“I just said, ‘Sell all the assets…’ not really thinking that this instrument would accrue so much in value”: Facing mounting debts, Nick Beggs sold off the bass he used on Kajagoogoo’s Too Shy – 40 years later his fans helped him buy it back

Beggs, a prolific player in the prog scene, began his music career with British synth-pop outfit Kajagoogoo. As Beggs told Bass Player in 2021, Too Shy “sold over three million copies and was the 13th biggest single of 1983”. Later purchased second-hand by Beggs, the instrument was used to record Too Shy – but it quickly went from a prized possession to a victim of collateral damage. I sold a bass, I sold some of my artwork, and the fans brought the rest. In July last year, Beggs gave a candid interview with Bass Player, discussing everything from his audition for the Blue Man Group to lessons learned from Frank Zappa.