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come out from work and much to his horror,
he’d find me inside having a dance.
Film tracks really changed things in music
then you think?
Without a doubt, It’s almost like these were
forerunners to MTV. I think the idea of putting
a great soundtrack to a great film is irresistible.
And nobody does that better of course than
Quentin Tarantino. He puts together these
incredible soundtracks for these films and
you wonder at the end of it which you like
better, the songs or the great footage.
Your bass playing has influenced a
generation. Where did your style come
from?
I wanted to be a drummer to begin with and
my bass style was very much drumming on
the bass guitar really. Growing up on the Isle
of Wight, I never had a massive exposure to
a lot of American bands, only the mainstream
ones that came through, but in fact those
upright bass players used to play slap bass
too. It carries the groove. If you take that
baseline out of the track, then it just doesn’t
swing anymore. I’d seen and heard Stanley
Clarke who was doing this and of course
the grandfather of slap bass, who was a guy
called Larry Graham. Over the last couple
of years I have had the great pleasure of
jamming with Larry’s band. Last September
we played the North Sea Jazz Festival in
Holland and I did my thing there and then
came on half way through Larry Graham’s
show to perform with him, but then who
should fly in other than Prince, who is also a
great fan of Larry’s, and so he came on stage
and had a jam as well. Then he was followed
by Carlos Santana. What a night!
It is quite a few years since Running in the
Family. Is it nice to look back on that time
and compare it to the way music is going
now?
Well time passes and new music comes
along. I listen a lot to BBC 6 music and I love
these indie bands that are coming through
at the moment and I’m really heartened by
hearing this stuff. Running in the Family was
our biggest time and we had another success
with Lessons in Love and we had number 1’s
around the world….in fact last weekend we
were in Cape Town playing the 15th Annual
Cape Town Jazz Festival and I had no idea
that we’d had two number ones out there!
But of course back at the end of the 80s, we
couldn’t go there because of apartheid and
we wouldn’t have wanted to go anyway. So
that album did us a massive favour and of
course that is why I can still go out and work
now.
So you have done a few Rewind festivals
now. Is it a favourite on your calendar?
I’ve done a couple and yea, they are always
enjoyable. We did one in Henley four or five
years ago when they were still very much
growing. Rewind is just getting more and
more successful and getting bigger and
bigger which I think is due to the organisers
because it is beautifully put together and all
the artists really enjoy doing it.
You have done Rewind North and you
have done Rewind South, are they very
different?
You know what, they’re not really. The
audiences come along and have a fantastic
time and it is so much a family day. You
see grandparents bringing along their kids
and they’ve got the grandkids with them. It
is a fabulous festival and so well organised
people can’t fail to enjoy themselves but
then the music of the 1980s kind of lends
itself to everybody having a good time. It’s
been interesting listening to the BBC talking
about Brit Pop because it is 20 years ago
since it came about. It is interesting how Brit
Pop burst onto the scene and then sort of
dropped off somehow. Also I can’t imagine
there will ever be a point where there is
a late 90s, early noughties resurgence in
music. Radio seemed to become very one
dimensional then. R&B and Rap, that’s okay
but that was all that seemed to be happening
and now we have inherited this culture of
solo singers again and that’s okay but it does
feel a bit like it has gone back to the pre
Rock Around the Clock thing. Having been
lucky enough to travel around the world and
meet people from so many different countries
reminds me how the 80s is still well loved.
People come up to me who are of an age and
say thank you very much because such and
such a song really meant something. When
you realise that your music actually goes out
and is globally loved by people, that’s a really
wonderful feeling.
You do a lot to inspire youngsters in
schools and colleges too don’t you?
It’s important that somebody helps the next
generation understand what it’s all about.
I’m patron of a couple of academies and a
school here on the Isle of Wight and it’s just
great. I don’t lecture them, I just go along and
I’ll get the computer out and play a couple
of songs and if they get it, then that is just
fantastic and they will come up and ask
you questions. You know when you have
engaged with them because they look you in
the eye and start asking you questions and
stuff, and that’s part of teaching. It’s not just
sitting them down and badgering them into
doing something. Do your thing and if they
ask questions, give them an answer.
You have done so much. Have you got
anything left on your bucket list? Do you
never get the urge to do a mosaic or
pottery?
Is that an urge? No not really. No, there’s
loads of things to do still. There’s just not
enough hours in the day, that’s the problem.
I haven’t been able to get out of the office
today and I’m desperate to get in the studio
because I’ve still got this real itch to write
new material.
Do you think you will ever stop?
I keep saying I’ve got five years left, but five
years passes so quick. It just goes like that.
All the while my agent keeps coming to me
and saying “Mark do you want to do this gig”
because people want to see you, then who
am I to say ‘no, not really’. The time to knock
it on the head is when you go out on the road
and nobody wants to come. Then that’s the
time to do a mosaic or pottery.
Mark King spoke to Jill Rayner.
See Mark and Level42 at Rewind
South in Henley 16th/17th August.
Weekend tickets still available.
Rewind is just getting more and more successful and getting bigger and bigger