Mark King and the Gould brothers (Phil and Rowland, the latter generally known by his nickname Boon) were all brought up on the Isle of Wight and played together in various bands during their teenage years.

Phil Gould went on to study at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he met keyboard player Mike Lindup in a percussion course.

In late 1979, Phil Gould introduced Mark King and Mike Lindup to each other, and all of them began playing together in loose rehearsal sessions, developing their own jazz-funk fusion style.

The developing band's original guitarist was Dominic Miller (later to find fame playing with Sting), but he was replaced by Boon Gould on the latter's return from working in the United States.

Initially, instrumental roles were flexible, with Boon Gould also playing bass guitar and saxophone and Lindup doubling on keyboards and drums.

Mark King was primarily a drummer (although he also played guitar) but had recently sold his drum kit to pay for transport back to the UK after an ill-fated European venture.

A notably flexible musician and quick learner, he had observed visiting American funk players demonstrating the thumb-slap bass guitar technique and developed his own take on the style in a matter of weeks.

Although he never formally joined the band, Badarou would become a fifth member in all but name: co-writing songs, playing keyboards and synthesizers in the studio and co-producing the records.

The band quickly established themselves as concert favourites on the budding British and European jazz-funk scene, taking advantage of the musical expertise and performance skills of all four members.

Produced by Larry Dunn and Verdine White (of Earth, Wind & Fire), this album began a new era for the band, being less experimental and less jazzy than previous releases.

The 1984 album True Colours continued the band's development away from primarily jazz-funk based music, switching between funk, power pop, mid-tempo rock and moody ballads.

[citation needed] For live gigs the band added saxophonist Krys Mach, who toured with the group from 1984 to 1988 and contributed to some album recordings.

"[6] During the recording of the album, the first major tensions between Phil Gould and Mark King began to surface over musical direction, production and their personal relationship.

Allan Holdsworth's drummer Gary Husband was lined up as a potential replacement, but Gould and King's dispute was subsequently patched up and the group went on to enjoy their most successful year to date.

However, he had been suffering from nervous exhaustion and also wanted to leave the lifestyle of a constantly touring musician in order to settle down and spend more time with his wife and children.

He was temporarily replaced by Paul Gendler (an experienced session player who had previously been the guitarist for Modern Romance) for a six-week headlining tour and for further support slots with Tina Turner.

Phil was also reportedly dissatisfied with the band's direction in terms of their newer "pop" sound, and King and Lindup failed to convince him to stay.

At the time, his previous band Go West had been stalled by internal disagreements, and one of Murphy's reasons for joining Level 42 was to ensure that he spent his last days playing the music that he loved.

During the break, Mike Lindup also recorded and released his debut solo album, Changes (featuring Dominic Miller, Pino Palladino on bass and Manu Katché on drums).

In December 1990, Level 42 returned to play a record run of concerts at Hammersmith Odeon, London, in part fulfilling booking obligations preceding the band's recent hiatus.

Instead the band recruited well-respected art-pop guitarist, session player and sometime solo artist Jakko Jakszyk: the former frontman for 64 Spoons, he'd also collaborated with Tom Robinson, Sam Brown and Stewart/Gaskin among others.

He was replaced as live drummer by Jakszyk's friend and frequent collaborator Gavin Harrison (who later played drums for both Porcupine Tree and King Crimson as well as remaining an esteemed studio player).

In 1999, he played some shows at The Jazz Café in London under the name of "The Mark King Group" with a band including Husband, Jakszyk and Lyndon Connah.

[citation needed] Although Mark King released two solo albums, his previous band's music proved to be persistently popular and he found that he was playing more and more old Level 42 tracks at live shows.

On 13 February 2005 there was a brief one-night reunion with Mike Lindup (who joined the band onstage for a date at The Forum in London)[citation needed] and over the course of the year there was a burst of reissue activity.

Erstwhile guitarist Boon Gould provided the album's lyrics (as well as contributing a guitar solo on "Ship") and the band was effectively expanded to a six-piece via extensive guest performances by Mike Lindup, who added prominent keyboard parts and vocals to many tracks.

In 2012, Level 42 toured the UK and mainland Europe, in celebration of the 25th anniversary since the release of Running In The Family, by playing the whole album, with a whole array of other hits.

[17] On 20 and 21 September 2013, Level 42 (joined by an expanded brass section), performed three new songs at London's Indigo O2 Arena – "Where's Yo' Head At", "Too Much Time", and "Sirens".

Mixed by the American DJ John Morales, the EP also contained "Mind On You", "My Independence Day" and "Build Myself a Rocket" (with King's daughter Marlee providing the backing vocals on the last of these tracks).

They also played two nights at the Indigo2 in London where the band once again featured a larger brass section consisting of Dan Carpenter (trumpet) and Nicol Thomson (trombone) as well as regular saxophonist Sean Freeman.