Cherry Red | UK | 5xCD | 2020 | CRCDBOX104

Chaz Jankel: Glad To Know You The Anthology 1980-1986 – UK – 5xCD [2020]

CD 1: Chas Jankel

1. Ai No Corrida
2. Peace, At Last
3. Just A Thought
4. Lenta Latina
5. Fuse
6. Am I Honest With Myself Really?
7. Reverie

CD 2: Chasanova/questionnaire

1. 109
2. Johnny Funk
3. Now You’re Dancing
4. Magic Of Music
5. Glad To Know You
6. Boy
7. Questionnaire
8. 3,000,000 Synths
9. Glad To Know You
10. Questionnaire

CD 3: Chazablanca

1. Theme To Chazablanca
2. Without You
3. I Can Get Over It (If You Can Get Over Here)
4. Tell Me
5. Pretty Thing
6. Whisper
7. All I Want To Do Is Dance
8. Davis
9. Thank You Very Much

CD 4: Looking At You

1. Hard Music
2. Tonight’s Our Night
3. Rhythm In My Life
4. Little Eva
5. Eastern Light
6. Number One
7. Tell Me, Tell Me
8. Looking At You
9. The Boy On The Bridge
10. Love Rhythms

CD 5: Remixes

1. You’re My Occupation (Extended) (Featuring Brenda Jones)
2. Rêve De Chèvre
3. 109 (Give Me Something I Can Remember) (Special Extended Version)
4. Without You (Extended Version)
5. To Woo Lady Kong
6. Am I Honest With Myself Really? (Edit)
7. No. 1 (Manhattan Mix)
8. Johnny Funk (Extended)
9. 3,000,000 Synths (Single Edit)
10. Tonight’s The Night (Edit)
11. You’re My Occupation (Dub Version Remix)
12. No. 1 (Dub Mix)

Yow! I guess today’s the day to discuss something I just found out about last week. The four solo albums that the very talented Chaz Jankel made while apart from Ian Dury and following the breakup of The Blockheads. I remember reading about his Quincey Jones cover of “Ai No Corrida” being a dancefloor smash in the Billboard Disco section [where I paid attention to the new 12″ single action…] but to this day I have not heard it. Come to think of it, the only Chaz Jankel I have ever heard was the title track to his 2nd album “Questionaire” [as it was known in America]. It was called “Chasanova” in most other territories. The title track to the album was a widely seen music video that got play everywhere in ’81-’82 as it was directed by his very talented sister Annabel Jankel [who ran Cucumber Studios, an animation studio, with her creative partner Rocky Morton].  If you’ve not clapped eyeballs on it, it’s embedded below, so hit that button.

I had wanted the album with “Questionaire” on it for ages. Since it came out, really, but I only ever found a copy of it on LP [there was never a CD] some years back after at least 30 years of looking for one! I’ve still not taken the time to clean/spin/digitize it… as is depressingly common. Given how the video was so ubiquitous, it should not have been that hard. When I look into Jankel’s oeuvre, I’m struck by how all four of his albums were released in America on A+M; his label on both sides of the Atlantic. I recall seeing the first one only in 40+ years of crate digging. Given that fact, here’s another Jankel video to make his case; “Without You,” from “Chazablanca.”

Now all of the album tracks and the requisite 12″ remixes are out on Cherry Red [who else is out there now except for Rubellan Remasters and he’s not done a box…yet]  on November 27th. Pricing is £23.99 /$31.00 – the usual very fair Cherry Red price for this much music. If I bought everything they released that I could stand to hear, I’d be down probably $150/month! It’s still early enough for pre-orders to get an autographed copy so if you want to celebrate the results of the American election, there’s a lot worse you could be listening to than the accomplished, joyful disco of Chaz Jankel.

– 30 –