White Feathers

White Feathers
Studio album by Kajagoogoo
Released	18 April 1983[1]
Recorded	1982-83
Genre	New wave, synthpop
Length	34:53 (original 1983 release) 73:12 (2004 CD reissue)
Label	EMI America
Producer	Nick Rhodes Colin Thurston Tim Palmer Kajagoogoo
Kajagoogoo chronology
White Feathers (1983) Islands (1984)Islands1984
Singles from White Feathers
"Too Shy" Released: 10 January 1983 "Ooh to Be Ah" Released: March 1983 "Hang on Now" Released: May 1983

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Smash Hits	[2]
Allmusic	[3]

White Feathers is the debut album by British new wave band Kajagoogoo, released on 18 April 1983 and the only album by the band to-date to feature lead vocalist Limahl. It was produced by Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran and Colin Thurston, who was Duran Duran's producer at the time, except for track #5, the self-titled "Kajagoogoo", an instrumental (with some lyrics sung only in live performances), which was produced by Tim Palmer and the band. This self-titled song was featured in the John Hughes movie Sixteen Candles as the film's opening title song in 1984. The album contains their most successful single "Too Shy", a UK Number One hit in February 1983, as well as two other UK Top Twenty hits; "Ooh to Be Ah" and "Hang on Now".

After the band was featured on the VH1 program Bands Reunited in 2003, renewed interest in Kajagoogoo prompted the band's original label EMI to re-issue "White Feathers" on CD in the UK for the first time in 2004 (although it had been available on CD in Japan and the USA since 1993). Originally containing ten tracks, the 2004 version of the album contained eight bonus tracks, including four B-sides plus four remixes - two of which are of "Too Shy" (both an extended and instrumental version).

Track listing

Music by Kajagoogoo. Lyrics credited below.

Side one

1. "White Feathers" (Nick Beggs) – 3:28
2. "Too Shy" (Beggs, Limahl) – 3:44
3. "Lies and Promises" (Beggs, Limahl) – 2:51
4. "Magician Man" (Limahl) – 3:42
5. "Kajagoogoo" (Instrumental) (–) – 3:10

Side two

1. "Ooh to Be Ah" (Limahl) – 3:14
2. "Ergonomics" (Beggs, Limahl) – 3:12
3. "Hang on Now" (Beggs, Limahl) – 3:26
4. "This Car Is Fast" (Limahl) – 3:32
5. "Frayo" (Limahl) – 4:15

Note

• The American and Canadian edition has a re-sequenced running order: "Too Shy" opens side one, while on side two "Ergonomics" is moved to track 4.

2004 remaster bonus tracks

1. "Too Shy" (Instrumental Mix) (Beggs, Limahl) – 4:01
2. "Take Another View" (Kajagoogoo) – 4:33
3. "Interview Rooms" (Beggs) – 3:24
4. "Animal Instincts" (Beggs) – 2:39
5. "Introduction" (Beggs, Limahl) – 5:09
6. "Too Shy" (Midnight Mix) (Beggs, Limahl) – 5:27
7. "Ooh to Be Ah" (The Construction Mix) (Limahl) – 6:37
8. "Hang on Now" (Extended Version) (Beggs, Limahl) – 6:19

Note

• There are two 12" mixes of "Too Shy", both confusingly called the 'Midnight Mix' (although sometimes erroneously billed as 12" Extended Version). The UK one has a running time of about 5:27, while the American 'Midnight Mix', available on the 1993 Too Shy: The Singles and More and the 2000 Maximum 80's compilations, is around 5:44. The 2011 So80's compilation contains both mixes.

Personnel

• Limahl - lead vocals
• Steve Askew - guitars
• Stuart Neale - keyboards, programming, backing vocals
• Nick Beggs - bass guitar, Chapman Stick, backing vocals
• Jez Strode - drums, percussion

References