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Mention to most people that you are a fan of Nik Kershaw and after the look of horror on their faces and the sniggering has stopped, you might get one or more of these replies…….
My goodness....Little guy…...Big hairdo’s…….Pop Singer from the Eighties……Huge female following……The Riddle (what the hell was that all about!?!)…..Wore snoods and fingerless gloves…….Vocals were a bit nasal sounding…..Wouldn’t It Be Good video of him in 'the' suit….and that's some of the better responces!
As a fan of any given artist you half expect the ridicule to start, but should I have the opportunity to explain further why I like his music so much, or if I can be bothered to enlighten them, they'll find there is a lot more to Nik Kershaw. How about listening to his lyrics? Or maybe even respect the fact that he has always written his own songs and played many of the instruments right through his solo career! ...ok I already tried this too and it didn't work but you're either a fan or you're not.
Music is a personal thing. Nik's music came to me, I didn't need to go looking for it! You live life and absorb music and many tracks become the soundtrack to your life. An artist comes along and before you know it you are on a journey with them as you open up and allow them to play with your emotions. They are only a musician and not some all powering God but you will appreciate their workmanship and creativity on a much deeper level than much of the music which floats around you on a daily basis. Why it effects you in this manner is a mystery and very hard to explain but it sure makes you feel good! You can’t force someone to like an artist. If it presses all the right buttons and makes you experience feelings and emotions that make you come back for more adn share in that journey with them as they travel aimlessly through their career I guess that is the magic that make it a special and personal respect for what they do and who they are. I’m one of those people who come back for more as far as Nik’s music is concerned. He can do no wrong in my book and the trials and tribulations I have gone through in my years of being a fan since the early months of 1984, through the various stages of my life, from one accomodation to another, happy and bad times, everytime my Nik record collection has stuck by my side and is one of only a handful of materialistic possessions which has survived my hectic and often brutal life style, so much is my love and appreciation for those few handful of records, tattered and wearing thin as they may be, that is the best shining example I can explain in my devotion and appreciation to Nik and his music and how much it means to me....(I know, I know, pass the sick bag).
Anyway, speak of Nik Kershaw in passing to those who have only ever heard of his hits from the Eighties and I'm sure you will agree, it can be a hard job trying to explain to those people in short who much Nik's music has transformed with the times. Like it or not, Nik's name does carry a certain amount of baggage and still has some stigma attached to his name......harsh we know but then how many artists have come out of the 80's with any credibility?? Yet I thought the music back then was great! It's all down to personal taste and it's such a shame that those in responsible positions of power within the broadcasting industry these days, can come together as a small selective group in a back room and decide who and which songs to play and have a big say in someone's career. Most artists need the interest from those outside of their own fan base to sustain longevity but without radio airplay etc how can any artist regain recognition and a wider audience if these avenues are restricted continually??.......Whoops, slipped into a rant there :lol: That's the name of the game, the nature of the beast, even though it's extremely frustrating.
Back in the 80's most artists were playing and recording with the same new wave instruments, they all had the same hair stylists and video effects and technology was pretty limited....and ego's were as high as the tip of some mullets on show!! But it was a fab time to grow up in and British music ruled the world for a good period of time. Yet having said all that, yes Nik did fall onto the conveyor belt at that time to a certain extent at the very begining of his career as he tried to find his real identity image-wise, but musically he was ahead of his time and perfectly aware and in control of the musical content he wanted to produce. Respect!! The added strength and credibility about Nik is that he wrote and was a multi-instrumentalist on his tracks from the start, hands-on and not just a record company puppet as the media circus had us believe, but then that didn't matter to me back then as a youngster. I was just into the end product - the music was cool! Into the local music shop, pick out his releases from the shelf, part with my cash, stick it on my record player - jobs' a good 'un!
We all know as fans that Nik has his own identity stamped on his music, i.e. the vocals, the guitar solo's, the thought provoking lyrics and the key changes, etc, there are layers of quality to his songs. Nik is more experimental in his work than the vast array of artists out there. Although his last three studio albums have gone undetected by the masses of the buying public who are subjected to the mainstream commercialised pop we are all fed, yet those lucky few numbers who have stumbled across them have bought into and appreciated an artist who has adjusted with the times and the natural progression of his creativity has been warmly welcomed with rave reviews from not just his fans but a selcetion of the media too.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, growing up to Nik's music makes you appreciate his creativity and talents more as time passes. To all those innocent folk out there who are oblivious of Nik Kershaw the artist of today, go across to his site and buy the new album. I maybe bias but it's damn addictive lines and wonderful melodies will have you singing the tracks for days on end........well, didn't they always!??
