Kajagoogoo - The Lions Mouth. Top Of The Pops 1984.

Nice quality video recorded live in the studio of Top Of The Pops 1984. Kajagoogoo is a British pop band, best known for their hit single, "Too Shy", which reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1983.
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 Jeremy "Jez" Strode 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 were unable to get a record deal.

In 1981, they advertised for a lead singer, ultimately auditioning and choosing Christopher Hamill, who then went under the stage name Limahl (an anagram of his surname). The name of the group was then changed to Kajagoogoo, coined by phonetically writing out a baby's first sounds, which gave them 'GagaGooGoo' - and with a minor alteration, it became 'Kajagoogoo'

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 EMI producer Colin Thurston. In between events, they supported Birmingham band Fashion on tour. Their debut single, "Too Shy", was released in January 1983 and went to the top of the charts (before any of Duran Duran's singles had done so, Rhodes ruefully noted). Follow-up releases, "Ooh to Be Aah" and "Hang on Now", also both reached the UK Top 20, and the album White Feathers reached no.5 in the UK album chart. 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 UK Top Ten in late 1983. Their next single, "The Lion's Mouth", made the Top 30 but after that public interest waned and the hits dried up. The subsequent new album, Islands, was less successful, peaking at only no.35 in the UK. In the U.S., the band renamed themselves as Kaja, and a different edition of the Islands album was released there as Extra Play, peaking at no.185 on the Billboard charts. The single "Turn Your Back On Me" did well on the US Dance Charts peaking at no.2 for two weeks.

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 the UK in 1985. Following the name change, the band released the single "Shouldn't Do That" (UK No.63) in mid-1985. The song was featured on their third album, Crazy People's Right to Speak. In 1986, the band split up.

On 7 September 2009, the long awaited retrospective 'Best Of' CD/DVD was released by the band's original label EMI Records called 'Too Shy - The Best Of Kajagoogoo & Limahl'. It features two of the newly recorded tracks from the 'Death Defying Headlines E.P.', plus a brand new promotional video, newly commissioned by the label to showcase "Space Cadet", one of the new recordings .

On 14 December 2009, EMI (UK) released the "White Feathers (Manhattan Clique Remixes) E.P." .

On 16 December 2009, Kajagoogoo performed their last remaining UK concert of 2009 with a return to 'The Stables' in Wavendon, Milton Keynes.

On 16 March 2010, 'dPulse Recordings' release the Kajagoogoo track 'First Girl on Mars' as a part of The 'Who Made Your Music?' benefit CD, released to raise funds for, and bring awareness to the rights of marginalized women. The album will be made available on Compact Disc and digital download format.

On Saturday 17 July 2010, Kajagoogoo performed at the Midland Music Festival in Tamworth.

On Saturday 21 August 2010, Kajagoogoo performed at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.

On 11th February 2011, 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 is available on Compact Disc and digital download format. Please visit my other Channel. Keep Rockin!
http://www.youtube.com/user/squizzy104?feature=mhum#p/u/3/se0F7dEZ-zs

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Kajagoogoo
• The lions mouth
• the big apple
• to shy
• lamal
• top of the pops 1984

[ColdIndian1]

These guys are amazing! How did I get through the 80's and not see them!

[TanjaDoor]

i was so in love with nick beggs for years :))) - great upload!