1984 : musically speaking this was a strange time for yours truly as i was all over the pop excess of the ztt record label (propaganda, art of noise, and frankie goes to hollywood), while still throwing love towards my old nutty chums from camden town, madness.
but against this mainstream love of pop was a new thread of interest that involved the more leftfield aspects of the sheffield scene.
the main focus of this interest was of course, cabaret voltaire, who in 1984 were in the middle of their virgin records era with the release of the scene setting, dance floor monster 12″, sensoria. a period during which they took the need to experiment with dada-esque cut up loops and apply a liberal sprinkling of pop nous to propel them into the hearts and minds of the masses.
so, using cabaret voltaire as my starting point i began to pick up records by other bands who took the love of funked up basslines, and twisted the form into new shapes.
this meant i began to investigate such bands as shriekback, hula, and of course, the missing link between the political funk of gang of four and the experimental noise of on-u sound : chakk.
the bands debut 12″, out of the flesh, was released on double vision, a label closely associated with the cabs, and therefore possibly the sole reason for me picking it up.
well, damn, did i hit lucky with that one.
even now in 2011 this mutant mix of extended funk, distorted white noise, saxophone squeals and cut up vocals, never fails to induce goosebumps.
following this blistering opening salvo, the band, with journo amrik rai, set up their own label, the legendary fon records (as in “fuck off nazis” records), release a second 12″, the just as impressive extended workout grooves of double sided 12″ single, they say/you.
after which things then got a little muddy.
mca records decided they wanted a slice of the action, so threw a ton of cash at chakk, who rather than recording an album, spent years building a cutting edge recording studio (fon studios).
the resultant album, 10 days in an elevator, may have had a stellar cast of studio extras (remixes by sly and robbie !) and eye catching artwork/logos by the newly set up sheffield based the designers republic. however, the protracted release meant that by 1986 their moment had passed, and nobody really was that bothered anymore, including the head shaking accountants at mca records who let the band back off into the wild world of independence.
free from the major label shackles, the band released their final 12″, timebomb, a blistering final calling card that proved the gang could still cut it in the studio with their trademarked vocal chants, dubbed up bass lines, and off kilter atmospherics.
following the lack of love for timebomb, the band called it a day, but various members went onto far greater things (moloko being the most commercially obvious, ), with fon records/studios, becoming a central force to be reckoned with.
i mean, just why do you think i picked up the kiss 12″ by age of chance ?
the answer : the dj chakk remix 12″ (true fact).
and for that life changing event alone, and those three perfect 12″ records, even now, in 2011 the fucked up noise-funk of this anonymous, long forgotten sheffield band still features high in the list of my all time favourite bands.