You have been warned!
So, this Nik Kershaw chap……Who is he?
Nik was a 'big' (ahem!) pop star of the mid-eighties and shone brightly at the top of the pop world for a good couple of years. A young up and coming British musician who was prcieved to be an overnight success, but that was not really the case. His achilles heel was the fact that he had a massive young female following from the 'Smash Hits' mag/pop culture. He naively wore a snood and a pair of fingerless gloves of many colours for the first couple of months of his solo career, was labelled by the media as a "small chap with just a pretty face", and was therefore never really taken seriously for his music. This persona of Nik damaged his attempts to be accepted as a serious muso in years to come and when the screaming girls had left him for another idol as the adorring masses jumped ship, record sales began to slump, yet allow people the chance to hear his music and appreciate his workmanship, and you would soon see his lyrics and technical ability was never really designed for anyone other than those who enjoy good music. Looking back his image was a double edged sword. The fact he was a centre page pin-up for girls actually helped propel him up the charts and into the faces of the buying public......teenagers, and therefore the opportunity to kick-start his career and push his records out to the masses. The promotional side was the part Nik always liked least as it took him outside of his comfort zone. You wouldn't have guessed that from the amount of exposure he received but on deeper inspection of his in-depth interviews and away from the 'Smash Hits' style questions (fav colour? etc) you could see there was a very shy, reserved young man who was inactual fact, embarressed with the whole image thing!
Move on to today and Nik is now more relaxed, contented and wiser with his surroundings and is recording music under his own label, Shorthouse Records.
Ok, so that was far too vague. Deep breath.........and here we go.....
Born Nicholas David Kershaw in 1958 in Bristol. Moved at a very young age to Ipswich where he became a student at Ipswich Northgate Grammar School. Formed a school band called 'Thor' which went on to become 'Half Pint Hogg' and later 'Hogg'! Dropped out of his A-Levels and was soon working in the Ipswich Benefit Office for 3 years.
At this time he applied to join a local professional band called 'Fusion' where he stood at the back playing guitar at local functions. The group made it to a recording studio and released two albums which featured some rare material penned by Nik. By 1982 the band split and Nik turned to writing and recording his own material using a portable mixing desk whilst out of work and signing on. Made some demos and sent them off in all directions to record companies but only received a handful of rejection slips. Advertised in Melody Maker for a manager and one guy by the name of Mickey Modern spotted the advert and loved the demos and was then to become Nik’s manager for at least 22 years or more. Mickey got Nik a contract at MCA and within months Nik had entered the studio in the summer of 1983, released his first single "I Won't Let The Sun Go Down" (reaching #47 in te UK) by September of that year and recorded his first solo album "Human Racing" under the guidence of producer Peter Collins, which was released in early 1984.
The album spawned 4 hit singles, Wouldn’t It Be Good (#4) Dancing Girls (#13) I Won’t Let The Sun Go Down (#2) which was re-released by popular demand from his feedback off the Human Racing Tour, and Human Racing the single (#19).
One of Nik’s big milestones was to perform at Wembley Stadium in front of 72,000 at the Summer of 84 concert, headlined by Elton John, where it was reported he came off stage the artist on everyone’s lips and the one who stole the show. 1984 was quite a year with five Top 20 UK singles and massive album sales around the world.
His second studio album, "The Riddle", again produced by Collins, was released in Nov 1984 and wasn’t quite as successful as "Human Racing" but it did propel Nik further into the spotlight with 3 more hit singles from it, these being "The Riddle" (#3) "Wide Boy" (#9) and "Don Quixote" (#10). The Riddle Tour was a huge success as Nik toured the world in 1985 to packed venues filled with hysterical youngsters. If it there's an indication of his popularity at this point it was to be highlighted by his performance at the original Live Aid concert in July of '85 at Wembley Stadium where he took to the stage and was given the opportunity to perform four of his songs to an estimated tv audience of billions watching in from around the globe.
