If you were a musical act plying your trade in the 80s, regardless of which genre you might have started out populating, at some point you likely tried to gravitate to the pop charts. Doing so while keeping what was special about you in the first place was the tricky part.
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The British band Level 42 navigated this leap quite well. Evidence of their fusion beginnings was still audible in their US breakthrough hit “Something About You”, which vaulted to the US Top 10 in 1985.
On Another Level
You can sometimes tell the direction of the band by the identity of their influences. Considering that they initially formed in the late 70s in Great Britain, you might expect that punk acts like The Clash or The Sex Pistols were the signposts. Instead, jazz fusion artists like Miles Davis and John McLaughlin set the bar for this band.
As a matter of fact, Level 42, who took their name from a reference in the sci-fi novel The Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy, started out playing only instrumentals. They shuffled among instruments in their early years. One particular lineup switch made a massive impact.
Mark King, who also became one of the band’s lead vocalists once they started adding lyrics, originally played drums and guitar. But when those roles were filled by others, he switched to bass. He developed a slap-bass technique that became one of the defining factors of the band’s sound.
Starting “Something”
As the 80s progressed, the band started shortening the length of their songs and beefing up the hooks for a better fit at pop radio. Little by little, they worked their way into the UK singles charts.
Breaking through in America was the next milestone. That happened via a track begun by some chord changes composed by drummer Phil Gould. The other members began pitching in with musical ideas. Guitarist Boon Gould took care of the lyrics. Eventually, “Something About You” emerged.
Like many Level 42 tracks from that era, “Something About You” featured Mark King, with his deeper voice, playing off the falsetto vocals of keyboardist Mike Lindup. “Something About You” scored big for the band as the first single from their 1985 album World Machine. It found a place in the Top 10 in both the UK and the US.
Behind the Lyrics of “Something About You”
The lyrics of “Something About You” detail the difficulties that can pop up in even the most stable love connections. Despite being “carved out of caring” and “fashioned by fate,” love still “could suffer so hard/From the games played once too often.”
Time has its way of messing with relationships. “Oh, these changing years,” Lindup wails. “They add to your confusion.” But King finds his way back to bliss in the refrain. “That there is something about you,” he testifies. “Baby, so right/I wouldn’t be here without you.”
A couple more Top 25 US hits spun out from the World Machine album for the band. Their singles’ popularity waned quickly in America, but not so much in their native country. Level 42 proved with “Something About You” that 80s pop could embrace even funk-jazz as long as it was catchy and relatable.
Photo by Eugene Adebari/Shutterstock
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