Named after an old Soho record shop Shakatak, along with the likes of Level 42, were at the forefront of the early 80's UK jazz/funk boom and a chart record that includes 14 hit singles and 7 best selling albums is testament to the talents of vocalist Jill Saward, keyboardists Bill Sharpe and Nigel Wright, guitarist Keith White*, bassist George Anderson and drummer Roger Odell.
The band's first taste of success came late in 1980 when "Feels Like The Right Time" scraped into the UK Top 50. This was then followed by a trio of hits - "Living In The UK" (no 52), "Brazilian Dawn" (no 48) and "Easier Said Than Done" (no 12) - which were all featured on their debut LP "Driving Hard" which itself reached the UK Top 50 in early 1982. However it was the success of the same year's "Night Birds" single and album that finally established Shakatak as masters of the whole Brit Funk movement. The single reached the no 9 position whilst the album hit the No 4 slot and also spawned another hit 45 in "Streetwalkin'". The title track of late '82's "Invitations" LP provided yet another UK Tp 30 smash whilst 1983's "Out Of This World" album included the hit singles "Dark Is The Night" and "If You Could See Me Now" whilst itself reaching No 30 in the British LP charts.
1984's "Down On The Street" LP, as well as reaching no 17 in the UK charts, also provided a Top 10 position for the extracted title track as well as a minor chart placing for "Don't Blame It On Love" whilst Shakatak's brand of classy jazz funk also earned them a formidable reputation as a hot live act and they were one of the few bands whose in concert performances successfully transferred itself to vinyl as 1985's "Live!" LP showed. In fact such was the band's esteem that the legendary Al Jarreau jumped at the chance of working with them and he was featured on their late 1985 smash "Day By Day".
Though 1987's "Mr Manic And Sister Cool" was their last hit 45 Shakatak have continued to release a string of critically approved LPs such as "Manic & Cool", "Turn The Music Up", and "Bitter Sweet". They've also remained a strong crowd puller on the club circuit and if all that wasn't enough, keyboardist Bill Sharpe even found time to partner Gary Numan on a series of UK hit singles!
Mark Brennen
*actually Keith Winter