He then undertook a tour of North America as a support act to Paul Young came back and released the single "When A Heart Beats" which was his least successful record at that point reacheding #27 in the UK. To cap 1985 as a yet another great year for him, Nik had also contributed on Elton John's album "Ice On Fire" playing electric guitar on three of the tracks.
On the back of The Riddle Tour, Nik began writing almost immeadiately on his third studio album, which was to be "Radio Musicola" to which Nik himself took over the reigns as producer. Before it’s release in October of 1986, the single "Nobody Knows" was pushed out a little earlier but only made #44 in the UK. The album was not as well received as it had become clear Nik's large army of teenage girls had deserted to follow the fortunes of another idol in Nik's absence from the charts for most of '86. The singles which followed "Radio Musicola" (#43) and in Germany "James Cagney" (which didn’t chart) made it became clear Nik had lost his selling power. The Radio Musicola Tour started in Germany in late 1986 before hitting the shores of Britain by the turn of the New Year and the onto other parts of the World, but his popular demand had declined.
Nik’s next project was to take him to LA in the USA to work with producer Peter Wolf. The album in the making was "The Works". Even though there were some big name musicians on the album, Nik returned very unhappy with the sound of the recordings and spent the next several months dismantling some of the tracks and introducing new one's. In 1989 MCA released the single "One Step Ahead", great tune but sadly not very popular with the buying public (#55) despite having good airplay on national radio. "The Works" album was released the same year but in Nik’s own words, sales “..went cardboard!” which was extremely disappointing. The single "Elisabeth’s Eyes" was released and failed again to reach the UK Top 40 at a time Nik was on a tour of Europe as support act on Elton John’s World Tour of '89. Nik opened the gigs to huge audiences and venues but there had come a point where Nik was very disillusioned with the music scene and his second child was due to be born, so rather than wait for MCA to decide whether to renew his contract, he decided to jump ship from performing as an artist and spend time at home with his family. In this period between 1989 to 1998 he took the backseat and wrote for other artists such as Elton John, Cliff Richard, Imogen Heap, Ronan Keating, Tony Banks, Let Loose, Chesney Hawkes among many, many others. recognition through this avenue was limited even after the initial success of Chesney's "The One & Only" which hit the top of the UK charts in 1991. The technicalities of writing and producing to get a single out for other artists made it a very frustrating process for Nik.
Nik soon learned much about song writing for other people, there was an art to it and it became a valuable learning curve. Apart from the many tracks which were recorded by others, he also realised he had written several tracks which he felt were too personal to pass on to anyone, so he kept them aside, his manager got to hear them and then persuaded him to release them, which he did, and inreturn came the "15 Minutes" album, a brilliantly produced album of guitar hooks and raw emotion. The critics lapped it up and praise came from every angle. Nik was back! By 1998 he had performed a couple of promotional gigs and by the turn of 1999 out came the single "Somebody Loves You" (#70) and the album "15 Minutes" under his new label of Eagle Records. He also undertook a small UK tour and finally taking it over to Europe but in the meantime his second single from the album had been released, "What Do You Think Of It So Far?", passing almost un-noticed, the "15 Minutes" period was all but at an end. Kershaw fans revelled in the quality of the album but again despite a video single release and several high profile tv appearances, Nik could not find a wider audience.
2 years on and into 2001, and in this year Nik put pen to paper again but on this occasion it was to write a children's book entitled "Spilling The Beans On The Making It In Music", an educational and humourous insight into becoming a 'Pop Star'. If you've ever taken pleasure from reading Nik's blogs on Myspace you'll love this book.
2001 also saw Nik release the album "To Be Frank" which was like a sister album to the "15 Minutes" release. A much lighter album with once again very strong songwriting, beautiful melodies and guitar riffs as Nik proceeded to sing about his devilish alter-ego, which he named as 'Frank'! The single "Wounded" which was released to promote the new album was an entirely different sound from Nik, a samba groove which was reminiscent to anything Ricky Martin or Gloria Estefan ever released, and voted Smash Hits single of the week (oh no not Smash Hits again!), did very little to improve sales as it peaked at #100 in the UK charts. Onwards and "Die Laughing" was due to be released but only half-heartedly by Eagle Records, so Nik decided it was time to announce an end to promoting the album and gave a heartfelt message to his fans via his website that he wanted to take time out. Obviously this was met with floods of appeals from Nik fans for him to continue but Nik had already decided what was best for him and so by 2002 Nik slipped quietly away into his private life.
