The brothers Phil Gould (drums) and Rowland Gould (guitar) founded the band Level 42 in 1970 together with Mark King (bass/vocals) and Mike Lindup (keyboards/vocals). Phil, Rowland and Mike have been making music together since they were teenagers.

In 1980 they were picked up by an independent label Elite Records and adopted the band name Level 42. That year they recorded their debut single "Love Meeting Love". Thus began the career of Level 42.

The British band Level 42 was founded in 1979 and is characterized by funk elements and their unique melodic structures. At the beginning of their career, Level 42 was a pure jazz-funk fusion band. By the end of the 80s, the band, instantly recognizable by Mark King's famous thumb-drumming bass technique and the flourishes on Wally Badarou's synthesizer, had become a sophisti-pop and dance-rock band.

Musically, the band moves between the genres of jazz funk, new wave and synthpop.

Level 42 reached the peak of their career in 1985 with "World Machine".

In 1987, the band toured the USA with Tina Turner. Founding members Gould left the band during this tour. After that, the members of the band, except Mike and Mark, changed regularly.

After several albums such as "The Pursuit of Accidents" and "Running in the Family", the band broke up for a while around 1994. The last concert before the break-up took place on October 14, 1994 at the Royal Albert Hall in England. After that, the members devoted themselves to their solo and new band projects.

Mark King reactivated the band name Level 42 around 2002 and announced new live performances and albums. In the new line-up with Mark King on bass, Gary Husband on drums, Nathan King on guitar, Lyndon Connah on keyboards and Sean Freeman on saxophone, numerous concerts have been played again since 2004. In 2010, Level 42 even celebrated the band's 30th anniversary. Level 42's acoustic album (2010) was released in this context.

"Lessons in Love" is the most successful single to date. It was released in April 1986 and reached high positions in the charts in both Europe and the USA.