Mark King (musician)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mark King (born 20 October 1958, in Cowes, Isle of Wight) is a British musician from the Isle of Wight. He is most famous for being the lead singer and bassist player of the band, Level 42. In the early 1980s he revolutionised the slap and pop style for playing the bass guitar, becoming one of the most well known bass players of his generation. [citation needed]
Contents |
[edit] Early life
King began life on the Isle of Wight, a small island just off the southern coast of the mainland of the United Kingdom. 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.
[edit] 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 Boon 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, playing bass was the logical role for King to take.
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.
[edit] Solo and later work
In 1984 he released his first solo album, Influences, followed by One Man in 1998.
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.
King himself 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.
[edit] Playing style/Basses
Mark King is best known for his slap and pop style. This bass style was first invented by double bass players as far back as the 1920's, using the palm of the hand to slap and plucking the strings with their fingers. it was then carried over to the bass guitar by players like Larry Graham. Later, it was developed by Stanley Clarke and other artists from the black funk and jazz scene. King developed an incredible playing speed using this technique. Furthermore, he introduced and developed new technical elements that enabled him to produce a mix of percussive effects while still playing a bass line.
King's tremendously sought-after playing style is largely based on continuous 16ths. He has stated that he developed this "machine-gun-style" after feeling uneasy in front of an audience when he was not playing. Because of this, he ended up playing more notes in each song, such that he was practically playing continuous 16ths throughout the piece.
His bass tone is as distinct as his style. Although 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). Other known basses he has used are Alembics.
He had four Alembic basses, the first two he ordered being 34" scale Series II basses. Before these custom-order basses arrived he also bought a Series I and Distillate bass. The Distillate series has since been discontinued. King also used Pangborn basses, built by luthier Ashley Pangborn. King's affiliation with the basses have since made the few models produced extremely sought-after, as very few were produced. Pangborn no longer makes basses, instead working for Gibson guitars Germany. King can be seen using the Pangborn basses in the music videos for "Living it Up (the sun goes down)" and "Weave Your Spell".
King also used the aforementioned Jaydee basses, acquiring several Classic Series I and II models, as well as a new "Calibas" model which never made it to record. Much like with the Alembic models, the Jaydee bass models he used are now referred to "Mark King" models, a tribute to his time using them.
On the album "World Machine", King also used a Zon bass, a red Legacy 4-string fitted with a vibrato unit. It was only used on one track, "Lying Still".
King's first fretless bass was a Japanese-made "Moon" jazz bass, which he was given in 1985/86 when he met the maker of the basses in a Japanese airport. The bass started life with frets but was later defretted by King. The company are most famous for their affiliation with seminal funk bassist Larry Graham, who has played Moon basses since the early 1980's. King's Moon bass was fitted with Alembic electronics, and was defretted by King himself to record the song "Seven Years" from the Guaranteed album. In 1998 King sold a number of his basses to the Bass Center in London after moving house, which led to it being purchased by "Don Z". To see Don's personal page on his bass, follow the link provided (http://members.aol.com/donworld/moon1.html)
King also owned two MusicMan basses, a StingRay four string with a three band EQ (serial number #30221) and a StingRay five string. Both basses "left the factory in March '90". The StingRay four string appeared on several tracks from the Guaranteed album, as well as being used on all of "Forever Now" and several tracks from "Trash".
King also owned a Wal bass, which fitted with an MB4 MIDI interface. He played it live at the Princes Trust charity concert in 1989, when he shared the stage with Midge Ure and Eric Clapton. Its only appearance on record is on 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. King personally owned two, a blue and a red version. The blue bass made live appearances at "The night of the proms" show in 1998. These "special edition" Fenders have since became extremely sought-after by both Mark King and Fender fans alike. Fender basses are highly collectible, and the fact that only 42 basses were made adds to their rarity and allure.
Also in 1999, King used GB basses. These basses were handmade in England by Bernie Goodfellow. He had two Standard GB4 models, models based on an "enhanced jazz bass" design. One of the basses (serial no #00010-4) has a "Daphne Blue" finish and is known for as "The Blue Bass" (It also has blue LED lights fitted under the fretboard). This is the slightly more "classic" of the two basses, mimicking the classic Fender Jazz Bass look somewhat with its white scratchplate and solid, one tone finish. King's second GB4 bass (serial number #0014-4) was finished in a translucent golden-orange burst finish over a quilted maple top, and was fitted with green LEDs. Both of these GB basses can be seen on the "Ohne Filter" DVD, and the burst-finish bass can be seen on the cover of Trash. King also had two GB Rumor models, one in a red finish with red LEDs (serial number #0001), one in a gold finish with gold LEDs. Both of these basses were used on the first shows of the 2000 tour and at the first gig in the Jazz Cafe, London.
King has also used Status Graphite basses since the 1980's. Status Graphite basses are handmade in England by Rob Green, and are renowned for their high quality feel, sound and fit and finish. The company is also famous for its use of graphite in making basses and for making headless basses, both elements which define the company as being a leader in bass design since it's inception in the 1980's. King has owned many Status basses, including Series II, Series 2000 (including the only example of a pillar-box red Series 2000). He owned the first 3 Matrix Empathy basses made (Serial numbers #001, #002 and #003) and the first 5 string Matrix Empathy bass (Serial number #001). Sadly, the first Matrix Empathy bass (#001) was stolen from a London hotel on February 24th, 1991 and has never been recovered.
In November 2000, a meeting between Rob Green and King came to the conclusion that it was time to make King "The bass he had always wanted". From this, the Status Kingbass was born. It is a headless, double cut bass with Status Hyperactive pickups (and SIM's LEDs as standard on the Artist models). The Standard model is 34" scale with no bendwell, and the Artist version is 32" scale with a Status Bendwell. The Bendwell is an original design from Status, a device placed at the top of the neck that allows the player to emulate "behind the nut bends", something previously impossible on headless basses. Five prototype models were made, some of which have been sold on by Status (#4 came up for sale recently on the dedicated Status forum http://www.statii.com). Limited edition and custom models of the Kingbass have been made, including the "Princess" and "Black Beauty" models. The Princess model is unique in that it has the "princess" from Level 42's eponymous debut album airbrushed on the front, and then sealed with lacquer. He also has the new "Retroglide" Kingbass, which was made to commemorate the release of the Retroglide album.
[edit] 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, where he is said to have drunk more than he sells. He called this pub Joe Daflo's after his (then) three children, Jolie (born 1988), Darcy (born 1985) and Florrie (born 1982), then sold it in 2000. Joe Daflo's has since become a chain of pubs operating on the south coast of England.
King lives in Alverstone Garden Village on the Isle of Wight with his Dutch wife, Ria, and fourth child, Marlee, born in 1999.
[edit] Discography
For a Level 42 discography, click here.
[edit] Albums
- Influences (1984)
- One Man (1998)
- Trash (1999)
- Live at the Jazz Cafe (1999) (live)
- Live on the Isle of Wight (2000) (live)
[edit] Singles
- "I Feel Free" (1984)
- "Bitter Moon" (1998)
[edit] 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)
