Limahl

Limahl, former lead singer of Kajagoogoo, is available to perform at your next special event.

Limahl won the hearts of a new global audience as lead singer of Kajagoogoo and co-writer of their million selling début album 'White Feathers' , their first single 'Too Shy', stormed to the top of the charts all over the world, including number 5 in America. The bands eye catching image also struck a chord with their generation and so began a new wave of 'Kaja' mania.

Accolades and platinum sales discs followed, including an invitation to perform at 'The Childrens Royal Variety Show' at Her Majesty's Theatre (London) in the presence of HRH Princess Margaret . The icing on the cake that year culminated in the ASCAP Award ( American Society for Composers, Authors and Publishers ) for having written one of the most played songs on American radio in 1983, which was presented by Hal David , better know as one half of legendary songwriting duo Baccarach and David.

The chart success of their two follow up singles 'Ooh to be ah' & 'Hang on now' proved to any early critics, not only could these guys play their own instruments, but had also worked hard to develop those all important songwriting skills, which might at least give them a chance of longevity in the seemingly, fleeting world of pop.

Alas, this was not to be, as the pressure of intense recording and touring schedules took its toll, friction developed and merely eight months after grabbing worldwide music headlines, in an unprecedented move, the group decided to 'fire' their frontman Limahl , quoting the reason as "musical differences"!!

This fact was highlighted recently when the group reformed for the first time in twenty years in a one hour TV special 'Bands Reunited' broadcast in January 2004 by music cable channel MTV/VH1 .

"I was devastated, it really felt like a knife in my heart" were Limahl's own words......what better incentive then to embark on a solo career !!

The self penned 'Only for love' gave Limahl his first chart hit as a solo artiste but significantly, it was while performing this song at the Tokyo Music Festival he met legendary songwriter/producer and winner of three Academy Awards, Giorgio Moroder who was working on a new film soundtrack and invited Limahl to perform a then unknown song, 'The Neverending Story' . After reaching no'1 in over seventeen countries, Limahl's "velvet tones" and "quietly flamboyant" image was now indelibly printed in the memories of millions of music lovers.

It's a long way from his roots in Wigan, Lancashire where the 16 year old local lad won a singing competition at the famous 'Northern Soul' venue The Wigan Casino. After moving to London at 18yrs old, two years of piano & singing lessons, and as singer with several unsuccessful groups (one of which featured another unknown singer Mike Nolan who later rose to fame in Bucks Fizz ,Limahl finally got his first paid job as a singer in 'Aladdin' at The Grand Theatre , Swansea, (Wales) after a friend had introduced him to established London theatrical agent Barry Stacy.

"During the next three years" says Limahl "a very solid performing apprenticeship was earned" in various theatre roles including 'Benjamin' in two different productions of 'Joseph and the amazing technicolour dreamcoat' , 'Lamar' in 'Godspell' and a brief flirtation with acting as 'Dennis' in Agatha Christie's 'Murder at the vicarage'.

"Every penny I earned, I put into writing and recording demos" .

Several demos later it finally paid off when independent label 'Angel Records' signed the budding singer under his real name of Chris Hamill and released 'It 's Christmas' aimed at the Xmas market, however on this occasion, the wrong chart success was achieved when one magazine critic placed the song in their top 20 of 'The worst Xmas songs chart' .

The follow up single 'Angel' also made no impression on the charts and the label dropped him soon after.

Not to be deterred by this minor hiccup, a bold advert was placed in London's bible for musicians Melody Maker "looking for a band" which was spotted by unknown quartet Art Nouveau who lived in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire. After an audition with the band, at the printing factory where the drummer worked, Limahl was hired.

A year later, with brand new songs in hand, new demos and even new names ( Art Nouveou became Kajagoogoo and Chris Hamill became Limahl - an anagram of Hamill ), he moved back to London and started the sometimes, thankless task of approaching record companies only to frequently hear those all too familiar words, "no thanks".

To help pay the bills, Limahl took a part time job at London's trendiest nightspot The Embassy Club as a waiter/barman. It was here, where a chance meeting took place that would change the course of events......after chatting enthusiastically to Duran Duran keyboard player Nick Rhodes suddenly four days later EMI Records were in the picture talking record contract language with Nick Rhodes and Duran Duran's music producer Colin Thurston at the production helm .. ....the rest as they say is history.

After 20 years in the business, that 'performing apprenticeship' has now been well and truly earned, with countless, worldwide TV, theatre, 'live' appearances and even successful music production under his belt......keeping those schedules as intense today as they ever were.

The recent trend in reality TV has just seen Limahl (Feb 2004) reach the semi final in a 'Pop Idol' type TV format in Germany/Austria/Switzerland called 'Comeback' where fan mail from 16 year olds has started to arrive again which is ironic, as these are probably the off spring of the original Limahl fans who were there the first time round.

So what does the future have in store ?

Well, in this business called 'show', who knows......but it is now quite clear that even after his own group gave him the boot, Limahl has not only survived but has also gone on to achieve a substantial degree of that much sought after longevity, both as a performer and musician......long may it be never ending.

Limahl is available for your next special event. Contact us today to get started.

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