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.
secret
Shakatak Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You were magic
Music to my mind
Like no other
Something special
No-one else
Like you could I find
That we were looking for love to share
And no-one else
Could stand in the way
Never thought
That we would cool down
Break away
From all that we found
Funny how
My life turned around
When I looked at your beautiful face
You were moonlight
You were sunshine
Lighting up my skies
I was helpless
I surrendered
To that special look in your eyes
Then one day you came
Into my life again
How I regret our saying goodbye
Now I know I must have been mad
You were all that I ever had
I don't know if I'm happy or sad
When I look at your beautiful face
You were secret
You were magic
Music to my mind
Like no other
Something special
No-one else
Like you could I find.
The song "Secret" by Shakatak is a sentimental ballad about a person who discovers an extraordinary bond with someone who is a secret to others. The singer describes this person as "secret" and "magic", and that their presence in their life was like no other. They recognize that they were both searching for love and that no one else could have stood in their way. Despite the strength of their connection, the two ultimately cooled down and went their separate ways, leading the singer to look back on the relationship with a mix of emotions.
The lyrics are full of references to light and beauty, with the person being described as "moonlight" and "sunshine" and having a "beautiful face". The singer surrenders to the special look in their eyes and realizes that this person was all they ever had. However, the relationship falls apart, and the singer is left with deep regret as they look back on what could have been.
Overall, "Secret" is a bittersweet ode to a love that was both precious and elusive. It is a reminder that sometimes the people we connect with most deeply are the ones we must learn to let go of.
Line by Line Meaning
You were secret
You were someone I kept hidden from the world, someone very special to me.
You were magic
You had an enchanting effect on me.
Music to my mind
You had the ability to inspire and move me.
Like no other
I had never met anyone like you before.
Something special
You were unique and one of a kind to me.
No-one else
I couldn't find anyone else quite like you.
Could it be
That we were looking for love to share
And no-one else
Could stand in the way
Maybe we were meant to find each other and share a love that nobody else could come between.
Never thought
That we would cool down
Break away
From all that we found
I never anticipated that our love would wane and we'd drift apart from everything that we had built together.
Funny how
My life turned around
When I looked at your beautiful face
It's amazing how my life changed when I met you and was captivated by your beauty.
You were moonlight
You were sunshine
Lighting up my skies
You brought warmth and light to my life, like sunshine and moonlight in the sky.
I was helpless
I surrendered
To that special look in your eyes
I couldn't resist giving in to the way you looked at me with that special gaze.
Then one day you came
Into my life again
How I regret our saying goodbye
When you came back into my life, I regretted our past decision to part ways.
Now I know I must have been mad
You were all that I ever had
I don't know if I'm happy or sad
When I look at your beautiful face
I realize now that I must have been crazy to let someone as special as you go. I feel conflicted when I see your lovely face.
Writer(s): ODELL ROGER KEITH, SHARPE WILLIAM JEFFREY REVELL
Contributed by Anthony H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.