Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Kajagoogoo
Label: EMI Records
Released: 1983
Length: 34:53
Rating: 2.5/5
Kajagoogoo were surely one of the oddest acts in the new wave movement of the eighties. With their hairdos, almost grotesque by today’s standards, and their colorful little shirts, they gave off the vibe of a typical eighties ‘boy band’, the kind the pop scene was swimming in back then and the kind that set teenage girls’ imaginations on fire. But that impression was false, because behind the ‘plastic facade’ of an instant pop outfit hid a bunch of musicians with an exceptional knack for writing hypnotic hits, and also for crafting unusually sophisticated compositions with a noticeable art rock streak. Considering their roots in the instrumental, avant-garde rock band Art Noveau, that’s hardly a big surprise. Still, it’s true that their more experimental side only really shows up a bit later, once the original version of Kajagoogoo was already history.
In their original lineup, which most fans still worship the most, Kajagoogoo had the charismatic Limahl (real name Christopher Hamill) on lead vocals. Right after going solo he became famous with the evergreen »The NeverEnding Story«, but that’s a ‘different story’ altogether. The multi-talented bassist and Chapman Stick player Nick Beggs took over the mic after Limahl’s departure, soon after Kajagoogoo’s debut »White Feathers« came out, and he was just as great a singer, in the opinion of some fans even better than his more famous bandmate. Less known is the fact that Beggs was an art rocker at heart and soul, and became a pop musician more or less because of the circumstances of the time. On the Kajagoogoo debut, produced by Duran Duran keyboardist Nick Rhodes and Colin Thurston, he ‘only’ handled the instrumental side and occasionally helped Limahl with backing vocal harmonies, while the two ‘peroxide canaries’ split the songwriting duties between them.
Limahl and company stormed the top of the radio charts in no time with the mega hit and lead single from the album, »Too Shy«, which is by far the best-known track on »White Feathers«. To this day it’s their only big hit on the other side of the Atlantic. On it, the band, under the brilliant production hand of Rhodes and Thurston, squeezed everything out of eighties synthpop production and, despite the ‘holy simplicity’ of its almost disco-leaning rhythmic touches, delivered an extremely fun pop rocker with a seriously catchy chorus. Unfortunately, the rest of the songs on »White Feathers« somehow didn’t reach the sophistication of that hit.
Aside from a few bright spots, like the title track »White Feathers«, which in its rhythmic ethos and central arrangement is a bit reminiscent of some of Japan’s simpler efforts, individual compositions suffer from the typical growing pains of a young band full of fiery enthusiasm that swore far too much by synthetic rhythms and almost banal lyrics. The lyrics were undoubtedly among the weaker points of the original Kajagoogoo. Neither Limahl’s charismatic vocals nor Beggs’s technically top-notch playing of the Chapman Stick and bass guitar, the band’s ‘main weapons’, could save everything, while guitarist Steve Askew went almost unnoticed amid all the rhythmic synth stuff run by keyboardist Stuart Croxford Neale and drummer Jez Strode. A prime example of a song that promises a lot but soon drowns completely in the worst electronic synth sound of the eighties is »Lies And Promises«. »Magician Man«, with its interesting vocal lines, also feels somewhat unfinished, even though in a short instrumental section the band proves that an exceptional, untapped potential was already hiding inside them.
From a song named after the band itself, the average listener would usually expect a lot, but »Kajagoogoo« is one of the most banal synthpop creations of the eighties. Its rhythmic touches, especially the bass, even show some jazz influences, making it such a wonderfully bizarre experiment that it’s fun in its own right. With »Ooh to Be Ah«, yet another hit, the band tried to catch the ambient momentum of »Too Shy«, but the whole thing miserably flopped, as its structure sounds more or less like music from some gay disco club, which is probably where Limahl found the inspiration for the (homo)erotic lyrics. The third hit, »Hang On Now«, is the only track on »White Feathers« besides »Too Shy« that, in both quality and level of rhythmic and ambient sophistication, already hints at the next Kajagoogoo album, the excellent »Islands« (1984). The romantic mood is caught in a nostalgic chorus, while subtle synth and piano textures are generously backed by melodic bass lines throughout. A few melancholic guitar passages also sneak in shyly here and there, which was definitely a bonus.
On »This Car Is Fast«, another quickly forgotten number, robotic synths and silly lyrics take over once again. The songs Limahl wrote entirely on his own are the worst on »White Feathers«, and that goes for »Ergonomics« too, which with its cheerful main motif sounds like the soundtrack to some B-grade action TV series, made somewhere in the eighties, of course. The only thing worth praising here is the excellent vocal harmonies from both singers. Probably only Mr. Hamill knew what he meant to say with »Frayo«, the closing and also worst track on the album. Music gourmets may appreciate the tasteful improvisations on bass and keys, but the chorus and lyrics are so annoying that they kill any joy of listening to the album again, which, after a solid opening stretch, quickly disappoints.
Apart from »Too Shy« and »Hang On Now«, »White Feathers« still doesn’t give anyone much reason to guess the band would take a giant leap forward musically with its very next release. It’s kind of ironic that Kajagoogoo only really blossomed creatively after Limahl’s departure (or after, by his account, the rest of the band fired him over the phone), even though he, thanks to his big solo hit »The NeverEnding Story«, is still their best-known member today. The other four members had their own story about Limahl’s dismissal, of course, claiming that once success and fame kicked in he turned into a full-blown egomaniac who got harder and harder to work with on new music, and that their views on the band’s future sound had supposedly drifted too far apart as well. And an even lesser-known fun fact: Limahl’s look was the inspiration for Marvel comic book artist Arthur Adams when he created Longshot, a member of the X-Men.
Line-up
Limahl – vocals
Nick Beggs – bass guitar, Chapman Stick, backing vocals
Steve Askew – guitar
Stuart Croxford Neale – synthesizer, backing vocals
Jez Strode – drums
Production
Nick Rhodes, Colin Thurston, Tim Palmer and Kajagoogoo
Track list
1. White Feathers
2. Too Shy
3. Lies And Promises
4. Magician Man
5. Kajagoogoo
6. Ooh to Be Ah
7. Ergonomics
8. Hang On Now
9. This Car Is Fast
10. Frayo
