Limahl To Release "1983."

 

Limahl wants to go back in time; to the heyday of the new romantic style and when electro pop was all the rage. With synthesizers, 12-inch vinyl, and cassettes. Join us on Jan. 10th (2012) when we go back to 1983! 

29 years to the day after the release of Kajagoogoo’s "Too Shy" comes Limahl’s brand new song "1983," set to be available in all digital formats via Dig Music. 

On the day of the release Limahl is confirmed to appear on Larry Flick's The Morning Jolt on SIRIUS XM at 1 p.m. London time and 8 a.m. E.S.T. 

Let Limahl January 2012 begin! 

Material & photo: 1983 by Limahl

Kajagoogoo Are Back!

 

The Kajagoogoo community needs our help getting one of the world’s most beloved new wave bands back into the UK charts! 

From kajagoogoo.com: The track "Death Defying Headlines" comes from the band’s Death Defying Headlines EP and is a beautiful example of the modern Kajagoogoo sound. With some gentle persuasion from KajaFax, the band have agreed to release the track as a single. 

This is the first single to be released from the complete five piece band in 28 years! 

The promo video and all of the information about how to support the band and download the track can be found here. 

Photo: kajagoogoo.com

Kajagoogoo Reform For UK Tour.

After 25 years, Kajagoogoo's original five members - Limahl (Lead Vocals), Nick Beggs (Bass/Vocals), Steve Askew (Guitar/Vocals), Jez Strode (Drums), and Stuart Croxford Neale (Keyboards/Vocals), have reunited to tour the UK. This intimate tour starts at Liverpool's O2 Academy on Sept. 17 and culminates at Southampton's The Brook on Oct. 1.

The band, discovered by Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes, had a bitter split into two factions just eight months after their debut single "Too Shy" topped the UK charts in February 1983. The band has now reconciled and have since rediscovered the magic that brought them together in the first place.

Kajagoogoo's success was instant - the pop-perfect "Too Shy" became a number one in 23 countries (and top 5 in America), "Ooh To be Aah," the follow-up, went top ten, "Hang On Now" made the top 20, and their debut album White Feathers went on to sell 3 million copies. After the split, the four remaining members regrouped with Nick on vocals and their next single "Big Apple" reached a respectable number eight. But Limahl's focal presence couldn't help but be missing.

The original line-up briefly re-formed in 2003 for VH1's Bands Reunited.

Photo: mirror.co.uk
Material: kajagoogoo.com

Happy 25th Birthday "Too Shy."

"Too Shy" was released as the first single from Kajagoogoo's debut album White Feathers. The song was an immediate hit in the UK, spending two weeks at number one. Assisted by heavy rotation on MTV, the song later became a success in the United States, peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100. "Too Shy" was Kajagoogoo's only significant hit in the U.S., but the band had other songs chart in the UK including "Ooh to Be Aah," and "Hang on Now."

"Too Shy" was produced by Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran, and Colin Thurston, who had produced Duran Duran's first two albums. In 2006, "Too Shy" was ranked #27 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s.

The five piece Kajagoogoo (Nick Beggs on bass, Steve Askew on lead guitar, Stuart Croxford Neale on keyboards, Jez Strode on drum, and Limahl on vocals) became a four piece when at the end of 1983, Limahl and the band parted company "on the eve of a highly publicised USA tour."

After Limahl's departure, Beggs took over singing duties and the band released Islands, which went to #35 in the UK. The four piece then became a three piece in 1985 with the departure of Strode, and in 1986, the remaining members went their separate ways.

In 2003, "VH-1 engineered a seemingly impossible task, persuading Kajagoogoo to reform the original 5-piece band for a one off television special. The resulting performance was part of the VH-1 'Bands Reunited' series."

This month, Kajagoogoo announced plans to reunite the original members, and said they would play Retrofest in August 2008.

Material: wikipedia.org
Quotes courtesy: kajagoogoo.com

Happy Birthday Chris Hamill.

Best known as the lead singer of Kajagoogoo, Limahl was born in 1958 in Wigan, Lancashire, England. His stage name was an anagram of his real last name.

He actually began his career as an actor, taking small parts in theater productions and television shows beginning in the late 70's. He first attempted to break into the music business as a solo act under his own name, and briefly joined several groups before successfully auditioning for Kajagoogoo in 1982.

Kajagoogoo's first single "Too Shy," topped the British charts in early 1983, and reached the Top Five in America. However, the follow ups failed to duplicate its success. Frustrated with their bubblegum image, the remainder of the band parted ways with Limahl around the end of 1983 and he embarked on a solo career.

The move produced immediate dividends when Limahl was chosen to sing the Giorgio Moroder-penned theme song for the 1984 fantasy film The Never Ending Story. It became a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, reaching the Top Five in the U.K., and was quickly added to Limahl's debut solo album Don't Suppose. Sticking with a winning formula, Limahl worked more heavily with Moroder on his 1986 follow-up LP Colour All My Days.

It took him until 1992 to release another album, and that, Love Is Blind, was only issued in Germany and Japan.

Kajagoogoo reunited in 2003 for VH-1's Bands Reunited.

Material: vh1.com
Photo courtesy: mirror.co.uk

Happy Birthday Nick Beggs.

"If you can market a band called Kajagoogoo, you can market anything."
-- Nick Beggs