Imagination — Shake It

Forty years after its original release, Imagination's debut album, Shake It, is getting a deluxe, double vinyl LP reissue via The Artless Cuckoo. This interesting mix of AOR and leftfield disco plays more like one's fever dream mixtape than an album, and that is meant in the highest praise. Equal parts dancefloor funk and top deck of the yacht vibes, Shake It continues to impress audiences forty years later.

Coming from jazz rock roots, Imagination hit the Düsseldorf scene hard with their debut, Shake It, before having some major label setbacks and an untimely break up. Thankfully, this wild gem survived the ravages of time, not only physically, but stylistically, and is a fresh classic presenting itself for rediscovery upon an eager audience. With DJs the world over acting as oddball disco and yacht rock curators, there is no better time for Shake It to be reintroduced to the world. Overall, Imagination's debut is a jazzy, funky disco album, and an interesting one at that. However, adding more flavor to the mix, Shake It sees Imagination spreading out in varied directions such as folk, psych, and soft rock ballads. With something for (almost) everybody, this album is quite a treat. The solid grooves on tracks like "Strawberry Wine" and "California" propel the album along and show the dance sensibilities of these jazz rockers. "Good Advice" feels like a TV theme sung by Lou Reed, and in all the best ways. Slow, funky rockers "Mornin' LIghts" and "Can't Stand Without You" are drenched in sun and good times, and would be at home on the much adored Too Slow to Disco series. Going in a completely different direction on the next two, "Waitin' For Your Call" and "Clouds Flee Before the Wind" seem straight out of the American Midwest, again with a Lou Reed filter. The aptly titled closer, "On the Way Out," is a fun amalgam of piano ballad, jazz dancer, and disco dandy. Finishing the album with all the fun and inventiveness of the tracks before it, Imagination picked an appropriate song to let the needle reset to.

Hailing from Düsseldorf with sounds by way of Arkansas, Imagination put out an eclectic and impressive debut album with Shake It. Sounding as fun in 2020 as it must have in 1980, Shake It mixes varying styles with aplomb and begs for repeated listens. DIffering vocal styles keep things even more interesting, and Imagination always keeps the listener guessing. Back in a deluxe reissue, interested parties can pick this up without having to fight off record collectors, and that will get this rad nugget out to a far larger audience.