Level 42: Live

Boomers and older Gen Xers with a fondness for New Wave are the target audience for this concert featuring British pop band Level 42, recorded in March 1992 at London's Town and Country Club. The DVD quality is mediocre and shot in an unremarkable multi-camera style, but the audio is solid on this 16-song set of lively tunes played at high energy in a funky pop jazz performance. Level 42 was in the British New Wave family that also included bands such as Spandau Ballet, Simple Minds, Duran Duran, Heaven 17, Thompson Twins, and other mulleted, poofy-haired, synthy dance outfits of the era. Fronted by Mark King, whose distinctive slap-bass guitar sound and keen lead vocals combine with Mike Lindup's falsetto backup, songs include “Something About You,” Level 42's biggest hit in the U.S., as well as “Lessons in Love,” which reached number 3 on the U.K. Singles Chart. Presented in stereo, Level 42: Live is a visually unremarkable concert that is an optional purchase, at best. (T. Fry)