Formed in 1979 around 3 Isle of Wight born friends who’d decamped to London, various line-up changes and a costly European adventure would lead the then only instrumental outfits’ drummer, Mark King, to switch to bass so he could sell his drum kit to pay for the European debacle!. Fate, was clearly already playing its part. Involvement with Robin Scott, best known as M for his 1979 UK No.2 hit Pop Muzik, introduced them to Afro-French keyboardist and writer Wally Badarou, who would subsequently become a long time contributor to the band, who by then had decided to take their name in part, from the Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy TV series, where 42 is the answer to everything. Plans to find a singer went by the wayside as keyboardist Mike Lindup and Mark King stepped up and they never looked back. Inspired by Miles Davis and Jan Hammer they soon found themselves part of the extended UK Brit Funk scene alongside Incognito, Beggar & Co and Light Of The World. Their 1980 debut for dance label Elite, which had opened its own account the previous year with Atmosphere’s enduring club classic Dancing In Outta Space, only added to their credentials and major label Polydor quickly came knocking. Polydor would issue their eponymous UK Top 20 debut album the following year. 1981 also marked the beginning of their UK single successes and what started as a trickle would lead to 15 UK Top 40 singles (all included here), of which 6 would grace the UK Top 10. During the same period (1981-1988), they racked up no less than 7 UK Top 20 albums and it's this era of the bands career which this 3CD set celebrates.