Behind every pop star...

Recently, I was at a cocktail party hosted by some friends and I was introduced to a lovely man named Ian "Koko" Kojima. An unassuming fellow, he was quiet-spoken, warm, and very friendly. He spoke little of himself, except to say that he had retired to Kingston. It was his wife who proudly dropped the bombshell: Kojima had played in Chris de Burgh's band. As in "Lady in Red". Cool!

Modest as ever we had to pretty much had to drag stuff out of Kojima. Turns out he was Chris de Burgh's bandleader from 1979 - 1994, and he played the saxophone and keyboards.  He is what is known in the music business as a session player, and he has an impressive track record.

In the early 1970s he was in the band Great White Cane, which featured singer Rick James (who went on to stardom with 1981's "Super Freak").

In the 1990s Kojima went on tour with none other than David Hasselhoff. You can catch him in The Hoff's 1990 live DVD "Live and Forever".

These days Kojima tours around the province playing music. He put together a blues band of great local talent called KokoVann. He seems to be enjoying his "retirement" and I have to say I can't recall meeting a nicer person in years.