ever spoilt as a kid but Dad promised me that if I did well in my O levels I would get something bass related! The local shop `Music Village' where I worked as the Saturday boy stocked some awesome bass gear back then, including Trace and I had the choice between a brand new MusicMan StingRay with a Laney 4 x 10 combo (which was a good amp) or a Trace rig....!

I will never forget the day I got in late from school and the entire house was dark, except for this weird glow coming from the front room and there it was, the AH250 sat atop the 4 x 10 with the UV light on! The sound was incredible - I had my Fender Precision and an Aria Cat active - the Aria had one of those `bass or treble' active knobs and I used to attempt the L42 stuff with that until around mid '88 when I got my first JayDee! Thanks Mum and Dad for all their help (even though it was always `turn that bl++dy thing down' whilst they were trying to enjoy `Bergerac' downstairs!) and to Mark for the influence!

Sad eh?

Nick[/quote]

That's such a lovely story!

And it brings back memories and comparisons to my Dad setting aside money and buying me my Trace Elliot MkIII head at the same age as reward for doing well in my O Level exams. We bought it from Monkey Business in Essex (Whatever happened to them?) and cost an astonishing £660. I'll never forget that. I used it for a good while with a JBL 2x15 cab until one day I chanced upon a Loot advert flogging off Mark King's old 4x10 cabs (Level 42 sprayed on the back - he switched to the Mesa rig). I had one of those!

The obligatory 1x15 came later but it was so much, and being without a car I think I only ever used the full rig a couple of times on a gig.

Derrick

[bass_in_ya_face]

I know Level 42 conjures up images of white socks and Golf GTI's but I still like a lot of their stuff and saw them live twice in the eighties....second time he did a solo version of Heathrow which was good

[bass_in_ya_face]

[quote name='GreeneKing' post='632168' date='Oct 21 2009, 09:29 AM']I agree, I loved his more melodic stuff, in fact I'm inclined to download an album now to listen to while I get some Uni work done today. My ex ended up with the vinyl, many moons ago.

So what should it be? Running in the Family? In pursuit of Accidents?

You could influence my decision here guys [/quote]

Standing In The Light

[Sonic_Groove]

[quote name='GreeneKing' post='632168' date='Oct 21 2009, 10:29 AM']I agree, I loved his more melodic stuff, in fact I'm inclined to download an album now to listen to while I get some Uni work done today. My ex ended up with the vinyl, many moons ago.

So what should it be? Running in the Family? In pursuit of Accidents?

You could influence my decision here guys [/quote]

The self titled Level 42 album (that spurred this thread) is a must for any music collection (even for those that "don't like Level 42"!) cool bass, throbbing Moog it's like Return to Forever with songs!

Brendan

Edited October 21, 2009 by Sonic_Groove

[Golchen]

I've never been a massive fan of Level 42's style of music generally, but I've always thought of Mark King as a totally amazing bass player.

To be honest I've been a bit shocked and disappointed at the way that some people around here have totally got it in for him, and even drop down as low as insults on a personal level.

[Pete Academy]

I've not seen any personal insults, but if so can't see why. To sing and play those lines is beyond belief.

[andyonbass]

[quote name='jakesbass' post='631988' date='Oct 21 2009, 12:06 AM']I have seen some footage of him just jamming stuff and preferred it immensely,[/quote]

Someone posted this a while ago, which pleasantly surprised me.



I always thought slap sounded a bit like a bloke nailing up a shed, but MK sounds like 2 blokes nailing up a shed!

[4000]

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='631768' date='Oct 20 2009, 08:31 PM']We were having a quiet day at work and, spying my chance on Spotify, put on the 'Level 42' album. Great bit of nostalgia. But it also brought it back to me how great Mark King was and still is.

Their appearance on The Tube, where King did the unaccompanied slap solo, still holds a place in the annals of jaw-dropping bass history. Until then, I'd heard Stanley, Louis Johnson, and Pops Popwell of the Crusaders playing slap bass. King took it to a totally new level (excuse the pun).

The question is: how did he achieve such a great technique in such short a time from picking up the bass? I know he was a great drummer.

Answers on a postcard, please.[/quote]

Imagine how I felt; he was the first slap player I ever saw! I thought he had landed from Mars or somewhere. My confidence never recovered from my hilarious and feeble attempts to slap the next day (on a P Bass with medium action and 45s...).

From what I gather he's just a great musician, period. He's also supposed to be a very accomplished guitarist. I guess it's just pure natural talent with a dollop of hard work.

