Time Exposure finds Clarke deep into his techno funk phase, pitching himself somewhere between Shalamar, the Johnson Bros and Earth, Wind and Fire. Indeed, Clarke eschewed his own vocals and pushed Shalamar’s Hewett to the fore, which led to the R&B hit ‘Heaven Sent You’. The single gets three cuts on this extended release of the original album. Hewett’s presence at least lends a shade of R&B credence. We are also treated to the 12” and 7” mixes of ‘Future’ and the truly appalling ‘Speedball’. So the best way to view Time Exposure is as a dance floor curio; take me to Funkytown indeed. ‘Future Shock’ alone should get your glitterballs gyring, while the title track is a minor jazz-rock classic. It’s daft to dismiss this era of Clarke’s career as dismal: he never was a jazz purist, and he’s always embraced all black musics with a passion. So why deny his bid for R&B stardom? Let’s face it, 1984 was always going to be a funny old year.