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Georg Johan Tjegodiev Kajanus (also Tchegodaieff; born 9 February 1946) is a Norwegian composer and based in the United Kingdom, best known as the lead singer and songwriter of the British pop group Sailor.
Kajanus moved with his mother and sister to Paris at the age of twelve where he studied music and classical guitar, as well as attending the Cité Universitaire’s flying school. The family then relocated to Montreal, Canada, where Kajanus worked as a stained glass window designer.
Kajanus and Phil Pickett, who had been acquainted for some time, collaborated on an album, Hi Ho Silver! (1972), as Kajanus/Pickett. Deciding to form a group, tentatively named KP Packet, Kajanus and Pickett enlisted drummer and percussionist Grant Serpell (Affinity), and keyboard player and guitarist Henry Marsh (Gringo). In 1973, the foursome made their first recordings in a small studio in North London. Most of this material was not released at the time, but three demos are featured in Sailor's Buried Treasure 2-CD box set (2006).
Kajanus moved to Mexico City, Mexico and for three years lived in seclusion before returning to London in 1973.
Sailor signed to Epic Records-Sony Music and between 1974 and 1978 released five albums with Kajanus: Sailor, Trouble, The Third Step, Checkpoint (without Pickett) and Hideaway. Kajanus was the lead singer, guitarist and, for the first three albums, the sole songwriter for the band, penning its two major hits, "A Glass of Champagne" and "Girls, Girls, Girls". Kajanus then left Sailor, leaving Pickett as the creative force behind their next album, Dressed for Drowning.
Kajanus designed an instrument used in the band called the "Nickelodeon", a large wooden frame consisting of two upright pianos, two synthesizers, mini organs and glockenspiels, that allowed the group to perform their acoustic arrangements correctly on stage. George Kajanus and Henry Marsh interview 1975 On stage, Kajanus played the piano on one side and Henry Marsh played the keys on the other side.
In 1989, Kajanus reunited with Henry Marsh and Phil Pickett to write and record some new material. This was not released at the time, but three songs are featured in Sailor's Buried Treasure 2-CD box set (2006).
Kajanus, Marsh, Pickett and Grant Serpell reformed Sailor in 1990. The group recorded two albums, Sailor (1991) and Street Lamp (1992), with Kajanus once again writing and arranging all the material. They achieved further chart success in continental Europe with singles such as "La Cumbia" and "The Secretary".
In the late nineties, Kajanus formed the "poetic-techno" duo Noir with Tim Dry (previously of Tik and Tok). Noir’s single "Walking" was used extensively in the 1997 Channel 4 television series Feast, an avant-garde culinary program directed by TV food maestro David Pritchard. Feast was hosted by Noir and also starred French TV chef Jean Christophe Novelli.
Noir's album Strange Desire, recorded in 1995, was eventually released on Angel Air Records in 2007. In 2008, Kajanus began working with Roberto Trippini and Barbie Wilde on a new version of the Sailor musical - an update of his original Red Light Review concept - which he describes as "a bittersweet musical about two people searching for love in the ruins of post-War Marseille".
Kajanus's other current musical project is People Industry, which he describes as "an exuberant, musical exploration of the human journey."
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