I appreciate the difference between the early and commercial work, but even then the early catalogue is very 'pop' compared to Roy Ayres, Azymuth, Donald Byrd, The Crusaders, Charles Earland, The Headhunters etc etc.
mmm - ok - I think the word "pop" is somwhat loaded , i prefer accessible, if popular = "bad" then we end up in the situation where only inaccessible stuff is "good"
Its the syndrome that leads people to value some of those obscure russian composers where a performance is more like an aural endurance contest rather than fun. Its why critics so loved the john Peel roadshow, but most found the bands inaccessible. Alhough, from that inaccessible stuff comes the few gems, it doesn't make the rest "of merit"
Ok - so the early stuff still is "easier listening" than some jazz-funk and of course more relevant to UK listeners.
I also think that the early stuff (well the first two albums and the large number of 12" Willy Badarou influenced remixes) are what L42 "are" - in the end, that they rather quickly "sold out" was rather like many other artists - and in the end paid their mortgages. Blimey - i sold out my early career in science for the money in finance! Elvis went ot Las Vegas - but it doesn't mean i don't value the eralier stuff (just an example)
The Gould Bros were quoted as calling the later (well middle on) "shallow pop that I enjoy playing as much as covers at a holiday camp" something I agree with, the point of L42 can also be seen in Mark king's own recordings - such as "trash" which was distributed directly by Mark after L42 essentially disbanded
BTW - Prof - even if you don't like the genre - a listen to the "Early Tapes" might be educational in terms of what the band started off with. UB 40 were elevator music, and not really musicians......
