Mark Raymond King (born 20 October 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He is the lead vocalist and bassist of the jazz-funk band Level 42. King is known for his slap style of playing the bass guitar, with MusicRadar describing him as "the guy who put the slap in pop during the 80s". King received a BASCA Gold Badge Award in October 2015 in recognition of his contribution to British music. He won the "Outer Limits" award at the 2017 Progressive Music Awards.
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Mark King's "Almost There" bass line is no easy feat—Stuart Clayton dissects its complex slap grooves and fretting-hand tricks in this must-watch cover.
Bassist and educator Stuart Clayton is at it again with a new transcription book. “The 80s Bass Book” compiles 18 songs from the biggest artists of the decade.
1984 was a special year for music. In this episode, Paul Thompson dives into his top 10 favorite bass lines from that year, including the works of Abraham Laboriel, Tony Levin, Geddy Lee, Darryl Jones, Paul Denman, Cliff Burton, Benny Rietveld, Mark King, Nathan East, and Marcus Miller.
When I was 14, my dad gave me a long list of bass players to listen and learn from. Mark King was one of the first names on the list. Still as funky as ever, King gives us an incredibly melodic slap solo on the classic tune “Love Games.”
In 2014, the world lost a musical giant with the passing of Jack Bruce. Jeff Berlin began working on a tribute album shortly after his passing, and now that album is available as “Jack Songs,” with an unreal cast of musicians.
