BASS legend Mark King is ready to hit the road with Level 42 with a UK tour which calls in at the Lowry, Salford Quays, on Tuesday.

King, whose distinctive playing style earned him the nickname ‘Thunderthumbs’ still fronts the band which had a string of hits in the Eighties and which also includes original keyboard player Mike Lindup.

Level 42’s combination of pop, jazz and funk and songs such as Something About Love, Running in the Family and their biggest hit Lessons in Love, made them one of the biggest bands of the Eighties, notching up album sales in excess of 30 million worldwide.

But, as fans will testify, the band remains as current and as relevant as ever and the new UK tour will feature many of their hits and some new songs from a forthcoming EP may also feature.

“We’ve been quite busy this year,” said Mark. “We were in the Far East earlier this year and played at the Singapore Jazz Festival. Also, we played the North Sea Jazz Festival which was great and Curacao in South America, plus we’ve been busy with summer festivals.”

“In fact, we seem to have been everywhere: Turkey, Santiago, Buenos Aires .....Doncaster!”

Several months on the festival circuit have opened up new opportunities for the band.

Mark said: “The shows have gone down fantastically well, and what’s good about festivals is that the audiences who attend them are non-partisan so you’re playing to a lot of potentially new fans.

“And I think we managed to get some new fans as we were on the top of our game - certainly there were a lot of happy faces and happy promoters.”

But the one downside of such as successful few months and forthcoming shows is that the band has been so busy, the EP won’t be ready in time for the tour.

“No, I’m afraid it’s not quite ready, but it will be out some time next year.” said Mark.

“The reason we were so busy wasn’t just because of all the live dates; we were in the studio working on the arrangements for the brass section as we have an extended band this time.”

Although the EP won’t be ready, Mark promises that the live shows will be something special.

“We’ll be on stage as long as we’re allowed to be,” he said. “And we’ll be coming up with all the hit records that everyone wants to hear.

“Plus, we will be playing some songs this time that I wouldn’t normally have thought of playing.

“We are hoping to do If You Were Mine from the Guaranteed album as well as the songs Forever Now and Micro Kid which take a lot of prepping.”

Having been on the music scene for over 30 years, Mark’s enthusiasm for playing live remains undiminished

“The years fall away when you get on stage,” he said, “so it will be an amazing tour.”

And the band will be just as busy next year which is great news for the fans.

“That’s right,” Mark grins. “We’ve already got Spain and Tel Aviv and more UK festivals lined up, plus, as we tour bi-annually, we’ll be touring the UK again in 2018.

“My thumbs are all good and I’m raring to go – bring it on!”

n Level 42, the Lowry, Salford Quays, Tuesday, October 4. For details contact the box office on 0843 208 6000