The Kajagoogoo story

This posts history dates from a threat to launch a thread at a forum if the members didn't behave themselves around Kajagoogoo and was originally posted in a different forum at a forum I belong to.
If I'd of written it as a regular post here it sure would of been different!!!

The story begins in a sleepy backdrop called Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England where Nick Beggs (bass), Steve Askew (Lead), Stuart Croxford Neale (Keyboards) and Jeremy (Jez) Strode (Drums) get together in 1979 and form Art Nouveau releasing the single 'The Fear Machine'. It sells a few hundred copies, gets airplay on the late John Peels BBC Radio One show but the band fails to gain a commercial contract.

By 1981 they were looking for a lead singer and after several auditions get Christopher Hamill who I think came from Lancashire whose stage name was.... wait for it Limahl which is an anagram of his surname.

Limahl had connections and managed to get the ear of Nick Rhodes (of mega stars Duran Duran) in a place he did some non musical work which resulted in Nick coming to see them play at The Embassy Club, London.

This resulted in them being signed by Duran's label EMI in July of 1982 and getting Nick together with their then produce Colin Thurston to do some work in the studio.

Between this they had a place on the Birmingham based Fashion (remember San Solo anyone?) groups tour.
The rest is history.

 Kajagoogogoo on video:
Originally there was a video EP issued in 1983 back when videos were dear containing Too Shy, Ooh To Be Ah and Big Apple which sadly never was issued as a single in the States (the rotters ! 😡 available on VHS and Billy Betamax.

The good news is those performances are available on DVD on a CD/DVD set entitled 'Too Shy-The best of Kajagoogoo and Limahl that came out in 2009.

That has the first 6 UK singles the solo Limahl singles of that era ('83/4) plus Space Cadet the single from the newly reformed band with all five members.

Said disc sells for about $8 CDN on Amazon in the UK so you've no excuses for having these videos in pristine condition.

 "Tongue tied or short of breathe" and more!

Having gotten the contract with EMI the band were left to demo material they had written including some Art Nouveau stuff in what was the then EMI facility at Manchester Square, London.

It was around the summer of '82 that in rehearsal studio the potential of Too Shy as an initial single was spotted. UK based but American born music media commentator and presenter Paul Gambaccini said "I think that's got something, guys".

It went through three re-writes with even the middle section changed in the studio on the day it was recorded before it was mixed. Paul featured this on his TV special looking at upcoming acts and to this day maintains a friendship with Limahl.

Too Shy was released in the UK January 22 of 1983 (EMI (12) 5359) backed with Too Shy (Instrumental mix) on both 7 and 12" singles with the 12" having the Midnight Mix as the top side. This climbed to the top of the charts and soon the band were plastered all over the magazines of the day such as No1 and Smash Hits that my friends and I all bought.

Following success in Japan - go on start singing 'Big In Japan' 😁 - EMI America decided to market them in North America issuing Too Shy on April 23rd that went Top Five.

The follow up single Ooh To Be Ah (EMI (12) 5383 coupled with Animal Instincts got to number 7 in the UK charts but was passed over by EMI America.

White Feathers

This was the first Kajagoogoo album issued April 1983 on cassette (TC) and lp on EMI EMC 3433 featuring Lies and Promises, Kajagoogoo plus both the initial singles.
It went top five.

In North America it was issued in June EMI America 17094 climbing as high as #38 but in the best American tradition they altered the tracklisting (typical!) reversing the order of the first two tracks (White Feathers and Too Shy) to lead off on the hit single and Frayo and This Car Is Fast from the second side.

The US cassette 4xt17094 added the Moonlight Mix of Too Shy to the end of the second side and also was issued with the XDR(tm) duplication system unlike the UK tape issue and sounds much better for it.

It has been issued twice on cd - yes I bought both ! - the first was in 1993 by OneWay Records in the States thru' CEMA with just the original program in the US track order and then in 2004 in the UK with bonus tracks such as b sides and all the 12" mixes (EMI 7243 4 73962 2 9).

The 2004 isn't bad but I found the OneWay release (7 2438 17608-2 6) more open sounding
Needless to say my circle soon wore out our tapes (I did get an lp too!) back in the day.

Hang On Now!

