Shakatak is an English jazz-funk band, founded in 1980.

Shakatak sco… Read Full Bio ↴Shakatak is an English jazz-funk band, founded in 1980.

Shakatak scored a number of chart entries, including two Top Ten hits in the UK Singles Chart, "Night Birds" (1982) and "Down on the Street" (1984), plus a further 12 entries in the Guinness book of British Hit Singles. The group are still active and popular throughout the world, particularly in Japan and the Far East, and generally produce a new album every two years on JVC Records.

From their first release in August 1980, (the Bill Sharpe composition "Steppin'" on the Polydor record label), and their first album, Drivin' Hard, the band's singles and albums have entered the charts regularly.

It was the release of "Easier Said Than Done" that gave the band the radio exposure needed for their first top-twenty hit. This record introduced their instrumental-unison vocal sound to a much wider audience, and the track stayed in the UK chart for seventeen weeks. The follow-up, "Night Birds", was their first single to reach the top ten, and the album of the same name gave Shakatak their first gold album, entering at number four and remaining in the charts for twenty-eight weeks. By now a major international act, the success of the release gave them the number-one jazz album slot in Japan, and attracted interest across Europe and South America. Night Birds was used in the feature film "Away We Go" directed by Sam Mendes and was used as the demonstration song on many Casio Piano Keyboards such as the Casio CT-460.

Two more albums – Invitations and Out of This World – were recorded in 1982 and 1983, resulting in several more chart hits, and paving the way for the next major breakthrough in the band's career. With a subtle change in musical direction, yet still retaining the band's identity, Jill Saward (formerly of Fusion Orchestra, Brandy and Citizen Gang) became their lead singer to make Shakatak's fifth album, Down on the Street. The resulting single releases "Down on the Street" and "Watching You" had great success, and brought them attention in new parts of the world. The following year saw the release of the group's first live album, which was recorded in both Tokyo and London.

The seventh album, Day by Day, saw the development of songwriting by all of the band members. In 1986 Saward announced that she was expecting a baby later the same year. This news allowed the band to ease their hectic touring schedule for a while, and enabled them to concentrate purely on recording for a brief period. The band were in the top five foreign acts in Japan, and after winning the coveted Silver Award in the Tokyo International Song Festival, Shakatak were asked to produce an extra album each year exclusively for the Japanese market. By this time they had two extra albums released there entitled Into the Blue and Golden Wings. Both sold well, the latter winning the "Best Instrumental Album 1987" at the Japanese Phonograph Record Association Awards.

However, following this success the band felt it was time that they re-directed their efforts back to singles, and an album for release to the rest of the world. The result was Something Special, closely followed by the night club and chart hit "Mr Manic & Sister Cool" from their next LP, Manic and Cool.

In the 1990s, the band had success in the US when they had two albums that went to No 1 in the contemporary jazz charts, and were also awarded the Japanese grammy for best international instrumental album six years running.

Shakatak continue to appear regularly throughout the world with recent festival performances at Jakjazz, the Jakata International Jazz Festival, Bangkok, Hua Hin and the Bratislava Jazz Day and they make annual appearances at the Billboard Clubs in Japan and the Pizza Express Jazz Room in London plus numerous other concert and club performances.

The band celebrated their thirtieth anniversary year in 2010.

Bassist George Anderson is to release his second solo album 'Expressions' on the 3rd September 2012 through Secret Records. Coming three years after his first album 'Positivity', this album again sees George writing, arranging and producing all of the tracks on it.

Keyboardist Bill Sharpe worked with American jazz pianist Don Grusin on a joint project called Geography released in 2007. Sharpe's second collaboration with Grusin, Trans Atlantica has been completed and is to be released on the 3rd September 2012. This is to be released through London label Secret Records and will also include their first album Geography as a special 2-CD package.

