| Mark King |
Mark
King in Woolwich '85
|
| Background information |
| Born |
October 20, 1958 (1958-10-20) (age 48) |
| Origin |
Cowes, Isle of Wight, England |
| Genre(s) |
Pop |
| Occupation(s) |
Singer, bassist |
| Instrument(s) |
Vocals, bass
guitar |
| Years active |
1979 – Present |
| Label(s) |
Polydor
RCA |
Associated
acts |
Level 42 |
| Notable instrument(s) |
| JayDees
Bass Guitar |
Mark King (born 20 October
1958, in Cowes, Isle
of Wight) is an English
musician
from the Isle of Wight. He is most famous for
being the lead singer
and bassist
of the band,
Level
42. In the early 1980s King popularized the 1970s-era slap
and pop style for playing the bass guitar by incorporating it into pop music.
|
Contents
- 1 Early
life
- 2 Level
42
- 3 Solo
and later work
- 4 Playing
style
- 5 Instruments
- 6 Home
life
- 7 Discography
- 7.1 Albums
- 7.2 Singles
- 7.3 DVDs
- 8 External
links
|
Early life
King began life on the Isle of Wight, a small island just off
the southern mainland coast of England. His father, Raymond King, was a
dairyman, and the family lived in a tied dairy house. King recalled in
a 2006 newspaper interview [1], "it was post-war, with one
brass tap, an outside toilet and a zinc bath in front of the fire." He
later lived on the Camp Hill and Albany prison estates on the outskirts
of Newport. He attended
Kitbridge Middle School where he met his childhood sweetheart Tracey
Wilson, later writing a song about her. He then went to Cowes
High School.
Originally, King pursued a career as a drummer. His
father bought him his first kit for £10, whilst he gained encouragement
to pursue a career in music
from his music teacher at middle school.
Level 42
King moved to London at the age of nineteen, subsequently
forming Level 42 in 1979
with Mike
Lindup and fellow Islanders, brothers Phil and Rowland
Charles Gould. Still drumming at this point, when the band began
jamming and needed a bass player, King reluctantly took over the role.
He went on to make a lead instrument of the bass guitar. It should be
noted that he did not intend to take up the role of playing bass, but
merely did it by way of necessity. He had lost his drum kit on an
ill-fated trip to Austria, having to sell it to pay for a ticket back
home. Since Level 42 already had a drummer lined up, King played bass.
At one of their first gigs, at the La Babalu club in Ryde, Level 42 were
spotted by the head of a small independent record
label and signed. The next year they were signed to Polydor and King
spent the next nine years recording and
touring with the band. The first Top 40 single, "Love Games", was released in
1981,
heralding the band's first appearance on Top
of the Pops. The big breakthrough came with the release of "The Sun
Goes Down (Livin' it up)" in 1983.
While in Level 42, King found his bass-playing services in
some demand. He was invited by Nik Kershaw to play on his
second album The Riddle (1984) and by Midge Ure to
play on his albums The Gift (1985) and Answers
To Nothing (1988).
Level 42 supported The
Police in 1981, followed by tours with Steve
Winwood in 1986 and Madonna
in 1987. In 1986, King and Lindup performed alongside Eric
Clapton, Phil Collins, Mark
Knopfler and Elton John at a Prince's
Trust charity concert.
They released the album Retroglide in 2006
and a European tour followed.
Solo and later work
In 1984
he released his first solo album, Influences (at the
time he needed a deposit to put down on a house - this album gave him
that opportunity), followed by One Man in 1998. King was
featured in a solo bass performance on UK Channel 4's The
Tube, described afterwards by host Jools
Holland as "virtuosity gone mad".
Since then, Level 42 has re-formed as a
touring group, with King (lead singer and bass player), Gary
Husband on drums, Nathan King on guitars and vocals, Lyndon
Connah on keyboards and vocals, and Sean Freeman on saxophone and
vocals. The band announced a tour in Autumn 2006, with a show at the Royal
Albert Hall on 20 October. (Original keyboard player
Mike Lindup rejoined the band in 2006, replacing the departing Lyndon
Connah.)
King spent 2005 writing and recording a new Level 42 album
called Retroglide, which has been co-written by
former Level 42 band-member Boon Gould. This was released in September
2006 and is available on iTunes and CD.
Playing style
Mark King helped to develop and popularize the slap and pop
style of playing the bass guitar in the 1980s. The slapping
and popping style was developed in the 1970s by funk bassists such as Larry
Graham and further developed by jazz fusion bassists such as Stanley
Clarke. King developed a rapid playing speed using this technique, and
introduced technical elements that enabled him to produce a mix of
percussive effects while still playing a bass line.
