Level 42 -- Something About You

 

On this week's Reminiscings of Youth, I bring you a single that I first heard on FM radio one afternoon after lunch during my university years.

Level 42 had already been around for some years before "Something About You" made its premiere, and I would find out some of their earlier gems on the dance floor. I think back then, Mark King and his band were providing their share of jazz-funk, but "Something About You" was the first song by them to hit my ears. And as soon as it did, I felt that there was something about them. The song didn't sound jazzy and neither it was supremely funky; in fact, I thought it was more along the lines of synthpop with the emphasis on pop.

Coming out in September 1985, "Something About You" became my latest target to find on the airwaves to record it onto one of my haphazard Canadian Tire tapes (many people collected stamps, I collected songs from radio), and of course, I would eventually get "World Machine", the source album. The song was one of the many tunes that burrowed its way into my head and not let go, primarily because of that catchy keyboard work. However, getting "World Machine" wasn't enough for me; I just had to track down the extended remix, too.

The song did pretty well in Canada where it hit No. 13 on the RPM Singles chart and it even went all the way up to No. 4 on US Billboard's Dance Club chart. "Something About You" opened up the world of Level 42 to me through their past songs such as "Hot Water" and "Micro-Kid" and then I would also get an even more successful album "Running in the Family" a few years later.

A couple of acts made their debut in Japan a few weeks before the arrival of "Something About You".

Pizzicato V -- The Audrey Hepburn Complex

Akiko Kobayashi -- Koi ni Ochite (恋におちて）

And September 1985 had a No. 1 single on the Oricon Singles chart.

Anzen Chitai -- Kanashimi ni Sayonara（悲しみにさよなら)