In 2012 Level 42 leader Mark King recalled the moment he discovered John McLaughlin and The Mahavishnu Orchestra on TV when he was 14, launching him into a mission on his Raleigh bike to the Isle of Wight’s only record shop and the nearby hairdresser and clothes store. Warning: the actual clip he watched can be seen below – be careful how it affects you.
“Although I’ve ended up ploughing this jazz-funk thing, my first fave band was Cream, then Hendrix. Then I discovered John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra when I was 14, in about 1972.
My parents had just bought a new colour TV. I just hit the wrong button and saw this In Concert logo. It was all very psychedelic – they were playing the first strains of Meeting Of The Spirits, McLaughlin doing this riff on the 12-string side of the double-neck. I stood there with my jaw hanging open.
Then the drums kicked in and I saw this muscly dude behind what looked like a glass drum kit. This was, of course, Billy Cobham, tucking in on a Vistalite perspex kit. I was a drummer at the time – nowhere near taking up bass – and I was mesmerised by the power he had.
There was this bizarre violin playing by Jerry Goodman, and then I saw Jan Hammer and thought, ‘Mother of God, what instrument is he playing?’ It was a Fender Rhodes, but he’d taken the top off so you could see the tines.
Even Rick Laird on bass – I’ve always thought he was so perfect for the band. The whole thing was really intoxicating; I’m sure I didn’t breathe for a couple of minutes.
Living on the Isle of Wight, my method of transport at 14 was a Raleigh bike with a basket on the front which, much to my chagrin, my dad bought me instead of a racing bike.
I cycled down to the one record store in Newport, Happy Days, who had one McLaughlin album, My Goal’s Beyond. The inside sleeve had this great shot of him playing an Ovation, dressed all in white.
I went to the hairdresser in Cowes and said, ‘Can you cut my hair like this guy?’ I walked out looking nothing like him. My next stop was Witcher’s: The Wight Man’s Clothiers, where I got a load of cricket gear.
So I’m wandering about, cricket gear and a duffle coat, side parting, being all spiritual. And people wonder why I’ve been stylistically challenged ever since! Heady times, all inspired by this bizarre band called the Mahavishnu Orchestra.”
