383 Hello Shakatak - Feels Like The Right Time

Chart  entered  : 8  November  1980

Chart  peak  : 41

Number  of  hits : 14

For  regular  pop  quizzers  these  lot  are  one  of  the  Antichrists  along  with  Erasure  and  Jamiroquai  for  having  lots  of  hits  that  non-aficionados  find  difficult  to  tell  apart.

Shakatak  were  an  almost  instant  hit  having  only  been  founded  at  the  beginning  of  1980. Pianist  and  main  songwriter  Bill Sharpe  ( born  1952 )  was  from  Bishop's  Stortford  and  had  studied  music  at Birmingham  University.  He  was  a  studio  manager  at  the  BBC  for  6  years  before  starting  the  band  which  did  them  no  harm  in  getting  airplay  on  Radio  One. The  other  members  were  Jill  Saward ( vocals, percussion, flute ), Nigel  Wright ( keyboards ), Roger  Odell ( drums ), Keith  Winter ( guitar ), Jackie  Rawe  ( vocals )  and  Steve  Underwood  ( bass ).

They  got  a  deal  with  Polydor  straight  away  and  released  their  first  single  "Steppin"  in  August  1980. I'm  guessing  Jackie  made  the  tea  or  something  as  it's  entirely  instrumental  and  establishes  their  signature sound  within  a  few  seconds, mellow  unhurried  bass  line , solid  drums, barely  audible  rhythm  guitar, keyboard  washes  and  Bill's  meandering  tinkly  piano. It  might  be  the  ideal  soundtrack  for  banging  someone  in  the  back  of  a  Cortina  on   deserted  parts  of  Canvey  Island  ( though  with  the  frequent  pauses  I  doubt  it ) but  it  does  absolutely  nothing  for  me.

"Feels  Like  The  Right  Time"  was  their  second  single  and  is  slightly  more  purposeful  with  an  upfront  disco  beat,  more  prominent  guitar  and  vocodored  vocal  interjections  but  once  that  piano  gets  going  you  know  it's  not  going  to  go  anywhere  very  exciting.