Originally, they were originally going to be called 42 as in the answer to the meaning of life from the late Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy. 'Level' was added to give the name some balance. However during an early tour of the US the band were asked so many times about where the name came from that they started making up stories to relieve the boredom. One of them being that they took their name from the number of levels in the world's tallest car park.
the question wasn't how did they get their name, but cheers anyway ... i want to know what they were called BEFORE they became level 42 ... their music was amazing (less commercial and more funky)