Ok, I've held off long enough putting some music on here from one of my favorite singer-songwriters, Nik Kershaw. I imagine the Brits know who I'm talking about, while the US Citizens are scratching their heads in puzzlement. Who dat?Nik had a very successful career in the UK and many countries in Europe in the 1980s, emerging with the hit single "Wouldn't It Be Good". Although a strong songwriter and singer, his music during his time of fame was definitely of the era, full of synths. And Nik had an appropriately 80s hairstyle.
Nik's heyday was 1984-1985 in terms of sales, with his first two releases ??Human Racing?? and ??The Riddle??. He appeared on the UK stage for LiveAid in 1985, leading to some mockery in the US press regarding his lack of stature here - "THIS is a big name?".He released a couple of LPs after that, with little commercial success, then "retired" from the public stage to concentrate on his songwriting. Finally, in 1999, he began recording his own songs and releasing CDs again. Still little commercial success, but fabulous melodic music. And that's where this Yank came in. A track from his '99 release ??15 minutes?? appeared on a "free" sampler CD from Q magazine, and I was hooked. I bought the followup ??To Be Frank?? and then began scouring about for the out-of-print CDs from the 80s. Surprisingly enough, though there was a good song or three on them, they seemed very dated and I much preferred his material 1999 forward to the old stuff he had so much success with. The song posted here is from his latest release, available only from his website and iTunes, called ??You've Got To Laugh?? and is a good example of his current songwriting craft. I'm going to include another stellar track from that in Comments, as well as the remake of "Wouldn't It Be Good" from ??15 Minutes??. The Brits familiar with his from the old days might want to check out his vastly superior (IMHO) remake.And, oh hell, why not the infectious "Jane Doe" from ??To Be Frank???
Locating MOG account...
Comments (7)
Count me in as someone who has always appreciated the songwriting and performances of Nik Kershaw. Hadn't heard the new one so that was wonderful to hear. A strange bit of musical coincidence Dermahrk...yesterday at work on the air we played "Wouldn't It Be Good" from the Danny Hutton Hitters off of the "Pretty In Pink" soundtrack. Stop messing with my mind. *lol