Level 42’s Mark King bought his milk round float for £35 to land his big music break in London.
At the age of 18, the singer and slap bassist for the ’80s Brit jazz-funk band, now 66, was petrified about heading to the Big Smoke from the “sleepy” Cowes, Isle of Wright, but he battled cold, frosty nights in the back of the van to achieve his dream of becoming an artist.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz at the Gibson Garage London ‘Jam for Jack’ – a musical tribute to the late Cream bass guitarist Jack Bruce – last week, he recalled: “I bought my old milk rounds van for 35 quid, and I drove to London in it, and I slept the first full night in the back of the van.
“And for some reason, I decided to do it in February, so it was freezing cold.”
Referring to the elderly woman who lived in a dilapidated van in Alan Bennett’s memoir, he quipped: “I was like ‘The Lady in the Van’ – that was me.”
Mark grew up on the Isle of Wright with the group’s drummer Phil Gould and his late brother Boon, who was a guitarist in Level 42, and they used to talk about how they could get to London to become musicians.
He said: “[Figuring out how to get to London] was the hardest thing.
“I met Phil and Boon and, of course, we used to talk about it – we’re 15 years of age. What were we going to do? We’ve got to get to London, we’ve got to, we’ve got to try and get there because you can’t do it from the Isle of Wright.
“It’s different today. Today, you can actually make a record in your bedroom, you can do it from anywhere at all.
“It was quite terrifying.”
Mark emphasised that it is easier for budding musicians to get their break today.
He said: “I’ve never been one very much for music education.
“For me, it’s this thing of, you know, you see somebody do something, and it makes sense.
“And you think, ‘Oh, yeah, I can do that.’
“That’s the wonderful thing about, say YouTube now.
“All the stuffs on there.
“The standard musicianship amongst young musicians is higher now than it’s ever been in, certainly, anytime I can remember … young guys can look at all of these incredible musicians playing and see how they do it.”
To celebrate the first anniversary of the Gibson Garage London, off Oxford Circus, Gibson hosted a series of special in-store events.
‘Jam For Jack’ was held in aid of the newly founded Jack Bruce Foundation – which will support young people facing barriers accessing music education – and featured live performances from Mark, Phil Manzanera, Gary Husband, Jack Bruce’s Big Blues Band, Art Themen, Liam Bailey, Aruba Red, Kyla Simone Bruce, Marlee King and Nandi.
Fans can currently get up close to an exclusive display of Bruce’s EB-1 Violin Bass guitar at the Gibson Garage. Head to www.gibson.com/en-GB/ for more information.