Каджагугу: Британдық жаңа толқын тобының тарихы

British new wave band

Kajagoogoo /k//æ//dʒ//ə/'/g//uː//g//uː/// were a British new wave band, best known for their 1983 hit single "Too Shy", which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, and the top 10 in numerous other countries.

Formed in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, in 1978, the band were originally known as Art Nouveau, a four piece avant garde group, with Nick Beggs on bass guitar, Steve Askew on lead guitar, Stuart Croxford Neale on keyboards, and Jez Strode on drums. In 1981 Art Nouveau recorded and self released a single, "Fear Machine/Animal Instincts", which sold a few hundred copies and allegedly got airtime on John Peel's show. The B side of Art Nouveau's single was re recorded for the B side of the "Ooh to Be Ah" 7 inch single. In spite of the single and continuous local live performances, the band failed to secure a record deal during this period. In 1982, Art Nouveau advertised for a new lead singer. They ultimately auditioned and chose Christopher Hamill, who then went under the stage name Limahl (an anagram of his surname). The group renamed themselves Kajagoogoo, a name coined phonetically from the first sounds that many infants make.

The band signed with EMI Records in July 1982 after Limahl had met keyboardist Nick Rhodes of the group Duran Duran while working as a waiter at London's Embassy Club. Rhodes co produced the band's first single, "Too Shy" with Duran Duran's EMI producer Colin Thurston. The single was released on 10 January 1983 and topped the UK Singles Chart. The other band members countered Limahl's assertions, insisting that he had become egomaniacal and increasingly difficult to work with. Soon after the departure, Beggs commented, "It was a business decision and not one we took lightly. He wanted the band to go in a different direction to the rest of us. Eventually, we realised we were on a different planet to Limahl." Beggs also stated that the band harboured no ill will towards Limahl, and blamed the press for sensationalising the matter. Guitarist Steve Askew commented "At first we did everything possible to make Limahl feel like part of the furniture but, you know, his lifestyle is so different from ours. We're very normal people whereas Limahl likes the bright lights." Meanwhile, Limahl went on to equally brief success as a solo artist and Strode left the band. In an attempt to regain credibility and lose their light hearted image, the remaining three members relaunched as Kaja in the UK in 1985. Following the name change, the band released the single "Shouldn't Do That" (UK No. 63) in August 1985.

The original five piece line up of the band briefly joined forces again on VH1's Bands Reunited in 2003. Following the much publicised VH1 reunion, the original group received many offers and incentives to continue to play together, where they performed the 16 tracks off the remastered edition of Islands, including encores and B sides, such as "Monochromatic" or "The Garden"). Their Gone to the Moon album, recorded as a three piece outfit prior to the full reunion, was distributed via the live shows and "Kajashop", the band's online store. In August 2009, while in the middle of a tour, Kajagoogoo again took to the stage to headline the Hobble on the Cobbles music event in Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. This was followed in September by a compilation CD/DVD, released by the band's original label EMI Records, titled Too Shy – The Best of Kajagoogoo & Limahl. It featured two newly recorded tracks and a promotional video for "Space Cadet", one of the new recordings. Quick to capitalise on the renewed interest in the band, EMI released the White Feathers (Manhattan Clique Remixes) EP in December 2009. In December 2009, Kajagoogoo performed their last remaining UK concert with a return to The Stables venue in Wavendon, Milton Keynes. In March 2010, dPulse Recordings released the Kajagoogoo track "First Girl on Mars" as a part of the Who Made Your Music? benefit CD, released to raise funds and bring awareness to the rights of marginalised women. On Saturday 17 July 2010, Kajagoogoo performed at the Midlands Music Festival in Tamworth and later performed at the Rewind Festival in Henley on Thames in August. Continuing to capitalise on renewed interest in the Kajagoogoo back catalogue, EMI Records released So80s Presents Kajagoogoo as a part of the So Eighties series curated by Blank & Jones. The album contains extended mixes of classic Kajagoogoo tracks and was released on CD and digital download format. Also made available digitally in April 2011, Kajagoogoo's Gone to the Moon album was given a digital release via iTunes. In June 2011, Kajagoogoo released their first single as a five piece since 1983. The track "Death Defying Headlines" was released as a digital single as both a single edit and an extended dance remix. In March 2017, bassist Nick Beggs said that Kajagoogoo was no longer active, stating "We did something about nine years ago, and that was good. It was almost like a kind of revisiting of it for old time’s sake and I felt that we did quite a lot of good with that. But in terms of moving forward, there’s no point in revisiting that project." In an interview with Cherry Red TV in 2018, Beggs talked about the reunion, stating "we reformed and we toured and we recorded an EP and remastered the back catalogue and at that point I felt that we had done it all. It was a nice way to tie it up, put a bow on it and leave it alone and move on."