Rummaging through my tape archive I found a venue recording of Shakatak I made for radio in 1982. It was before digital had started to make its ugly presence felt. A few years later the band released a live album and comparing the two versions here of Night Birds I do think my recording sounds better.

I'm not just being a conceited schmuck saying that. I don't much like my own work either around the later 80s. It's a digital thing. It took a while for the new technology to bed in and for a time music production suffered I think as we grappled with the new possibilities. Shakatak’s live album was a product of that transition era.

Despite the excellent musicianship, the band’s brand of designer funk hasn't aged terribly well, surpassed as it was by acid jazz and such as the Brand New Heavies - although I think Shakatak is still around, still with a core following. Hats off to them. And anyway they should've got me to produce their record back then. I'd have made a better job of it digital or not. Schmuck!