Running in the Family is the seventh studio album by British band Level 42, released in 1987. It features the UK hit singles: “Lessons in Love” (which reached No. 3 in May 1986), “Running in the Family” (No. 6 in February 1987), “To Be with You Again” (No. 10 in April ’87), “It’s Over” (No. 10, in September 1987) and “Children Say” (No. 22 at the end of 1987). All five singles peaked in the Top 10 in the Netherlands. “Lessons in Love” peaked at No. 1 in Germany, South Africa, Switzerland and Denmark. This was the last Level 42 album of the 1980s to feature brothers Phil (drums) (until Forever Now in 1994) and Rowland ‘Boon’ Gould (guitar) (until his guest appearance on Retroglide in 2006) who had cited dissatisfaction with the musical direction of the band and exhaustion as departure reasons.
Later in 1987, the Platinum Edition of the album was issued. The CD and cassette versions replaced “Lessons in Love”, “Running in the Family” and “It’s Over” with remixed versions, and added remixes of “Something About You” and “World Machine” from Level 42’s previous album. On vinyl, the remixes were featured on one 33 rpm record which was shrink-wrapped to the standard edition of the album.
Also in 1987, the group released the video collection Family of Five (with the music videos of the five singles from Running in the Family) exclusively in the United Kingdom.
Running in the Family was a big international success, reaching the Top 10 in numerous countries and the Top 25 in the US; in the UK, it was certified 2× Platinum by the BPI.
In 2012, the album was remastered and re-released to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its original release.
