He got his first big break after impressing Neil Young with his mixing ability, and he eventually became head engineer at Compass Point Studio in Nassau, Bahamas.

He worked alongside Island Records boss Chris Blackwell on many of the label's projects, most famously with Bob Marley and the Wailers' Survival album in 1979.

A full member of the Compass Point All Stars from day one, he began producing artists for Island Records (Grace Jones, Marianne Faithfull, Robert Palmer, Joe Cocker), while doing mixing work for other labels (Talking Heads).

Sadkin produced the first two of the Thompson Twins' (as a trio) albums, Quick Step & Side Kick (1983) and Into the Gap (1984) as well as the original UK single release of "Lay Your Hands on Me", in late 1984.

The postponement caused them to rethink the project and producer Nile Rodgers was subsequently called in to rework the album with them, along with Sadkin's production of the single "Lay Your Hands on Me" and was released in 1985.