Stranger
Shakatak Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Dayne Taylor
Soul Dancing
Dance With A Stranger
(Mark S. Cawley)

On a warm summer evening
I'm dancing to the radio alone
Don't need no conversation

Just want a new love to call my own
Throw the window open
Let the breeze take me away
Ya' see I gotta lose this ol' heartache
Before the sun comes back to stay
I've been doin' my best to forget you
But I can't do it on my own
I need to dance with a stranger
Hold him in my arms
Close my eyes, make believe he's you
I need to dance with a stranger
Take my hurt away
Before I'm over you
Heard the city hummin'
Grab my shoes and go downtown
Won't need no invitation
Just to hear the sweet, sweet sound
And I don't want no man to ask me
"Where you been all my lonely life"
Just wanna move real slow
And have somebody hold me tight
Chorus
I hear the heart is lonely hunter
And I believe it to be true
But this heart is learning to forget

I ever fell in love with you
Chorus

Overall Meaning

The song "Stranger" by Shakatak is about a person who is trying to move on from a past relationship. The singer is dancing alone on a warm summer evening and hoping for a new love. The lyrics suggest that the singer has been struggling to forget about their past lover but wants to dance with a stranger to help forget the pain.

As the song progresses, the singer goes downtown to hear the music and dance. They don't desire for just any man to ask them where they have been all his lonely life, but instead, they want to move slowly and feel someone hold them tight. The chorus repeats the idea that the singer needs to dance with a stranger to take the hurt away before they're over their past lover. The final stanza suggests that the singer's heart is finally learning to forget their past love.

The song "Stranger" is about finding solace and comfort in dancing with someone new after a breakup. Dancing is presented as a way of forgetting the pain and moving on. The lyrics are simple but emotionally evocative, and the melody is catchy, making it a popular dance song.

Line by Line Meaning

On a warm summer evening
It was a pleasant evening in summer

I'm dancing to the radio alone
The person is dancing alone while listening to the radio

Don't need no conversation
The person doesn't want to talk to anyone

Just want a new love to call my own
The person wants to find a new love

Throw the window open
The person opened the window

Let the breeze take me away
The person wants to be carried away by the breeze

Ya' see I gotta lose this ol' heartache
The person wants to get rid of their heartache

Before the sun comes back to stay
Before the sun rises for the day

I've been doin' my best to forget you
The person has been trying to forget someone

But I can't do it on my own
The person is having difficulty forgetting on their own

I need to dance with a stranger
The person wants to dance with someone they don't know

Hold him in my arms
The person wants to embrace the stranger they're dancing with

Close my eyes, make believe he's you
The person wants to pretend the stranger they're dancing with is the person they're trying to forget

Take my hurt away
The person wants to be relieved of their pain

Heard the city hummin'
The person heard the sounds of the city

Grab my shoes and go downtown
The person put on their shoes and went to the city

Won't need no invitation
The person doesn't need an invitation to do what they want

Just to hear the sweet, sweet sound
The person wants to hear some pleasant sounds

And I don't want no man to ask me
The person doesn't want anyone to ask them about their whereabouts

"Where you been all my lonely life"
The person doesn't want to be asked where they've been all this time

Just wanna move real slow
The person wants to dance slowly

And have somebody hold me tight
The person wants someone to hold them tightly

Chorus
Refrain

I hear the heart is lonely hunter
The person has listened to the saying 'The heart is a lonely hunter'

And I believe it to be true
The person believes the saying is true

But this heart is learning to forget
The person's heart is trying to learn how to forget

I ever fell in love with you
The person is trying to forget someone they've been in love with

Writer(s): William Jeffrey Revell Sharpe, Roger Keith Odell Copyright: Campbell Connelly And CO.LTD., Music Sales Corporation O.B.O. Garber Music Ltd.

Contributed by Gianna V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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Comments from YouTube:

José antonio miranda

36w↑2

Shakatak es para mi el mejor grupo de jazz de la historia Billy Sharpe y sus compañeros hicieron cosas excelentes como esta canción gran legado a la buena música.