![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_Mark-King.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhen you think of the 1980s what comes to mind? The Walkman? Shoulder pads? Big hair? The Sinclair C5?<\/p>\n
What about Level 42?<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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 \u201cyuppie\u201d movement loosely termed sophisti-pop.<\/p>\n
And they are still going – and bringing their polished sound to Plymouth\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve schlepped around a bit,” singer and bass player Mark King told PlymouthLive. \u201cWe 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\u2019m grateful for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mark King, of Level 42, who will be playing at the Discovery Festival in Plymouth in June(Image: Submitted)<\/p>\n
King said he is really looking forward to showing Britain\u2019s 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\u2019s home ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to it, a nice line-up of artists,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll put together 60 minutes of hits, people will have a nice time. So put your dancing shoes on.\u201d<\/p>\n
King described how he felt a \u201cbrotherhood\u201d with OMD\u2019s Andy McCluskey and described Kim Wilde as a \u201cgood mate from many years ago\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve known her since 1981,\u201d he said. \u201cShe\u2019s a sweetheart and puts on a great show, with so many songs you know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Level 42 started life as a somewhat underground jazz-funk fusion outfit alongside bands such as Incognito, Central Line, and Light of the World.<\/p>\n
They were all making waves in London in what King called \u201ca crazy time\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe never realised what we were doing was going to be labelled Brit funk,\u201d he said. \u201cA 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Level 42 were elevated out of that scene to become a chart act, helped by King\u2019s eye-catching thumb-slap bass technique, and some solid song-writing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were lucky,\u201d he said. \u201cLike a lot of bands we didn’t think we were part of a cult, and we kept evolving.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were very lucky, very fortunate, and tried to move with the times. We had a good run for 15 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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 \u201cyuppies\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a strange time, with the rise of Margaret Thatcher, a looking-after-number-one vibe and characters like Loadsamoney,\u201d said King. \u201cThere were these guys in big-shouldered suits in the City.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was bittersweet because that\u2019s quite repulsive. We weren’t celebrating that but you can\u2019t remove yourself from the place you are functioning in, you have to get through it and we managed to do that.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy 1988 and 1989 people were looking for something else and then came the birth of Britpop. That\u2019s as it should be, there should be change.\u201d<\/p>\n
The band still tours internationally, including in Japan and the USA, where King struck up an unusual musical friendship.<\/p>\n
Level 42\u2019s funky groove may sound a lightyear away from Foo Fighters guitar rock roar, but as Kind said, \u201ca good song, is a good song,\u201d and the US rockers\u2019 late drummer Taylor Hawkins certainly recognised one.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe 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,\u201d said King.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe guys put on a concert for him and I performed Something About You with the band,\u201d he said. \u201cTalking to a lot of people they say how much that song means to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo from us being in an attic in Streatham, trying to come up with something, all these years later it meant something to people.<\/p>\n
\u201cMusic is a form of communication that transcends language, political meanings and values and is a great way to unify people,\u201d King said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen 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\u2019s like going around to see friends.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is something about the music of the 80s that strikes a chord with people, its eclectic nature.\u201d<\/p>\n
And King is expecting to strike a chord when he plays in Plymouth next month.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been doing this for a long time and have a lot of hits to play,\u201d he said. \u201cLet\u2019s just hope the weather holds and we have a lovely day.\u201d<\/p>\n
See Level 42 and other bands at the Discovery Festival. For tickets: https:\/\/discoveryfestival.co.uk\/<\/p>\n
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