Level 42 Before Level42

[Bean9seventy]

After running an earlier Blog on early UK funk bass players ,

a we return to the subject again ,

The shop chain Mark King worked for "Macaris" has finally closed it doors

in Demark Street,

as stated before, we were the guys who used to jam in those shops at that time

meaning Mark King got into bass plus, including seeing guys like myself

 

 

The reason for this new post strange as it is, was "just 1 track" i have not heard for many years

it quite simply its Level 42 before Level 42 ,,

 

please tell us about Demark St in the 1970s & if you wish were there

[Bunion]

We all started somewhere, I used to hear terrible bass players in brum, hence I’m not famous and awful at bass 😄👍🏻

[Hellzero]

Urm, why is it credited to ... Santana ?

[Bean9seventy]

sportsmans bet Macaris is turned into a food outlet featuring coffee ,

just memory cells now, 

remember this bass being never seen before unless you went to Macaris,

 

 

[Bean9seventy]

1 minute ago, Hellzero said:

Urm, why is it credited to ... Santana ?

its a tune that was floating around Before level42 came out ,, 

weaponised Robert Popswell, ;D

[Grimalkin]

Ah yes, I remember it well. Mark overcharged me for a bass in 1976. I later bumped into him in the off-licence. "Mark, you overcharged me for that bass" I said. "Only a bit" said Mark, "you wouldn't deprive a man of his snout and cider would you?"

 

I let it go.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

34 minutes ago, Bean9seventy said:

sportsmans bet Macaris is turned into a food outlet featuring coffee ,

just memory cells now, 

remember this bass being never seen before unless you went to Macaris,

 

 

An Alembic Mark King signature bass?

[Bean9seventy]

3 hours ago, Grimalkin said:

Ah yes, I remember it well. Mark overcharged me for a bass in 1976. I later bumped into him in the off-licence. "Mark, you overcharged me for that bass" I said. "Only a bit" said Mark, "you wouldn't deprive a man of his snout and cider would you?"

 

I let it go.

 

2 hours ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

An Alembic Mark King signature bass?

1st Alembic bass on view in UK was in Macaris ? Stanley Clarke ?

Demark Street was bigger in terms of "how many shops" there were, 

it was also the most expensive bass on offer @ the time @ £1k ? tho i am sure they went for much less,

 

tryed it, very well made, heavy ,fine tuning "double octave ,< very important for brit funk bassists back then,

just for prospective, very few funk bassists if anyone, had a Fender at that time   

[Bean9seventy]

1 minute ago, Bean9seventy said:

 

1st Alembic bass on view in UK was in Macaris ? Stanley Clarke ?

Demark Street was bigger in terms of "how many shops" there were, 

it was also the most expensive bass on offer @ the time @ £1k ? tho i am sure they went for much less,

 

tryed it, very well made, heavy ,fine tuning "double octave ,< very important for brit funk bassists back then,

just for prospective, very few funk bassists if anyone, had a Fender at that time   

no, its important i remind people UK funk bass playing started on the street ,, in discos & clubs ,not at college , it was "not all about getting that wicked pro solo ,, it was all about getting a wicked dance track, Paul Trouble Anderson style

 

as a Dancer of note , i was not really bothered with the band stuff, until i saw slap ,, it was key to the disco sound, thus i started bass

 

the story is as important as when a pro basssts talks about larry graham,*

 

how UK disco became a bellweather that had enough "street cred" to create the scene & helped to spread funk pop with bass worldwide, at that "pop level

 

yes , Level 42 did end up winning the battle of the basses & growing out of that chris hill type party crowd, & got big

 

was a tough pill to take, losing out  yet always knew, an element "they used came through Us from "the sorce,* so all was not lost

 

1980 ? i immediately learned all level42 songs & including singing with bass when possible ,, thus we could "stay in the bands wheel

 

:D eg my job via The brothers of funk days was to chase stuff like that down fast too

 

mark king btw then went in so hard with singing & bass on future LPs he broke free ,,

 

but by then i for one was no longer interested with getting it together as a Pop Band,

stopped taking it serious, in 1983

 

Level42, Before Level 42, 42 years ago, >

 

Hi Tension > the brothers of funk* > bootsy > louis johnson > larry graham

 

 

[NikNik]

8 hours ago, Bean9seventy said:

sportsmans bet Macaris is turned into a food outlet featuring coffee ,

just memory cells now, 

remember this bass being never seen before unless you went to Macaris,

 

 

That looks a relatively new Series 1 Point. And who is 'CH'?

[Hellzero]

2 hours ago, NikNik said:

That looks a relatively new Series 1 Point. And who is 'CH'?

That's a Stanley Clarke model with the point body (remember that you can order whatever shape you want by Alembic) as it doesn't have the hum-cancelling system, but the AXY pickups with the two filters and the two Q switches. So definitely a Stanley Clarke model.

[NikNik]

53 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

That's a Stanley Clarke model with the point body (remember that you can order whatever shape you want by Alembic) as it doesn't have the hum-cancelling system, but the AXY pickups with the two filters and the two Q switches. So definitely a Stanley Clarke model.

Jeez, what a doofus! I missed the missing dummy coil, too! And that's from a guy who once owned a Series I Point.

[Bean9seventy]

UK, no one really knew about those basses until Stanley Clarke did a work shop shown on bbc2 ,, remember, i did also state very few early brit funk players had a fender bass

i never said why , checkmate ,

[Cosmo Valdemar]

4 hours ago, Hellzero said:

That's a Stanley Clarke model with the point body (remember that you can order whatever shape you want by Alembic) as it doesn't have the hum-cancelling system, but the AXY pickups with the two filters and the two Q switches. So definitely a Stanley Clarke model.

That's a Mark King then isn't it? 

[Burns-bass]

I don’t know what any of this means.

[MGBrown]

Baffling.

[Grimalkin]

The only time I've bought second-hand strings was in the late '90s from a music shop in north London. The guys had been doing back-line tech for level 42 while they played the London dates. I went in to buy a set of Elites but they didn't stock them. "How about these? They've only been used for one gig" he said. He explained where they came from, I think I paid a fiver for them.

 

Quite light, a little bit worn in, which wasn't surprising, after a squillion thumb hits.

[bakerster135]

Macari's closed last year mate, you're a bit behind.

[ambient]

55 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

I don’t know what any of this means.

I thought it was just me.

[RhysP]

7 minutes ago, ambient said:

I thought it was just me.

Nope, I haven't got a f*cking clue either.

[Chris2112]

What was Camden like before the streets were littered with oafs taking pictures of themselves for Instagram? 

[EssentialTension]

What?

 

(I think I said the same last time as well.)

[Grimalkin]

I take it as a statement on the ever decreasing brick and mortar music shop, and the ecosphere and creatures contained therein.

[Hellzero]

1 hour ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

That's a Mark King then isn't it? 

It depends of the scale, but if it's an early bird, then it's a Stanley Clarke and 30.75 inches scale.

 

If it has a 32 or 34 inches scale, then it's a Mark King, but it can't be that as the MK was only introduced in 1989...

Edited December 26, 2021 by Hellzero
As not is...

[Old Horse Murphy]

It's like reading Under Milkwood without the Welsh names....

 

I'm waiting for the Brodie's Notes to come out. I have no idea what's going on.