Formed in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, in 1978, British new wave band Kajagoogoo 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. The group renamed themselves Kajagoogoo, a name coined phonetically from the first sounds that many infants make.
Kajagoogoo were best known for their 1983 hit single “Too Shy”, which reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart, and the Top 10 in numerous other countries. In the U.S., the band first adopted the Kaja moniker at this time, and a different edition of the Islands album was released as Extra Play, peaking at No. 185 on the Billboard charts. However, the single “Turn Your Back on Me” did well on the U.S. Dance Charts, peaking at No. 2 for two weeks.
The group disbanded in December 1985. The original five-piece line-up of the band briefly joined forces again on VH1’s Bands Reunited in 2003. In March 2017, bassist Nick Beggs said that Kajagoogoo was no longer active. Take a look at these vintage photos to see styles of Kajagoogoo in the 1980s.
Had more styles than hits...
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