King's bass playing style is largely based on continuous 16th
notes (aka semiquavers), variously described as "machine-gun" style.
The "machine-gun" style of playing consists of popping a note,
hammering on, then slapping (occasionally with a left hand slap
combined) very rapidly.
King and Level 42 are considered highly influential artists of
the brit
funk movement of the 1970s and 1980s.
Instruments
King has used various models of bass guitar through the years,
the two most commonly used brands have been JayDees
(as exemplified by "Love Games") and the Status Graphite (evident on
his solo works). The JayDees were built by John Diggins, a former
employee of John Birch. JayDee is phonetic
for his initials, J.D.
Mark King has used Status Graphite basses since the 1980s
including the Series-2000 and Empathy models. In November 2000, Rob
Green and Mark King developed the Status KingBass, a headless, double
cut-away bass with a woven graphite through-neck, Status Hyperactive
pickups and active electronics. Status LEDs are a custom option on all
Status models. Status Graphite basses are handmade in England by Rob
Green.
Other known basses he has used are Alembics, Pangborn basses,
a Zon bass (on the album "World Machine" for the song "Lying Still").
King's first fretless bass was a Japanese-made "Moon" jazz bass. King
also owned two MusicMan basses, a Wal
bass, which was fitted with an MB4 MIDI interface (used on the album "Guaranteed",
on the track "Lasso The Moon").
In 1999, King briefly used Fender basses. A limited run of 42 "Mark
King" Jazz basses were made, built and set up to King's specifications.
They all came fitted with SIM's LED lights, flat-radiused fingerboards
and a custom neck plate engraved with his signature. Also in 1999, King
used GB basses, handmade in England by Bernie Goodfellow.
Home life
King moved back to his native Isle of Wight in 1988. During
the 1990s,
he bought a pub in Ryde, Isle of Wight. The pub was called Joe
Daflo's, a contraction of the names of his (then) three
children, Jolie (born 1988), Darcy (born 1985) and Florrie (born 1982).
King sold the pub in 2000 and it has since become a chain of pubs
operating in the coastal towns of southern England.
King lives in Alverstone Garden Village on the Isle of Wight
with his Dutch
wife, Ria, and fourth child, Marlee, born in 1999.
Discography
For a Level 42 discography, see Level
42 discography.
Albums
- Influences (1984)
- One Man
(1998)
- Trash (1999)
- Live at the Jazz Cafe (1999) (live)
- Live on the Isle of Wight (2000) (live)
Singles
- "I Feel Free" (1984)
- "Bitter Moon" (1998)
DVDs
- Mark King - One filter (1999) (live)
- Mark King Group - Live at the Jazz Cafe
(1999) (live)
- Grupo Mark King - Live at the Isle of Wight
(2000) (live)
External links
| v • d • e Level
42 |
| Mark King
• Mike
Lindup • Rowland "Boon" Gould • Phil Gould • Gary
Husband |
| Nathan King • Sean
Freeman • Alan Murphy • Jakko
Jakszyk • Lyndon Connah |
| Discography |
Studio albums: Level
42 (1981) • The
Early Tapes (1982) • The Pursuit of Accidents
(1982) • Standing
in the Light (1983) • True Colours (1984)
• World Machine (1985)
• Running in the Family (1987)
• Staring at the Sun (1988)
• Guaranteed (1991)
• Forever Now (1994)
• Retroglide (2006)
|
Live albums: A
Physical Presence (1985) • The River
Sessions (1983) • Live At Wembley (1989)
• Retroglide Tour (Live at the New Oxford Theatre, 2006)
|
| Compilations: Level Best
(1989) • The Very Best Of Level 42
(1998) • The Ultimate Collection
(2003) • The Definitive
Collection (2006) • The Love
Collection (2006) |
| Videos/DVD's: Family Of
Five (Video Singles 1980-1987) • Live At Rockpalast
(1983 & 1984) • Live At Wembley (1986)
• Fait Accompli (Onstage, Offstage, Backstage - 1988)
• The Ultimate Collection (Video Singles & Making Of,
1980 - 1989) • Live At Reading (2001) • Live
At The Appollo (2003) • Retroglide Tour (Live at
the New Oxford Theatre, 2006) |
|
Songs:
Love Games • The
Chinese Way • The Sun Goes Down (living It Up) •
Hot Water • Something About
You • Leaving Me Now • Good
Man in a Storm • Lessons in Love • Running in the Family •
To Be With You Again • It's Over • Children
Say • Fashion Fever • Heaven
in My Hands • Take a Look • Tracie
• Guaranteed • A
Kinder Eye • If You Were Mine • Overtime
• Forever Now • All
Over You |
| Related |
|
Jazz-Funk • Wally
Badarou • Tower
42 • Band members
|
