Too Shy

Too Shy is a song written and recorded by English New Wave/pop music band Kajagoogoo, released in 1983. The first single from their debut album White Feathers, the song was an immediate hit and reached no.1 (for two weeks) on the UK Singles Chart^[1]. It was also very successful in other European countries, spending 5 weeks at no.1 in Germany, and reaching no.2 in Switzerland, no.4 in Sweden and Austria, and no.4 in the Netherlands ^[2].

Assisted by heavy rotation on MTV, the song later became a success in the United States, peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 ^[3]. "Too Shy" is Kajagoogoo's only significant hit in the U.S., where the band is widely regarded as a one-hit wonder. In the UK, however, Kajagoogoo had further hits, including two more Top 10 singles: "Ooh to Be Ah" and "Big Apple", both in 1983.

The track was produced by Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran and Colin Thurston, who had produced Duran Duran's first two albums. In 2006, "Too Shy" was ranked number twenty-seven on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 80's ^[4] and number nine on VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s^[5].

The 12" maxi single's B-side, "Take Another View", a non-album track, often performed live, was included on the 2004 re-issue of White Feathers, which contained several bonus tracks, including the instrumental version of "Too Shy", originally featured on the B-sides of both the 7" and 12" singles.

The song is also included in the computer game The Sims 2: Open For Business in the Sims' language, Simlish. An instrumental version of this song is also featured in the hit game "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories", on the fictional "Wave 103" station which plays New Wave tracks.

The video for the song cast model Carolyn Espley (later wife of Dennis Miller) as a waitress cleaning up a nightclub at the end of the night. As the band performs the song on the club stage, she has visions of dancers from different eras populating the dance floor.

Charts

References