I have to say I prefer earlier Level 42 for the most part; I have a few dvds of earlier gigs and I love them, far more than the albums in fact. He's very aggressive and upfront on those, almost reminding me of a jazz funk JJ Burnel! In contrast to some, I also find him a very musical player, and I prefer his slap to pretty much anyone else's; he really drives the band, and that's the kind of bassist I prefer, slap or no.

Edited October 21, 2009 by 4000

[steve-soar]

[quote name='andyonbass' post='632755' date='Oct 21 2009, 08:13 PM']Someone posted this a while ago, which pleasantly surprised me.



I always thought slap sounded a bit like a bloke nailing up a shed, but MK sounds like 2 blokes nailing up a shed! [/quote]Guilty as charged.

[jude_b]

In teenage arguments with my metal loving friend about whether Mark King was better than Steve Harris, his main objection to Mark King was the height at which his bass was slung. He also used to cite Steve Harris's ability to "pretend shoot" the audience whilst playing as a major plus point, so these clearly weren't Newsnight Review level debates.

Mark King was probably the reason I picked up a bass - not really because of his slap solos, but because some of his lines introduced me to (a sort of) funk. As others have said, this led on to other music and players. Talented chap too.

[dub_junkie]

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='632521' date='Oct 21 2009, 04:29 PM']To sing and play those lines is beyond belief.[/quote]

+1
how he can do that is beyond me

[crez5150]

[quote name='steve-soar' post='632783' date='Oct 21 2009, 08:37 PM']Guilty as charged.[/quote]

Think it was more to do with those crappy Fenders he played for about a month!

[wombatboter]

These days it's hard to imagine what impact Mark King had in the eighties. Now we are more familiar with slapstyles etc but I remember that no one had ever heard anything like him when Love Games came out.
It was new, it was fresh and new doors were opened (I can't recall anyone since then with the same influence).
I heard the Level 42 album ("Almost there" was even faster :-)) and I just couldn't understand how anyone in the world could play like that and I didn't even know at the time that he also sang..
Every bassplayer talked about him and he had an enormous influence (I actually learned my 16th-feel from him ("The Chinese Way") and not from Jaco for instance).
Concerning his quick mastering the bass...I really think it's a drummer thing, a local drummer picked up a bass and within a couple of days he could slap things I wasn't able to play. It's all about the polyrythms they have learned.

[doctor_of_the_bass]

[quote name='crez5150' post='633214' date='Oct 22 2009, 09:55 AM']Think it was more to do with those crappy Fenders he played for about a month![/quote]

Did you have one? I did.....it was rubbish! (#38 of 42). Sad eh?

[urb]

[quote name='wombatboter' post='633219' date='Oct 22 2009, 10:11 AM']These days it's hard to imagine what impact Mark King had in the eighties. Now we are more familiar with slapstyles etc but I remember that no one had ever heard anything like him when Love Games came out.
It was new, it was fresh and new doors were opened (I can't recall anyone since then with the same influence).
I heard the Level 42 album ("Almost there" was even faster :-)) and I just couldn't understand how anyone in the world could play like that and I didn't even know at the time that he also sang..
Every bassplayer talked about him and he had an enormous influence (I actually learned my 16th-feel from him ("The Chinese Way") and not from Jaco for instance).
Concerning his quick mastering the bass...I really think it's a drummer thing, a local drummer picked up a bass and within a couple of days he could slap things I wasn't able to play. It's all about the polyrythms they have learned.[/quote]

+1 A lot of King's slap lines are like drum parradiddles played with his fingers rather than sticks - and with a slap, pop and left hand slap on to the fretboard you have the fundamentals of his style - that and a double bounce with the thumb. I think one of the reasons it sounds a bit nicer harmincally is he nicked Stanley Clarke's thing of playing the major third above a low open E or A - i.e. G# or F# - and using the Dorian mode - all making it sound quite jazzy. I absolutely loved his stuff when I was about 13 and I even - to my embarrasment now - cut off the strap of my crappy Kay bass to make it short like his!

I now find a lot of what he does repetitve and I'm not so into tons of chorus and a bright slap tone - it sounds a bit dated to me - BUT I did meet him briefly a couple of years ago and he was pretty cool (he was with Gary Husband) at the BBC jazz Awards and he presented Charlie Haden with a lifetime achievement award and gave a very nice speech about how much he loved Haden's jazz playing and work. What I still love about his playing is how effortlessly he grooves and the whole singing and playing thing is still very impressive - I could never ever do that! (well maybe badly if I worked on it)

Happy b'day Mark

Cheers

Mike

[crez5150]

[quote name='doctor_of_the_bass' post='633272' date='Oct 22 2009, 11:07 AM']Did you have one? I did.....it was rubbish! (#38 of 42). Sad eh?[/quote]

I had the chance to try several o them when they were at the build stage. Bloody awful basses.

