''Drivin' Hard'', released in May 1981 on the

Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

label, is the first album by English

jazz-funk Jazz-funk is a subgenre of jazz music characterized by a strong back beat, electrified sounds, and analog synthesizers. The integration of funk, soul, and R&B music and styles into jazz resulted in the creation of a genre that ranges from ...

band

Shakatak Shakatak are an English jazz-funk band founded in 1980 by Bill Sharpe, Nigel Wright, Roger Odell and Keith Winter. An initial white label record, white label release, "Steppin", caught attention by Passion records label owner Les McCutcheon a ...

Track listing

All tracks written by William "Bill" Sharpe except where indicated. #"Livin in the U.K." (Stayton Heyward; Neil Heyward; Bill Sharpe; Wally Badarou) – 5:54 #"Into the Night" – 4:36 #"Toot the Shoot" (

Roger Odell Shakatak are an English jazz-funk band founded in 1980 by Bill Sharpe, Nigel Wright, Roger Odell and Keith Winter. An initial white label release, "Steppin", caught attention by Passion records label owner Les McCutcheon and Northern Soul DJ ...

) – 4:00 #"Lumiere" 4:14 #"Late Night Flight" – 3:58 #"Waves" – 1:38 #"Steppin' (Live)" – 6:27 * #"Covina" – 4:46 #"You Never Know" – 5:10 #"Brazilian Dawn" – 6:33 * As of June 2025, the version of Steppin’ used by streaming services is the incorrect, shorter, studio version instead of the Live version.

Personnel

* Bill Sharpe –

Bösendorfer Bösendorfer (L. Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH) is an Austrian piano manufacturer and, since 2008, a wholly owned subsidiary of Yamaha Corporation. Bösendorfer is unusual in that it produces Imperial Bösendorfer, 97- and 92-Key (instrument) ...

grand piano, keyboards Shakatak - ''Drivin' Hard'' (1981) album releases & credits
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

* Nigel Wright – Fender Rhodes electric piano,

Sennheiser Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG (, ) is a German audio equipment manufacturer headquartered in Wedemark. Sennheiser specializes in equipment for both the consumer and professional audio markets, including microphones, headphones, and loudsp ...

Vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''vo''ice and en''coder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder wa ...

Oberheim OB-X The Oberheim OB-X was the first of Oberheim Electronics, Oberheim's OB-series polyphony (instrument), polyphonic Analog synthesizer, analog Subtractive synthesis, subtractive synthesizers. First commercially available in June 1979, the OB-X was ...

synthesizer, keyboards and synthesizers *

Wally Badarou Waliou Jacques Daniel Isheola "Wally" Badarou (born 22 March 1955) is a French musician. Born in France with ancestry from Benin, West Africa, Badarou is known for his close association with the English group Level 42, and for his prolific wor ...

–

Prophet 5 The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith and John Bowen in 1977. It was the first polyphonic synthesizer with fully programmable memory. Before the Prophet-5, synth ...

and inspiration * Keith Winter –

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: People * Torakusu Yamaha, a Japanese businessman and founder of the Yamaha Corporation Companies * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese musical instrument and audio equipment manufacturer ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organi ...

& Fender guitars with Fender amplification,

Ovation The ovation ( from ''ovare'': to rejoice) was a lesser form of the Roman triumph. Ovations were granted when war was not declared between enemies on the level of nations or states; when an enemy was considered basely inferior (e.g., slaves, pira ...

acoustic guitars * Steve Underwood – Fender bass with Fender amplification *

–

Sonor Sonor is a German musical instrument manufacturing company headquartered in Bad Berleburg. Established in 1875, it is one of the oldest percussion companies in the world. Sonor currently manufactures drum kits and hardware. Apart from drum kit ...

drums,

Rototom The rototom is a shell-less drum developed by Al Payson and Michael Colgrass that is able to change pitch by rotating its drumhead around a threaded metal ring. Unlike many types of drums, rototoms are designed to have a variable definite pi ...

s, synth drums,

Zildjian The Avedis Zildjian Company, simply known as Zildjian (), is a musical instrument manufacturer specializing in cymbals and other percussion instruments. Founded by the ethnic Armenian Zildjian family in the 17th-century Ottoman Empire, the com ...

cymbals * Jill Saward – vocals *

Jackie Rawe Shakatak are an English jazz-funk band founded in 1980 by Bill Sharpe, Nigel Wright, Roger Odell and Keith Winter. An initial white label release, "Steppin", caught attention by Passion records label owner Les McCutcheon and Northern Soul DJ ...

– vocals

Formats

*LP: Polydor POLS 1030 7'08 (May 1981, red label) *LP: Polydor 2383 635 (1981, Netherlands), extra track A1 "Easier Said Than Done" *MC: Polydor POLSC 1030 7'08(May 1981) *CD: Polydor 823 017-2 7'11 (1984, track 7 is in fact the studio version of "Steppin'" '50 *CD: Victor VICP 64131 (2008, Japan), bonus tracks "Feels Like the Right Time" and "Killing Time"

References

External links

Shakatak - ''Drivin' Hard'' (1981) album credits & releases
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Shakatak - ''Drivin' Hard'' (1981) album releases & credits
at

Shakatak - ''Drivin' Hard'' (1981) album to be listened
as stream on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

1981 debut albums Shakatak albums Polydor Records albums {{1980s-jazz-album-stub