| Artist: Kajagoogoo |
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| Discography: Kajagoogoo |
| Wikipedia: Kajagoogoo |
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| Kajagoogoo | |
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 Kajagoogoo in Bochum, Germany, 2008. L-R: Nick Beggs, Stuart Croxford Neale, Limahl, Jez Strode, and Steve Askew.
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | Kaja, Art Nouveau |
| Origin | Bedfordshire, England |
| Genre(s) | New Wave Synthpop Pop rock |
| Years active | 1979–1986 2003–present |
| Label(s) | EMI Records Parlophone Spectra Records |
| Associated acts | Limahl Art Nouveau |
| Website | Official Website |
| Members | |
| Limahl Nick Beggs Steve Askew Stuart Croxford Neale Jez Strode |
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Kajagoogoo are a British pop band, best known for their first single, "Too Shy", which reached #1 in the UK Singles Chart (#5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100) in 1983.
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The band was originally founded in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, in 1979, as a four-piece avant-garde instrumental group, called Art Nouveau, with Nick Beggs on bass guitar, Steve Askew on lead guitar, Stuart Croxford Neale on keyboards, and Jez Strode (born Jeremy) on drums. Art Nouveau released a track called "The Fear Machine". The single sold a few hundred copies, and was played on the John Peel show, but the band could not get a record deal.
In 1981, they advertised for, and auditioned, lead singers, and finally chose Christopher Hamill. He made his profile, and therefore that of the band, catchier by using an anagram of his surname for his stage name, becoming Limahl, matched with his typical double colour hairdo (blond on top and black on sides). The name of the group was then changed to the also catchier Kajagoogoo: writing out the phonetics of a baby's first sounds gave them 'GagaGooGoo' - with a little bit of an alteration, it became 'Kajagoogoo'.[citation needed]
The band attracted the interest of three record labels (and Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes), while performing at the Embassy Club, in London. The group was eventually signed to EMI, in July 1982, and Rhodes was hired to produce their first album, White Feathers along with Duran Duran's producer Colin Thurston. In between events, they supported Birmingham band Fashion on tour. Their debut single, "Too Shy", was released in January of 1983 and went to the top of the charts (before any of Duran Duran's singles had done so, Rhodes noted[citation needed] ruefully). Follow-up releases, "Ooh to Be Aah" and "Hang on Now", both reached the UK Top 20 as well.
As success came, tensions began to rise in the band, which eventually culminated in Limahl being fired by the other band members in mid-1983 and Beggs then taking over as lead singer. The first single by the new four-piece Kajagoogoo was "Big Apple", which made the Top Ten in late 1983. Their next single, "The Lion's Mouth", made the Top 30 but then the hits dried up completely ("Turn Your Back on Me" failed to enter the UK Top 40, stalling at no.47), and the subsequent new album, Islands was a commercial failure, peaking at only Number 35 in the UK. Strode then left the band and, in an attempt to gain some credibility and to lose their bubblegum image, the remaining three members relaunched as Kaja in 1985. The four-piece version of the band, including Jez, had already made their appearance in the U.S. as Kaja, the previous year, when a different edition of the Islands album was released there as Extra Play, only peaking at Number 185 in the Billboard charts. However, this new version of Kajagoogoo was also a failure, and the band went their separate ways in 1986, after issuing the UK single "Shouldn't Do That" (UK #63). The single was taken from their last album Crazy People's Right to Speak and had also featured on the soundtrack for Santa Claus: The Movie.
The original five-piece line-up of the band briefly joined forces again on VH1's Bands Reunited in 2004. Following the VH1 reunion, the original group received offers to continue to play in this line-up,[citation needed] but disagreements continued between band members and the reunion was short-lived. The group felt that the VH1 feature was unfairly edited to portray simplified reasons as to Jez's and especially Limahl's departure, and complained that it also suggested the band remained together in the fairy tale ending.[citation needed]
In 2007, Nick Beggs, Steve Askew and Stuart Neale indeed decided to continue to play together as Kajagoogoo and released the track "Rocket Boy" on 24 June 2007, the first Kajagoogoo single in 22 years. The single received airplay on Steve Wright's BBC Radio 2 show in the UK, and a new album, Gone to the Moon, was also recorded and was scheduled for release but then postponed indefintely. However, it may be downloaded for free on the band's official website until February 2009.
In February 2008, the three Kajagoogoo members announced plans to reunite with original members, lead singer Limahl and drummer Jez Strode. The band also said they would play Retrofest again in August.[1] Since then, Limahl and Strode actually rejoined the band. This was due in part to Bradley Snelling, the organizer of the Retrofest event and the band's new manager, who had succeeded in arranging for Kajagoogoo to have their first photo shoot in 25 years. The band wrote on their official site that "The atmosphere was relaxed, jovial and, after 25 years, Kajagoogoo, in their original five-piece line-up are back".
Several live dates are scheduled in Europe and Scandinavia as for 2008. The group's members are currently writing new material, with a view to be recording during the year, for release some time in 2008-2009. Meanwhile, the Gone to the Moon album is also to be released as a compact disc, though Beggs, Neale and Askew have highlighted that the album was written and recorded before Limahl and Strode actually rejoined the band.[citation needed]
The debut for the newly reformed band has taken place in Denmark on June 14, 2008, at Esbjerg Rock Festival.[2]
Kajagoogoo announced a UK tour (their first as a five-piece since 1983) for September 2009.[3]
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