When you think of the 1980s what comes to mind? The Walkman? Shoulder pads? Big hair? The Sinclair C5?

What about Level 42?

The Isle of Wight band were one of the biggest hitmakers of the decade, topping the charts with the likes of Lessons in Love, Running in the Family and Something About You.

The group exploded from the jazz-funk boom in the early part of the decade and went on to become a crossover smash, part of a 1980s “yuppie” movement loosely termed sophisti-pop.

And they are still going – and bringing their polished sound to Plymouth’s Discovery Festival where they will delight fans on June 13 alongside such other eighties favourites as OMD, Kim Wilde, Nik Kershaw, Johnny Hates Jazz and Altered Images.

The band has been to the South West many times over the years, including Torquay four years ago, but last played the Pavilions, as Plymouth Arena was then known, back in 2008.

“We’ve schlepped around a bit,” singer and bass player Mark King told PlymouthLive. “We tour biannually and have done since 2000 and find it the best way to keep the fanbase excited. They always come out to see us and I’m grateful for that.”

Mark King, of Level 42, who will be playing at the Discovery Festival in Plymouth in June(Image: Submitted)

King said he is really looking forward to showing Britain’s Ocean City a good time as part of a hectic schedule with the performance sandwiched between appearances in Scotland and Europe, and at the Isle of Wight festival on King’s home ground.

“We’re looking forward to it, a nice line-up of artists,” he said. “We’ll put together 60 minutes of hits, people will have a nice time. So put your dancing shoes on.”

King described how he felt a “brotherhood” with OMD’s Andy McCluskey and described Kim Wilde as a “good mate from many years ago”.

“I’ve known her since 1981,” he said. “She’s a sweetheart and puts on a great show, with so many songs you know.”

Level 42 started life as a somewhat underground jazz-funk fusion outfit alongside bands such as Incognito, Central Line, and Light of the World.

They were all making waves in London in what King called “a crazy time”.

“We never realised what we were doing was going to be labelled Brit funk,” he said. “A posse of DJs were putting on all-nighters and week-enders and we found a ready-made audience. The music we happened to like was what these guys were listening to.”

But Level 42 were elevated out of that scene to become a chart act, helped by King’s eye-catching thumb-slap bass technique, and some solid song-writing.

“We were lucky,” he said. “Like a lot of bands we didn’t think we were part of a cult, and we kept evolving.

“We were very lucky, very fortunate, and tried to move with the times. We had a good run for 15 years.”

Those 15 years saw them chart with their debut LP in 1981 and the records continue to sell, soundtracking an era characterised by wealth, success and bling – not always positively.

Level 42 found themselves alongside the likes of Sade, the Style Council and Everything But the Girl as purveyors of slick, smart and crafted pop – beloved of aspirational youngsters, and the now derided “yuppies”.

“It was a strange time, with the rise of Margaret Thatcher, a looking-after-number-one vibe and characters like Loadsamoney,” said King. “There were these guys in big-shouldered suits in the City.

“It was bittersweet because that’s quite repulsive. We weren’t celebrating that but you can’t remove yourself from the place you are functioning in, you have to get through it and we managed to do that.

“By 1988 and 1989 people were looking for something else and then came the birth of Britpop. That’s as it should be, there should be change.”

The band still tours internationally, including in Japan and the USA, where King struck up an unusual musical friendship.

Level 42’s funky groove may sound a lightyear away from Foo Fighters guitar rock roar, but as Kind said, “a good song, is a good song,” and the US rockers’ late drummer Taylor Hawkins certainly recognised one.

“He gave me a call one day and said, in his Californian drawl, that he loved Something About You and wanted to cover it on his solo album and wanted me to play on that, and another track,” said King.

That happened and the two were close until Hawkins died aged just 50 in 2022. King was invited to play at a star-studded memorial concert in Los Angeles.

“The guys put on a concert for him and I performed Something About You with the band,” he said. “Talking to a lot of people they say how much that song means to them.

“So from us being in an attic in Streatham, trying to come up with something, all these years later it meant something to people.

“Music is a form of communication that transcends language, political meanings and values and is a great way to unify people,” King said.

“When we tour we can play in Peru, Canada, Chile, Scandinavia, Japan and it means the same thing, people enjoy the music and have a nice time, it’s like going around to see friends.

“There is something about the music of the 80s that strikes a chord with people, its eclectic nature.”

And King is expecting to strike a chord when he plays in Plymouth next month.

“We’ve been doing this for a long time and have a lot of hits to play,” he said. “Let’s just hope the weather holds and we have a lovely day.”

See Level 42 and other bands at the Discovery Festival. For tickets: https://discoveryfestival.co.uk/

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