Shakatak: Twilight Sensation (1984) [SM037-3368]Who doesn't love Shakatak? What do you mean you've never heard of them!? Stop reading now and go raid a yard sale or head to Tidal or whatever streaming thing you kids today listen to your muzak on and go listen to some Shakatak then come back here when you are ready!
Done? Welcome back. Now on with the rest of the review drivel.
If you are middle-aged or nearly dead then you really should have heard of one of the 1980's finest jazzy/flutey/disco-ey/fusion-funk-sort-of-thing-type-bands. If you are a youngster and still enjoy hanging around outside shops in a hoodie, trying to look menacing and asking adults for cigarettes then think of Shakatak as a band that would fit in
really well in the world of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on Flashback FM.
Shakatak achieved success in several countries, including several hit singles in the UK and two number one albums in the USA. They had absolutely enormous success in Japan and a good chunk of the Far East too (Japan especially, they were exospherically humongous there). The band are still going today and still releasing music, though I personally don't listen to any of their new stuff as I prefer their really early stuff from 1980 to 1985.
Anyway, about this disc, Twilight Sensation.
Shakatak Laserdiscs, at least in my own experience, have proven rather difficult to get a hold of. Possibly because of their success in Japan people are unwilling to part with their discs? I don't know. Anyway, after a
lot of waiting, some Shakatak discs finally showed up a few months ago. There's only a couple to choose from, and in my opinion, Twilight Sensations is the one to go for. Especially now I've had a chance to watch it. The other discs are a mix of videos and a live concert. All are Japanese discs, with a couple of UK CD Video discs (that are probably rotten now) and a solitary USA Laserdisc that is a video collection of greatest hits.
With Twilight Sensations you get a really good disc for your money. It comprises a mix of concert footage from a show the band did in Japan in October 1984, alongside a mix of scenic footage of London, interviews with the band, production processes and so on. It's all in English with no burned in subtitles, which I thought was unusual to see for a Japanese disc. The picture quality is superb, especially when run through a VP50 Pro and spat out at 1080P60. It's really very good and up there with one of the best discs I have seen on my humble little setup.
The audio is the absolute star of the show here though. The 80's sliding bass licks and drums just sound riper than a greengrocers plums
and the piano and synths shine through crystal clear. Tighter than a nun's fanny and crisper than a Findus Crispy Pancake. Whopper.
A side word on the audio though, it does seem to be mastered just a smidge on the quieter side, but once you inject a bit of volume in to it's veins the disc really does start to sing. So keep that in mind that you may need to adjust your audio gear a little to get the very best out of this disc.
Even though the songs featured here are all early music, sure the band had only been going for 4 years at this stage, I like to think of it as a 'greatest hits' of sorts. You get all the big numbers here. The absolutely stratospherically mega Night Birds (probably the band's biggest hit) as an encore. My personal favourite, 'Invitations', which at first listen I was a little disappointed that they played it much faster than the album version. I got used to it quickly and enjoyed the faster tempo. Yer wan Jill Saward does a great job playing flute, bongos, singing vocals and dancing like an extra on the set of Sixteen Candles while absolutely sweating her jabs off (the disc picture quality is that good you can see drops of sweat running down her cheeks) under the hot stage lights. Fair play to her.
You also get another personal favourite, B*tch To The Boys, which, if you listen carefully, has that great tubular-esque synth bass that a certain Michael Jackson used on his Off The Wall album. Listen out for it. It's whopper. Streetwalkin' is a monumental success too. The sound of the saxaphone in this number will spill out of your speakers like how animators portray smells in cartoons. You'll be sniffing the air like a Bisto kid on acid, with a gurn on your chops to match!
Maybe it's just me, but I can definitely sense that Shakatak influenced a few bands over the years. Have a listen to another awesome album by Psychic Mirrors for example:
https://psychicmirrors.bandcamp.com/album/nature-of-evilhttps://tidal.com/browse/album/58537746Or the awesome Bodyrock Shotgun by Zackey Force Funk:
https://mofunkrecords.com/album/bodyrock-shotgunhttps://tidal.com/browse/album/90779215This disc is tremendous. If you like a good music Laserdisc, and who doesn't, you would be an absolute knobber if you missed this. Hop to it and go get some Shakatak in to your life!