Mark King

Mark King was born and raised on the Isle of Wight. With drummer Phil Gould, he was a member of Reflex and "M" before forming the jazz-funk instrumental band, Level 42, with Phil, Phil's guitarist brother, Roland Gould, and keyboards player, Mike Lindup. King attracted much attention with his distinctive and highly-skilled bass guitar playing and, by the time of the band's first single "Love Meeting Love", he was also the lead vocalist. Level 42 had a series of fairly minor hit singles but, in 1983, "The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up)" reached the top ten. In September 1985, they released "Something About You", which reached number six and stayed on the chart for an impressive 17 weeks. It was also a top-ten hit in the USA. King had gained more confidence as a distinctive vocalist and their 1985 album, "World Machine", and its 1987 successor, "Running in the Family", firmly established Level 42 as a hugely successful melodic pop band to rival the likes of Phil Collins' Genesis. However, Level 42's increasingly commercial music disappointed some fans of their original jazz-funk style. "Running in the Family" was the final album with the Gould brothers, who left the band during the subsequent tour. Mark continued with Level 42 but the band had lost some of their magic and the singles became less successful. Level 42 disbanded in 1994, having spent 177 weeks on the British singles chart and 228 weeks on the album chart. Mark King lives on the Isle of Wight with his wife, Ria. He has four children. Level 42 will undoubtedly be remembered for producing some of the most skillful and distinctive British pop music of the 1980s.