Level 42

Level 42 is an English pop band, led by Mark King. At one time, drummer Gary Husband was member of the group. When Level 42 found themselves in urgent need for a guitarist, Allan was asked to help out. He recorded the album "Guaranteed" with them, and did a series of gigs with the band at the Hammersmith Odeon. Some live recordings from these gigs have surfaced on the album "Living It Up".

Allan on playing with Level 42

On The Level (IM&RW 1991)

The following conversation took place in his London hotel room in the middle of his two week residency at the Hammersmith Odeon with Level 42 and I began asking him how he became involved with them. ‘They asked me to play on their new album, which I did and I really enjoyed it. Of course after Alan Murphy died I knew they were looking for a guy to be a permanent member so I said to Gary, ‘if you guys get stuck and you can’t find the right guy just call me up’. So they did.

IM - How did you find fitting in with Level 42 initially? Were they quite rigid or did they give you a lot of leeway?

"I tried to slot into what they had going previously. I don’t really know if I’m doing a good job or not. It’s alien territory for me. I have already heard a few things, like the way that my rig was setup. It was set up to do what I do. It wasn’t really set up to do a lot of other things. So I had to change a few things around just to accommodate certain aspects of the guitar parts the way the guys wanted them."

IM - So have they been definite about the how they want guitar parts to be played?

"Well in some of them, yeah. And then in other places they would just say ‘go, do whatever you want’. It’s fine, it’s great from that point of view."

IM - I noticed that you played the little guitar motif from Lessons in Love verbatim. How do you feel after having had so much freedom with your own band about sticking to something somebody else has done?

"They figured that people heard that not as a solo, but just as a melody, so they said ‘play that melody’. So I do. But on all the other solos I do what I want. Mark was the only person I have ever done a session for who actually let me do what I do. He just said, ‘play a solo there’ and practically whatever I did was acceptable to him which was great and he didn’t try to get me to do anything that would have alienated me from the music."

The Reluctant Guitarist (Jazz Journal 1992)

Holdsworth left school at 15, but not to pursue music. His teenage love, and one that still endures, was cycling. Holdsworth shared the hotel room in which this interview took place with a new touring cycle, custom built for use during his month or so stay in London as a member of Level 42. As a youth he did both road racing and time trials in Yorkshire, and he’s considering entering veteran races in California, his home since the early eighties.

Holdsworth felt that his light, legato touch created certain problems in Level 42, where he was expected to be a rhythm as well as lead player.

‘I didn’t really want to play the guitar as a percussive instrument, and strumming has never been something that appealed to me at all. It’s not something that I’d ever use in my own music, but it’s quite a prominent thing in Level 42, so it’s been strange because it’s such an alien thing for me. It doesn’t sound right to me, but they’re probably being polite and telling me it’s fine. I just don’t see the guitar in that role.’

Creating Imaginary Backdrops (Innerviews 1993)

Level 42.

It was good. It was good fun. Good guys. An enjoyable experience.

What about getting involved with a full-blown band again?

I wouldn’t mind that at all. As long as it doesn’t diminish the fact that I can go out and tour with my own band and make my own music. I would just be a member of someone else’s band. That would be fine. I enjoy playing other people’s music—like when I worked with Level 42. That was pop music, but I enjoyed it because I knew what it is, and for what it is, it’s really good.

No Secrets (Facelift 1994)

Finally, I had to ask him about his spell with Level 42, as he’s the second guitarist to appear in 4 Facelift issues to have had connections with a band not usually associated with this sphere of music.

"It was basically helping them out because I played on the album. I always like to play on albums, because then you can go in and try and make whatever you do work in that environment. I just mentioned to them that I knew that Alan Murphy had died and I said if you don’t find the right guy before you go on tour and you get stuck, you can call me...

"And that’s what happened basically. They were looking for another guy and I guess in the end they got Jakko. I was just helping them out. It wasn’t right even down to my rig. The whole purpose of the way that my sound or the equipment has grown is to make certain things or certain sounds that like and I’d stayed away from all the regular guitar things like strumming, and there was a lot of that in Level 42. It’s not something that I really can get into. I never really liked the strumming aspect of guitar playing at all, so I knew it wasn’t right. But it got them through - it helped them out.

