{"product_id":"drivin-hard","title":"Drivin' Hard","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ohjeanrecords.com\/collections\/shakatak\" title=\"Shakatak\"\u003eShakatak\u003c\/a\u003e's 1981 debut album, Drivin' Hard\u003c!--TgQPHd|||[]--\u003e\u003c!--TgQPHd|||[[\u0026quot;https:\/\/rateyourmusic.com\/release\/album\/shakatak\/drivin-hard\/\u0026quot;,null,null,[null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,[{\u0026quot;1218\u0026quot;:[16]}]],16,null,\u0026quot;Drivin\u0026#39; Hard by Shakatak (Album, Jazz-Funk) - Rate Your Music\u0026quot;,\u0026quot;Shakatak (not to be confused with Shaq Attack, a 2020 TV program where Shaquille O\u0026#39;Neal hangs out with a bunch of sharks) are one of those bands that fall squarely into the \\\u0026quot;big in Japan\\\u0026quot; trope. In their native Britain they had a number of hits and they even grazed the US dance charts, but here in Japan I see their records being put out on display as opposed to being tucked into the dollar bins or the jazz crates as they\u0026#39;d be treated in any other country. And I think the reason is that there is a lot of parallels between them and concurrent J-fusion bands. They\u0026#39;re fusion, but they present a sleek, modern, dance-oriented take on the genre that distances them from the likes of, say, Mahavishnu Orchestra. No, these guys make jazz fusion for the 1980\u0026#39;s, and their youthful presentation meant there was a lot of wiggle room for crossover with new wave and Britfunk trends. It could also be argued that their breezy, synthy jazz-pop sound presaged the sophisti-pop movement of a few years later. A lot of that comes down to Bill Sharpe, the primary songwriter and bona fide frontman with a sharp ear for melody. He grew up aspiring to play romantic piano like his heroes Chopin and Liszt, but when he discovered jazz, he found a way to combine it with the bittersweet piano melodies of those composers. As a result, Shakatak\u0026#39;s sound is heavily reliant on keyboards, and they rarely ever used brass instruments of any kind.\u0026quot;,\u0026quot;https:\/\/encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com\/images?q\\u003dtbn:ANd9GcQvGwhzFeIIv1XPGjOd-ZRSZ5PxlixbBvl7UepXCfzHhHTfudXa08kUlQynZNryiB_3HM-ln6IRuiSNJTw\u0026quot;,\u0026quot;Rate Your Music\u0026quot;,\u0026quot;https:\/\/encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com\/faviconV2?url\\u003dhttps:\/\/rateyourmusic.com\\u0026client\\u003dAIM\\u0026size\\u003d128\\u0026type\\u003dFAVICON\\u0026fallback_opts\\u003dTYPE,SIZE,URL\u0026quot;,[[1787738271646020,124208805,1124876162],null,null,null,null,[[2,0,0,12]]],null,\u0026quot;52f1616c-97fb-4bda-be7f-d39d8630dc65\u0026quot;]]--\u003e, is \u003c!--qkimaf KohCo_m\/HugV6--\u003e\u003c!--cqw1tb KohCo_m\/HugV6--\u003ea sleek, nocturnal masterclass in British \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ohjeanrecords.com\/collections\/jazz-funk\" title=\"jazz-funk\"\u003ejazz-funk\u003c\/a\u003e that laid the stylistic groundwork for the 1980s sophisti-pop movement\u003c!--TgQPHd|||[[]]--\u003e. Propelled by Bill Sharpe’s sparkling grand piano melodies, Nigel Wright’s synthesizer textures, and an infectious rhythm section, the record replaces traditional brass with breezy, keyboard-heavy arrangements that feel both urban and effortlessly cool. Tracks like \"Brazilian Dawn\" and \"Livin' in the UK\" balance virtuosic musicianship with danceable grooves, cementing an energetic, futuristic manifesto that remains an absolute high-water mark for the genre.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/4OThtjYj9ldKLGTOatSEIl?utm_source=generator\u0026amp;si=4a5a6e07052c4ffd\" width=\"100%\" height=\"152\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Shakatak","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52138679042369,"sku":"28MM0208","price":45.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0397\/2773\/files\/MockUpcopy-Recovered-Recovered-Recovered-Recovered_9ca00c1f-0d43-41e1-a3ec-743dce0bda16.jpg?v=1787738187","url":"https:\/\/www.ohjeanrecords.com\/products\/drivin-hard","provider":"Oh! Jean Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}