Having originally played guitar in prog-rock group Byzantium and (briefly) in Jonathan Kelly's Outside, Jankel rose to prominence as Ian Dury's sidekick and musical director in Ian Dury & The Blockheads. He was the musical mastermind behind debut "New Boots And Panties" and its follow up "Do It Yourself".
Jankel's solo career was launched with the song 'Ai No Corrida', which appeared on his self-titled debut album, but was mainly known via the version recorded by Quincy Jones on his "The Dude" album, which was a worldwide hit in 1981 (#14 UK, #28 US).
The follow-up album, "Chasanova" (Questionnaire in US) was notable for the big US club hit 'Glad To Know You', which went to #1 in the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, staying there for seven weeks. It was the biggest selling 12-inch single of 1982. It was one of several collaborations between Jankel and Ian Dury, who wrote the sardonic lyrics to the song.
Several of the tracks for "Chazablanca" were recorded at Chris Blackwell's Compass Point Studios, where Chaz worked with legendary Jamaican sound engineer Steve Stanley (Kendall Stubbs also contributed bass to this album). Several of the songs on "Chazablanca" and Questionnaire were co-writes with Laura Weymouth, sister of Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads/Tom Tom Club.
Chaz's final album for A&M, "Looking At You", included the club hit 'Number One', which was included on the soundtrack for BratPack comedy Real Genius, starring Val Kilmer. This was also another co-write with Ian Dury.
All the albums demonstrate both Jankel's keen ear for melody but also his willingness to experiment with rhythms, forms and styles, from the Kraftwerkian '3,000,000 Synths' to criminally underrated R&B of 'Tell Me Tell Me'.