EIGHTIES chart toppers Shakatak are set to strut their considerably funky stuff at the Bournemouth Pier Theatre on August 25. The group – whose hits included Down On The Street and Night Birds – promise an exciting night of smooth jazz, funk and soul.

Joining original members Bill Sharpe (keyboards), lead singer Jill Saward, drummer Roger Odell and bass guitarist George Anderson will be a guitarist and backing vocalist/saxophonist.

The band, which took its name from a London-based record shop, has enjoyed a level of success and career longevity rarely paralleled in fickle music industry.

Because of the nature of their music their fan base is far-reaching while always retaining an underground element.

Roger Odell said: “It’s more than 30 years since we started and we certainly still enjoy playing. I think the reason for our staying power is we were never in the pop tradition – our feet are in the jazz camp.

“Perhaps jazz artists have a longer career than others. Our early success was a complete surprise to us, because we were mainly an instrumental band.”

“I would say Japan is still our biggest audience. When we first toured Japan it was massive.

“Our name is incredibly well known across the world.”

Recent performances include headlining at the Bratislava Jazz Day in October, 2010, which was filmed for Slovakia NTV, the Kutchan Jazz Festival in Japan, the Hua Hin Jazz Festival in Thailand and the Cape Town International Jazz Festival.

Roger adds that the band’s musical influences are wide-ranging.

He said: “Everybody in the band is a huge fan of Stevie Wonder, because he goes back to when we were starting out.

“We all have our individual music tastes, but personally, I’m into contemporary jazz.

“There are quite a lot of contemporary artists who have quoted us as influences.

“So it’s nice to know that people are still very much interested in our music.”

Previously the band played two headlining nights at Jakjazz, the Jakarta International Jazz Festival plus the Bangkok International Jazz Festival.

There was also a ‘Greatest Hits Live’ CD/DVD combo released in 2010. And all together the band has released over 50 CDs and three DVDs.

Most of the band’s back catalogue is available on iTunes.

Roger said: “It’s a changing world and the internet is certainly helping our sales.”