This was the final single released in the UK from White Feathers on June 4th peaking at #13 ( (12) 5394 and also garnered a Stateside release on August 27th (EMI America 8171) but only got as far as #87 on the chart. That's the UK picture disc version

Stay tuned for a word about compilations and that band split.

The band splits!
It was around the late Summer 1983 that we heard Limahl, the lead singer and something of a pin up had left or depending on who was writing in the press, was kicked out with Nick Beggs taking up lead vocals.

Over the years a number of reasons have been trotted out to explain this.

The most common one, mentioned in the VH1 Bands Re-united series, was that they saw Limahl's presence as a distraction as all the press attention was on him, his fashions and that hair. We all wanted that hair I might add!

The rest of the band it was said felt it detracted from their serious musicianship although the band have several issues with that whole VH1 Special since it's showing in 2004 around the coverage of this plus they felt VH1 edited to make it come over that there was a fairy tale ending. Sadly at that time it wasn't. 😢

My gut feeling is it may have come from the management company and possibly touring on a vast scale might not of helped.

Over the decades a number of Kajagoogoo compilations have come out although we're fortunate not to seen them as anthologized as much as Elvis.

My personal favourite is Too Shy - The Singles and More issued by EMI in 1993. Catalogue number 7243 8 21222 2 9

Mastered extremely well by by Jeff Ranch at Capitol and concurrent with the acclaimed 'Living In Oblivion' 80's pop series this presents the first seven band singles plus all of Limahl's up to 1992 which is as well as EMI haven't seen fit to re-issue on cd the two solo albums he did for them being only available on downloads. 

This is topped off by the 12" versions making this release invaluable to fans as well as general lovers of 80's pop.

Of the others The Very best Of on EMI Gold (7243 8 52956 2 1) from 1996 gives a good selection in reasonable sound.

On A Plane to Islands

It wasn't long before we got to hear what the Limahl less band had in mind musically when on September 17,1983 they issued Big Apple - a big horn driven stomper - backed with a live recording of 'Monochromatic' which has never been recorded in a studio.

This song was more of a statement on the fashion toward black and white clothing we jumble sale chic followers had back then that drove our folks nuts!

The single EMI (12)5423 came out in 7 and 12" forms with Big Apple 'The Metro Mix) as the top side and with the aid of a stylish video reached number 8 on the UK charts and many of us skated to it!

Unfortunately EMI America passed on releasing it which in hindsight can be seen as the moment the band effectively disappeared from the Stateside scene almost as quickly as they'd joined it.

It wasn't until the following year that Kajagoogoo treated us to a new single that was part of the hype around the release of a new album.

On March 3rd 1984 The Lions Mouth - another horn driven song - was issued on (12) EMI 5449 in a striking colour representation of the notion of Bird about to be consumed by a Lion as the front cover. There was an extended version 'The Beast Mix' as the top side of the 12" and an instrumental 'The Pump Rooms Of Bath'.

The single reached number 25 and yes again was not issued in the States.

Islands

The writing of the songs for this album started in the late spring of 1983 with the band being mindful, via the first new single - 'Big Apple' - to set the musical style for the whole album with this and 'On A Plane' being the first written songs. 

They decided to adopt a more Jazz based sound implementing brass sections while at the same time Stuart got to grips with a PPG Wave term System.

The composing style altered as the band took - not unlike Tears For Fears - the approach of developing instrumental ideas in the studio, cutting them into song themes adding then the melodies and lyrics resulting in the completed song.

The band used a digital multi track recorder which created some scary moments as the tapes started shredding oxide so they had to be sent to Townhouse Studios for one to one duplicating to save months of work.

The song themes featured had moved on exploring more about the human condition 'The Power To Forgive', 'No Man Is An Island' than previous numbers such as 'Ergonomics'
Issued on Lp EMI Kaja1 and XDR(tm) cassette the album reached number 35 on the charts.

Extra Play
Not for the first time had the US record company decided to mess with the British arms completed product only this time they retitled and at the same time altered the feel of the lp by changing the track order.

The parent UK album had nine tracks.

Issued on EMI America 17157 Lp and XDR(tm) tape April 1985 and reached #185.
[list type=decimal]
[*]"Turn Your Back on Me (Thompson and Barbiero U.S. Mix)" – 3:56 *
[*]"The Power to Forgive" – 4:46
[*]"Big Apple" – 4:02
[*]"Melting the Ice Away" – 5:18
[*]"The Lion's Mouth" – 3:30
[*]"Turn Your Back on Me (Flipped Disc Mix)" – 6:58
[*]"Big Apple (Metro Mix)" – 6:02

At long last EMI UK issued this album in an expanded form on cd in 2004 with a reasonable re-mastering job that added all the b sides, 12" mixes and the US mix (*) 7243 4 73654 2 3. As a fan of this album I'd recommended it.

