Level 42 - Running In The Family

Level 42's 1987 "Running In The Family" album is being re-issued by Proper / UMC and is presented with scrupulous attention to the detail of the original UK first pressings and available in audiophile 180g red vinyl.

If 1985's World Machine captured Level 42 on the brink of stardom, then Running In The Family turned them into arena-filling superstars, amazing for a group who, at their core, were far more Mahavishnu Orchestra than Dire Straits. Its success is amazing for an album that started by accident: At the beginning of 1986, "Something About You" had gone Top 10 in the States and Level 42 were spending a great deal of time there. Polydor requested that the group come up with some new singles to promote in the UK, so Mark King went to his home studio and came up with "Lessons In Love"; a song that began the process of the album.

It was quickly apparent that "Lessons In Love" was a hit. And it was proved to be, becoming the group's biggest international success. As recording then began formally, with new song "Running In The Family", it was clear they had a follow up and title track for their next album. Released in March 1987, Running In The Family entered the UK chart at No 2 and spent over a year on the listings as subsequent singles "To Be With You Again", touching ballad "It's Over" and "Children Say" kept the album's profile high. The group's populist jazz-funk-pop was at its peak; the electric dance track "Fashion Fever" and the swaying "Two Solitudes" added to this commercial sound.

Tracks: Lessons In Love / Children Say / Running In The Family / It's Over / To Be With You Again / Two Solitudes / Fashion Fever / The Sleepwalkers