Kajagoogoo's Too Shy- Hi NRG or it's own thing?

I was always of the impression that Hi NRG was very straightforward uncomplex dance pop.

Too Shy has all the elements you would associate with Hi NRG but feels way too monumentally funky to reallyyy qualify as NRG. Although I'm aware whether you agree Hi NRG can sometimes be a funk thing is super subjective, I thought I'd get a diversity of opinion on the matter.

i would say it is absolutely not Hi NRG, nor even in the vague vicinity.

Kajagoogoo have absolutely nothing at all to do with hi-nrg, but thanks to this thread, i now can't stop singing too shy to the tune of you make me feel mighty real.

Tooooooo shyyy shyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Hush hush, eyeeeee to eyeeeeeeeeèee

Weird band though, sort of funky new romantic synthpop that gradually turned into an odd 80s sort of prog

their pop side was obviously where it was at - there are about 3 or 4 tunes on White Feathers that i absolutely love - but much like tears for fears they had thios weird arty side to them that got let loose on their b-sides.

this is one of my favourites - who else had songs called things like 'the pump rooms of bath'?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsL6-NZv5bM

i mean its terrrible really but it does throw a whole different light on what they were trying to do

NickB's namesake Nick Beggs is now the bassist in Steven Wilson's band and doing wonders.

That is the same Nick Beggs though isn't it? Became a renowned player who was in demand . Odd after that first single .

Xp didn't know that! The new wave band that nick beggs & co were in that mutated into kajagoogoo - Art Nouveau - did have a track included on that 80s prog box that Steve Wilson put out a couple of years ago. Seem to remember it was kind of interesting and also kind of awful?

i would say it is absolutely not Hi NRG, nor even in the vague vicinity.

“the garden” is pretty cool vaguely balearic, first heard it slowed down on rub n tug’s better with a spoonful of leather

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwU5Eo4C7KI

Synthpop/New Wave right? It does fit in italo disco sets, mainly because it uses the same synths.

Limahl surely the most 80s of the young 80s vocalists.

That's what I thought. I would never think to pan them as Hi-Nrg. Spotify's algorithm gave me a playlist of artists they deemed Hi NRG and I was just surprised to see them on there.

The playlist if anybody was curious:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1EIcBdsR2uXmbP?si=27d174984d51459c

(Featuring songs like Change from Tears for Fears and I Wanna Be A Toy from Dead or Alive)

Totally synthpop/new wave to me. I guess the follow up question is what about Kajagoogoo made them so 'odd' and unique from their contemporaries? I've only heard a few singles. Anybody who was a young person when they debuted want to opine on this? Also 'an odd 80s sort of prog' is such a good description of what they turned into.

On the topic of Nick Beggs, I'm a huge fan of the prog metal stuff he's done with Steve Wilson, just seems like a natural progression for him given how artsy he always was.

Too Shy is great in that, before this was even really that true of Duran Duran, it feels like unrelated bits of song stuck together.

Incomprehensible follow-up single Ooh to Be Ah sounds like it was written by embryonic AI being asked to make 80s pop. A fever dream of pop music rather than the real thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_ARAbkMwzE

Weird band though, sort of funky new romantic synthpop that gradually turned into an odd 80s sort of prog

It's my belief that even though Go West (soul passion and honesty), It Bites (nu-prog) and Red Box (cheery yoof club worldbeat pop) were all supposed to be different things in 1986 they all weirdly sound exactly the same. And that 'same' is some sort of prog/muso ingredient that feels there even when barely discernible.

I can’t believe I got to age 50 without realizing the lyric isn’t “Why do I?”

I was a teen when they debuted and they didn't strike me as especially odd or unique. They were synthy, which was trendy, and a little funky, which was also trendy. Lots of groups were working that territory. Wasn't aware of their subsequent prog turn.

Not knocking them though, I actually owned the White Feathers cassette back then

I thought they were pretty authentic 80s lite-funk, but stupid name + hair probably doomed them.

"I thought they were pretty authentic 80s lite-funk, but stupid name + hair probably doomed them."

Lol stupid hair and name were probably tolerable at the time, but I think losing Limahl is probably the thing that doomed them. I didn't mind the direction the band went in after he left but you could tell it wasn't the same.

Kajagoogoo are hugely underrated as a muso band, their records are really good. very strange post new wave moment there when bands were doing arrangements like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpgCjDt9zLc

or this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlXtrnh-Ejo