You all know Limahl from one of our childhood faves, “NeverEnding Story”, and the Ultra New Wave hit “Too Shy” with his first band Kajagoogoo. The rest of his catalog is something to dive into for your listening enjoyment.
Limahl is iconic like his music and he’s now released his version of the ’70s classic by America, “Horse With No Name.”
We talked about his recording, the history, and how he manages his current projects.
Jeremy Hinks: Well, Limahl, thank you for your time. The last time we spoke was when you released “London For Christmas”. But since then, I have photographed the two big Nicks in your life, I shot Duran Duran….
Limahl: And you got to shoot Nick Beggs, yeah, I’ve heard they are doing a rendition of “Too Shy”.
JH: Yeah, he was out touring with Howard Jones, this is the thing for me, I can only handle Howard for 5 songs cause they play his music 24/7 on the radio, but this time, song 6 was pretty cool. I shook Begg’s hand, and it was “almost” the real thing. But if I were to have my list, it would be 2 plus hours for all the songs I want to hear.
Lim: I am thrilled that Nick is keeping the song alive, and what a great line in “Too Shy”, people ask me almost weekly on social media, “Any chance of a reunion?” Well, we’re not getting any younger. I think it would be down to Nick; it’s one of the biggest regrets in my life getting fired on that phone call. They thought we were a teeny band, and it was partly my fault, and The Beatles were a teeny band, and WHAM were a teeny band; all that changes over time. It’s a big “What If” in my life. IF there were to be a reunion, it would be down to Nick; the band was a 4 piece with Nick as the singer.
Related Post: Gay New Wave Icon Limahl Releases “London for Christmas.” Hear It Here First
JH: There is a point to be made here; most bands that switch out lead singers don’t have a good survival rate. I mean, I have followed you, love everything you did, that was a shame that there wasn’t another great Kajagoogoo record, but I loved your solo work as well. The last time we talked, I was sort of going “FANBOY” on you, and I remember talking about “Color All My Days” and talking about individual songs, and that was when you realized you were talking to a super fan.
Lim: Nothing wrong with that… (Laughing)
JH: I don’t usually go fanboy really, but you had been one of my faces since I was 9 years old, and in my mind, you could do no wrong. That was such a cool moment for me just to talk about that.
Lim: Well, I’m always happy to talk about the “Color All My Days” album. I feel like it got missed. But Rino Records just did a 40-year re-release of my first solo album, on purple vinyl. I did talk to them about “Don’t suppose” coming on 40 years for that one. So, what will they do next?
JH: Well, if we ever meet face to face, Imma hand you a stack of vinyl and have you bleed the Sharpie dry.
Lim: Well, that could happen, I mean, I am 66 years old now, feeling fit and ready to take on the world.
JH: So, let’s talk about the new piece “Horse With No Name”. Last time we talked, you mentioned you and Beggs had communicated about a Zappa Tribute show and all this R&B stuff. I had stood you next to all the crooners, Holly Johnson, Martin Fry, and Marc Almond, and you said you would be happy to stand next to any of those guys. But this one, it’s a hippie song, so out of your wheelhouse. What brought you to do this one?
Lim: That song has been in my life as long as I can remember, and there were two voices in my head, one saying, “That would be interesting to look at,” the other saying, “Don’t dare, it’s a classic you’ll get lambasted”. So I’ve been putting it off for years, so when you’re all creatives, making film, a book, music, it comes to a dead end. Another project comes along and gets in the way. I remember reading an interview with Barry Gibb, in which he had a ton of unfinished ideas on the shelf. But for this one, the ideas just kept coming together, the puzzle pieces kept coming towards me, and I thought the original was this acoustic production. So I went in a different direction, I started with a synthesizer, and I had the sequencer with an envelope*, it’s like a “wah wah” sound, coming at me in reverb with a chord, and I’m thinking “this is so nice”. So I sent these files to a friend, Steve Cooper, and asked him to give me some ideas, then I got this guitar line back, and two weeks to edit it just became a no-brainer to use it. It’s this beautiful reinvention of this 1971 classic, and it was pulling me towards it.
JH: Well, I love hearing reinterpretations of classics, if they are done right. Let’s talk about the video. I never did acid, but I watched your video, and thought, “Oh, I get the song now.” I got it from your video; you put a lot of depth into the song for me. What was the video concept for this?
Lim: With a lyric like that, you have a license to explore, shall we say, and it is almost like one of those crazy dreams you wake up and say, “Where did that come from?” So my video guy, we just threw ideas around, talking about imagery, and this apocalyptic ending. Cause we both felt like that was a reflection of the world today.
JH: Yeah, it was like a digital visual version of the Native American “Vision Quest” peyote off into the desert.
Lim: It feels like a computer game where the guy is just losing it. So many guys are coming out saying, “What is this?”, that really pleases me.
JH: Do you want to comment on the social situation we are in now?