"Again they were all wonderful guys and for the kind of music that they play it was really good. But I couldn’t have done that for a long time - I would have gone nuts!" A major restriction on his playing, surely? "Oh, completely. And the thought of having to play some solo. The most horrendous thing for me was to have the spotlight on me once a night to play 4 bars of solo, note for note, that was played by this guy, like, 20 years ago. I had to really bite my tongue on that. But that’s that game - it’s showbiz, it’s not necessarily music.

Med Siktet Innställt På Total Kontroll (MusikerMagasinet 1996, Swedish language)

It’s a little surprising to see his name on records with groups like Level 42, Russian Gorky Park, and Krokus.

- I could never work as a studio musician. Such side projects have come about because I know these guys, and sometimes I have played on records as a thank you for helping me out. This is how it was with Gorky Park, they lent me the equipment to mix None Too Soon. As for Level 42, I filled a temporary vacuum. (Drummer) Gary Husband played with them, and when their guitarist died, I participated in a tour and a recording. I was definitely not the right man in the right place, but I cannot say I regret anything. Generally, it would have been more fun if one could have influenced the music to a greater extent, but I do that with my own compositions.

Whisky Galore (Guitarist 2000)

You had a go at being in a commercial band with Level 42. Is there anyone you’d like to play with these days?

"No, not really. They were really great guys and for the type of music they were doing were really good. But it’s the touring side that kills me - not the scheduling, but it’s then that you realise what the music really is and that’s when it gets to you.

The Allan Holdsworth Interview! (Jazz Houston 2006)

MM: Any future plans with Gary Husband or Level 42?

AH: Well, I love those guys and would play with them more but distance and money are always an issue. You know you book some dates at the Baked Potato and just don’t have the money to fly someone overseas to try and do a date when you won’t even come close to breaking even. That’s just the way it is. But, I know that I’ll play with those guys in the future again. I love playing with them.

Gary Husband on Allan's role in Level 42

Modern Drummer, June 1991

SG: It's interesting that Mark King invited you into Level 42 to be part of the creative team, despite the fact that you were known for playing quite a different style of music. He might have been expected to get somebody who would lay down a groove like Phil Gould, and otherwise just do things to order.

GH: If Mark had said to me, "Look, we want you to sound as close to Phil as you can," I wouldn't have wanted to join. Because, although I am quite happy to recreate certain drum styles in the spirit of authenticating musical styles from the past, this isn't something from the past, it's Level 42 now. That's what I'll represent to the best of my ability. Mark seems to have the philosophy that he will approach musicians for the individual way they play. He has to make decisions that are compatible with the musical and business pressures on him, and I respect him greatly for that. He has a record company breathing down his neck, expecting him to come up with a product that is going to work in a "pop" way. He hired me over the phone, on the strength of what he had heard on Allan Holdsworth's albums, because he had the unshakable belief that it would work. He was right-it does work—but I wouldn't have known before we tried it. [laughs]

SG: Allan Holdsworth plays guitar on Guaranteed. How did that come about?

GH: Well, as you know, we lost Alan Murphy. That's been a great blow to all of us, because he was a great friend as well as a great player. We're still reeling from that sad loss. The very, very hard job that has been facing us is to replace him.

It was Mark's idea to give Allan Holdsworth a call to see whether he would be interested, and I had to think very hard about whether Allan would be willing. He has a perfectionist's view of everything he does. If he were to play on a Level 42 album, he would have to be certain that everything he did would fit perfectly. Another thing worrying me was that I knew that when he performs a solo, he doesn't like other band members in the control room. But to my amazement, he came in with a basic setup, got a monstrous guitar sound, and started playing incredible things to our music. I wouldn't have thought it would have worked so well, but it did. He gave his strong personal magic to that music, but nothing was out of place. He heard the music for what it was. It was a strange experience listening to the playbacks. There was the sound of Allan's guitar and my drums together, which is something I am used to hearing. Then there was the sound of my playing with Mark and Mike, which is something else I'm used to. Now I was hearing the whole lot together!

SG: I understand he will be touring with you as well. Does this mean that Allan Holdsworth is the Level 42 guitarist?

GH: When it was discussed that he might play on the record, it wasn't even contemplated that he might do some live work as well—simply by virtue of his commitment to his own record label and his own schedule. Also, Level 42 obviously needs a guitarist who is highly rhythmic, which isn't Allan's area. So I wouldn't have thought that him touring with us would have come about at all—until Allan said to me one night, "You can tell Mark that if he can't find anybody, I'd love to give it a go." I was completely gobstruck! [laughs]