Chaka Khan - She's Every Woman

[garth cartwright]

I didn't realise this Valerie Simpson presented R2 programme came in 2 parts thus I missed last week's episode. And that would have been the interesting one, detailing Chaka's rise to fame. This episode finds fellow female singers offering fawning tribute and the records getting more and more over produced.

I've never seen Chaka in concert. Not sure if I want to as its the stuff she cut with Rufus I like most of all. I believe she lived in London for a while in the 90s as some musos I knew back then used to tell me stories about her - back then her lust for stimulants and handsome young chaps seemingly being quite legendary. Adam, did you ever work with CK?

[Adam Blake]

No, I worked with her sister Taka in the mid 90s. Some of the hardest gigs I've ever done. Just me and Taka, an acoustic guitar and the classic soul songbook. My favourite memory is of Taka's lyrical adjustment to Smokey Robinson's "I Second That Emotion" - "maybe you think that love would tie you down, and you ain't got the time to fuck around..." None of the punters noticed but I found it very hard to keep a straight face.