2004 brought an unlikely predicament when Nik had announced in one of his rare bulletins that he had decided to take up an offer to join up with other artists to perform on the Here & Now Tour, 7 dates planned for December 2004. Nik was always very reluctant to accept these kind of invitations but he finally got around to the idea of challenging himself as to reasons why he shouldn’t go for it, decided he had nothing to lose, and before long he was promoting his involvement in the event with several tv appearances (we won’t go into the Hells Kitchen programme) and he also made an appearance on BBC Radio London where it was the first opportunity his fans knew of a deal with Universal and a world first play of a demo version of "Times Like These" in October 2004. December came and went and from the Here & Now Tour Nik came out of it with high praise from the mixed audiences.
It was becoming clear Universal (formerly MCA) wanted to release another ‘Hits’ album as they had the copyright to all his back catalogue material and enticed Nik with the opportunity to include some new tracks on it. Summer of 2005 and a new website & forum was born to promote the "Then & Now" album. Indeed it featured four new tracks, and the track "What It Is" was released as a promo for radio stations to highlight his latest work. Nik threw himself into the radio interviews, appeared on GMTV breakfast tv with an interview and performed "The Riddle" in the studio to a backing tape of the original song, had an album advert on tv via HMV record store, plus he undertook a short invitation only acoustic tour of England for Century FM radio in which listeners to the station at different points of the country, had the chance to win tickets to see Nik perform from that specific region. Needless to say the hardcore Nik fans of the 'Wounded Knee Mailing List' caught wind of this and made sure they did not miss out and bombarded the stations for tickets. The rare performances were loved by the fans but the only down side was the mix of people who socialised at the events some of which didn’t really attend for the chance to hear Nik play. Excellent performances nonetheless. My opinion was that Nik looked rather jadded.
The album "Then & Now" peaked at #182 in the UK album charts. No single was released from the new tracks and fans were left wondering what would happen next. Well, they didn’t have to wait long before Nik announced he planned to release his 7th studio album over the net and that three-quarters of it had already been recorded and so with that news, the Kershaw faithful had something to cling to.
Into 2006 and the facilities on offer on the Universal forum had left some fans frustrated. Forth-coming news had all but stopped, as had communication between the site administrator, Universal and the fans. A small group took it upon themselves to begin a new unofficial forum, this was led by Nik fan Mick Wall. The forum grew from strength to strength and before long, Nik had picked up on what was happening. Nik then provided an update to inform the fans and that he was still alive (lol) and to say he hoped to provide a website and forum befitting his fans needs. Roll on a few weeks and the next big surprise was to hear from Nik’s partner, Sarah on the unofficial forum. From here onwards, Sarah has been excellent with updates as and when possible. Her thoughtful willingness to communicate and inform Nik fans a source of relief and very much appreciated. The forum is now the OFFICIAL Chat Forum with the glowing support and interest from Sarah and Nik himself. His new official website was born leading up to the release of his 7th studio album "You've Got To Laugh" which was available to buy over the internet in October 2006 and to follow this, his other albums are now avaialble to download at many of the digital download sites.............Happy days! By the end of 2006 Nik made an appearance at the Chesney Hawkes Charity event in Ascot, London where he performed a handful of acoustic songs and met up with his fans. This was repeated the following year and is set to be an anuual event with Nik's inclusion to be confirmed each time.
December 2007 not only saw Nik supporting Chesney again at his event but he also visited Dubai for two 'Up Close & Personal' acoustic gigs. He's also taken part in two songwriting retreats in both Iceland and France and we have been fortunate via Myspace to hear a couple of tracsk to which Nik has contributed on as a result of the trips.
Has Nik got the desire to tour again? Well, good news is that he has agreed to play at three 80's events plus two intimate acoustic sessions in the South of England for May/June 2008, which naturally sold out within days.
All of which brings us to the present day.
Nik lives a comfortable lifestyle thanks mainly to his back catalogue and the ability to write a good tune. He's been there, worn the t-shirt (litterally) and is more concerned in making music for those who still continue to look-in and who will appreciate and enjoy it, however small the numbers may be. Let's just say the Kershaw journey continues, so enjoy the ride.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you, NIK KERSHAW!
Those are the words of one fan.....me. I'm sure you have your own opinions and experiences beit following Nik's career or another artist. If music moves you, simply embrace it. It's part of who you are.