Lim: I think we all feel the same. I don’t put the news on anymore, I have music, I swim with music, I’m just hiding cause it scares the hell out of me. I just say to friends, ignore what Trump says, and he changes his mind the next day. Just keep our fingers crossed that we get through it. I am a self-releasing artist; I don’t have a conglomerate, or even a team, so I do so much myself, it takes so much time, all that the record company is supposed to do, that’s why I’m about quality, not quantity. I have a track that I am working on now, but I am not in a rush. I am, however, very happy with the response to “Horse With No Name”; I had two from the pandemic. I hope that something happens; if doors open, I’ll take them.
JH: Well, you do still look young (for real, he does), do you still feel as young as when you were back at Gorgio’s (mega music producer Gorgio Morodor, Grace Jones, Freddie Mercury, etc), willing to take risks?
Lim: When I was 40, I decided I’d better start taking care of my body, it is important to me, cause I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m hitting 70 in 4 years. So I swim twice a week, and I do strength training. I’m very good with nutrition, so if I do all that, and I feel young, which I do, and people say “You look great”. Which is good for your mind, so as long as I feel young, fit, and healthy, then no reason to stop because I still love what I do.
JH: Are you still up for taking musical risks?
Lim: Oh, absolutely!!!
JH: Cause you are still acting like you are 25, you took some risks, and some of them turned out well. I think if you are going to do it now, after your peak with the labels, and you do well, man, take this momentum, okay, I’m just saying I want more music from you, so you have an original piece coming out. I mean, I love your stories about the songs; you have so much you can tell me.
Lim: Did I tell you about meeting Freddie at the party? So, bands on the same label are called “Stablemates” and at the time we were both on EMI, so I got to see Queen at Wembley, and then at the after party, I was in the VIP area, and someone said “Freddie, I’ve got Limahl to say “Hi”” and he was sitting there with his legs crossed, smoking a cigarette, and he looks up at me and the first words he said to me was “Hello darling”. It was such a moment, but no one had a camera; it was just a moment. I have a lovely memory of it.
JH: I remember when you were outed, and your response was “Is that the fodder for the paparazzi? Don’t they have anything more interesting to cover?”.
Lim: There was a scandal at the time, there was a soap opera with a gay character, and that was the first gay kiss on television.
JH: That reminds me of a time in America, probably 6 years ago (Actually more than that ), when this American college football player who was gay got drafted to a pro team, and they showed him celebrating by kissing his boyfriend. That was on the sports channel, and everyone freaked out, while I looked at and thought, “Oh, look, two gay gays being happy, and kissing, so what?” I guess I missed the excitement or scandal about that in this hetero-normative culture.
Lim: I wish it were okay, I wouldn’t go down the street with my partner Steve holding hands, I don’t want to make people uncomfortable, and it’s a shame, but you’re opening a HUGE conversation about religion. I like to remind people that Alan Turing broke the code of the German code and ended the war early.
JH: Yeah, and they forced him to kill himself; that was terrible. I have a friend from Montreal, she is gay, and was raised French Catholic, and at age 13 she saw the film “The Hunger”, and that scene between Susan Sarandon and Catherine Deneuve was the first time that she saw what she was imagining, and feeling outside of her head EVER. Once she saw it, she saw that she could somehow step into that. There are those moments that help people, but I’m sure for you, it didn’t matter. But when that kiss was seen on TV, they saw that and thought it could be real.
Lim: There is so much hypocrisy in homophobia, so it’s a wonderful thing to talk to someone like you who is intelligent enough to talk through it.
JH: Well, I take my kids to Gay Pride, I used to march with a Mormon support group, we go, see people dressed badly, I wear my GAYC/DC T-shirt.
Lim: I’m playing Pride in Cologne, Germany, you know what, I was number 2 with “Undendliche Geschichte” for 6 weeks, do you know who kept me out of number 1? Stevie Wonder with “I just called to say I love you”. (Laughing).
JH: WAIT PAUSE BUTTON ON THAT!!!! Now, you and I both LOVE Stevie Wonder.
Lim: Absolutely.
JH: But that one? Really? If it had been one of his GOOD songs, then I would somehow be okay with that.
Lim: Indeed.
JH: Thanks for your time, all the best, and always a pleasure.
Limahl Social Media
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The full conversation and all the tech geek tangents can be heard here.
I looked up Neverending Story to see who sang the song and saw how cute Limahl was so I looked for everything I could find online about him, watched videos, bought cds and a record. I saw a video where Limahl was co-hosting a show introducing videos and he acted so flamboyantly gay. I knew then, and it doesn’t bother me at all. He hasn’t acted like that in any other videos I have seen of him. His albums are great, his songs are great, and he is still a good-looking man. The only album I don’t have is Colour All My Days and I love it and would love to have a cd of it but it is going for a high price as used. Please get that new album out that you are working on, Limahl.
Love The Neverending Story song, just learning now that the singer is gay. What great news!
Well, when I learned that he was gay, after Erasure, Dead Or Alive, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Bronski beat, and so many others, I thought “Oh look, another New Waver is gay…” Another one to add to this list of INCREDIBLE gay musicians.