Finally The last single to issued from this album on May 5th 1984 was Turn Your Back On Me on 12" and 7 (12) EMI 5646 peaking at #47.

In the US it was issued on March 13 1985 - EMI America 8262 but failed to chart.

Limahl's solo work.

Following the continuation of Kajagoogoo as a four piece band you might well of wondered what did its' original pin up star do?

Well after crying on the sofa for a bit with his sister - the story is told on the inner sleeve - he got underway on recording his first solo album.

It was necessary to issue a single fist to remind folk of his abilities so on November 5th 1983 Only For Love EMI (12) LML1 was issued with a funny romantic video which peaked at #16. It was another track we loved skating to!

Tellingly this was issued in the States until July 20th 1985!

On June 2 1984 he issued Too Much Trouble EMI (12) LML 2. This only reached as high as number 64 on the UK charts so things were not looking to good for the upcoming album release.

Fortunately Limahl had managed to get the ear of synthesizer wizard Georgio Moroder and this resulted in the recording of Never Ending Story from the motion picture 'The Never Ending Story'.

Released October 13 1984 - EMI (12) LML 3- this brought Limahl back in the public's eye with it reaching number 4 on the UK chart. It was issued in the States by EMI America on 8230 on March 23rd 1985.

Don't Suppose

 

  Finally in December 1984 that solo album he'd spend over a year on came out on EMI PLML 1 (EJ 24 0156 2 (/4 for TC) on lp and XDR(tm) cassette.

A collection of pop songs with a personal feel featuring all three singles mentioned so far on it, it hasn't been issued on cd anywhere but all but one track are available scattered across the many Limahl/Kajagoogoo compilations.

In May 1986 he issued the album Colour All My Days on EMI EMC 3510 (US: EMI America 17142) which did not chart.

From this album two singles Love In Your Eyes issued April 14 1986 on EMI 5558 and Inside To Outside issued September 29 on EMI 5570 were issued also failing to chart. This album has not been reissued on cd either.

At this point public interest in all things 'googoo' had dropped and it was not until 1992 that he issued an album in Germany called Love Is Blind (Bellaphone 10007634) with new material and some remixes including one of Too Shy.

The best way on cd to hear his all his solo singles is the Too Shy-The Singles and More cd I mentioned earlier on.

Crazy Peoples Right To Speak.

 Following the release of 1984's Islands album that had garner some critical acclaim and had gone Gold in Japan, Jez Strode left the band.

The band formally adopted throughout the world 'Kaja' as their title (although 'Extra Play' in the US was credited to Kaja in '84) perhaps reflecting on the new identity of the band although the bands brief short memorable tunes with a visual depth remained. 

This time around the feel was to get quite a bit harder edged something that was immediately apparent on the albums opener, 'Do I'.

For this album album they located to California and hung out with production legend Ken Scott. 

Although it is commonplace for many artists to use session musicians this was the first time they had used them and the resultant work was then re-mixed at Air Studios, London.

The album was issued in the UK as EJ 24 0399 -1(lp)/-4(XDR(tm) tape) in September 1985.
This album was re-issued with bonus tracks in 2004 on EMI 7243 4 73860 2 2 but either is or is fast approaching out of print status having checked Amazon UK a week back.

The first single released from the sessions was Should Do That on September 21st 1985 on Parlophone (12) R6106 that garner radio replay reaching #63 on the charts.
Promo: R_9V-XYqYDw

The US version was issued on EMI America September 4th on 8284

The last single issued from the album was Do I but this did not chart.
2007 Retrofest performance: gjD3TYyFC0A

Shortly afterward Kaja dissolved as although the band were happy with the album - and it really holds up with much contemporary artists work - sales and interest in Europe was low.

Reunion
There was an attempt by VH1 to re-unite the band in 2003 although various members had worked with each other off and on since the mid 80's but this attempt left a bitter taste in the mouths although around 2007 the band did eventually get back together issuing recordings in 2008 and 2010.