[doctor_of_the_bass]

[quote name='crez5150' post='633286' date='Oct 22 2009, 11:24 AM']I had the chance to try several o them when they were at the build stage. Bloody awful basses.[/quote]


I did a crazy deal and got mine for £600!! The LEDs were cool, but that was about all! Stank of play doh!

[Dread Bass]

[quote name='doctor_of_the_bass' post='633310' date='Oct 22 2009, 11:43 AM']I did a crazy deal and got mine for £600!! The LEDs were cool, but that was about all! Stank of play doh![/quote]

[doctor_of_the_bass]

[quote name='metaltime' post='633321' date='Oct 22 2009, 11:53 AM'] [/quote]

correct!

[Rich]

I shall never forget my first sight of him -- it was 1982 & they were playing 'Foundation & Empire' live on Channel 4. I'd been playing bass for a couple of months, and suddenly there was this bloke doing these outrageous things... I was hooked, instantly.
[quote name='doctor_of_the_bass' post='631942' date='Oct 20 2009, 11:19 PM']That's my old Jaydee he's using![/quote]
Think you'll find it's [i]his[/i] old Jaydee, mate :lol:

[steve-soar]

The first time I heared Mark was back in 1982. My best friend who was a DJ gave me this compilation LP to listen to, it had various British funk groups on it and it had two tracks by a band named Level 42, they were Starchild and Love Games.
At that time I had never picked up a bass but had always dreamed of doing so, but when I heared these songs my mind totally flipped, I had no idea what I was listening to, I was 16 and a bit of a post punk kid.
I went to see them in 1983, Standing in the Light tour and then I knew I had to play bass.
It was a short lived love affair lasting up until Running in the Family, then I totally lost interest but JJ Burnel, Geddy, Macca, Lemmy, Chris Squire, Martin McAloon, Alan Rankin, John Wilson and Mark, amongs many others made me into a low end dweller.

Edited October 22, 2009 by steve-soar

[doctor_of_the_bass]

[quote name='Rich' post='633427' date='Oct 22 2009, 01:50 PM']Think you'll find it's [i]his[/i] old Jaydee, mate :lol:[/quote]

Right! But *it was mine.....mwahaha!!! Look, I had hair back then...you could say its the Return of the Handsome Rugged Man!




Can't believe I bought it ten years ago. The good old days of Yahoo Clubs and the Webdigest eh Rich! Hey, that means we have known each other for 120 months!

* incredible bass - not just because it was Mark's bass but the build quality/playability/tone was amazing.

[crez5150]

Is this the one with the extended nut over the G string?? If so I very nearly bought this bass once upon a time

[agoulding]

I used to love the guy, he is an amazing player but i just cant listen to the music anymore...unless it's Mr Pink!!



[quote name='marcus bell' post='632011' date='Oct 21 2009, 01:01 AM']happy 51st mark, ill still have to say hes my favourite musician of all time i dont care about how many times people knock hi and his tone and his music i think he is great regardless what i always thought was great about mark was how cool he made it all look so comfortable and relaxed whereas some players like wooten clarke e.t.c. Are like all hunched over their instrument all the time and they dont even sing! Well neither do i but thats a different matter. I just think mark king and level 42 are excellent and easily my favourite band.
Mark king is the reason i started bass playing my dad started because of mark king and all the other brit funk stuff that was around in the early ninetys and got himself a jaydee roadie in the early 1990s a 1980 model with two pickups and passive electronics in tobacco sunburst which he had finished in cherry red and activized if thats a word lol. He then got a series 1 brand new made for him and the roadie got put in the cupboard for a few years. In the meantime my dad bought me a precision bass special which i learnt on later which then got traded in for a jazz and then when i got better he gave me the jaydee and ive studied it hard ever since....love to dad!

x[/quote]

Christ! I can't read that without getting a stitch!

[bubinga5]

i bet my Sei 5, if he picked up an MTD 6 or something like that, he would be mind blowing on the urban Gospel scene..or some straight up funk!!!!!!!

Now THAT i would LOVE to see!!!!! i really would pay alot of money to see Mark King funking it up with Gouche etc!!!

just wanted to add he is a very gifted player..i love his melodic playing, its up there big time..his slapping is jaw dropping to be honest, sometimes lack character because its so super precise but hey ho...

Lets be honest, like the music or not (im a big fan of hs jazz funk stuff) most of know he is one of the best bassists in the world..

Edited October 22, 2009 by bubinga5