Nik Kershaw

Nik Kershaw
Birth name	Nicholas David Kershaw
Born	(1958-03-01) 1 March 1958 Bristol, England
Origin	Ipswich, Suffolk, England
Genres	Pop, pop rock, synthpop, New Wave
Occupations	Musician, vocalist, songwriter, record producer
Instruments	Vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass, drums
Years active	1976–present
Labels	Ariola/Straud, Telephone Records, Universal, MCA, Koch, Shorthouse Records
Website	www.nikkershaw.net/

Nik Kershaw (born Nicholas David Kershaw, 1 March 1958) is an English singer-songwriter. The one time jazz-funk guitarist was a 1980s teen idol. His 62 weeks on the UK Singles Chart in 1984 beat all other soloists. Kershaw appeared at Live Aid, and penned hits for Let Loose, The Hollies and a number 1 for Chesney Hawkes, "The One and Only".

Career

1970s

Born in Bristol, Kershaw grew up in Ipswich, Suffolk during which time he played guitar and sang in a number of underground Ipswich bands. However, when the last of these, Fusion, split up in 1982, he embarked on a full-time career as a songwriter and performer.

1980s

At the beginning of 1984, a young Kershaw released his breakthrough song "Wouldn't It Be Good", which reached Number 4 in the UK Singles Chart, and was a big success in Europe, particularly in Germany, Italy, Switzerland and in Scandinavia, Australia and New Zealand. The music video, featuring Kershaw as a chroma key-suited alien, received heavy rotation by MTV, helping the song reach No.46 in the United States. He enjoyed three more Top 20 hits from his debut album Human Racing, including the title track and a successful re-issue of "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me". This track ultimately proved his biggest hit as a performer when it reached Number 2 in the UK.

Kershaw's second album was The Riddle. The title track, released in November 1984, proved to be another UK and international hit single, reaching Number 3 in the UK and Ireland, and Number 6 in New Zealand, and the album also spawned two more UK Top 10 hits, "Wide Boy" and "Don Quixote", as it went platinum. During this time, Kershaw toured extensively with his backing band The Krew, consisting of Keith Airey, Tim Moore, Mark Price and Dennis Smith.

In July 1985, Kershaw was among the performers at Live Aid, held at Wembley Stadium. His stardom began to wane soon afterwards and he enjoyed only one more UK Top 40 hit. He continued to record and release records, and collaborated with others. Also in 1985, Elton John asked Kershaw to play guitar on John's hit "Nikita".

A cover of "Wouldn't it be Good" by the Danny Hutton Hitters appeared on the soundtrack of the 1986 teen romantic comedy-drama Pretty in Pink. Later the same year, his third album, Radio Musicola, was released to critical acclaim but to little commercial success. The Works was released in 1989 to little success. Two singles were released from the album, "One Step Ahead" and "Elisabeth's Eyes".

1990s

His prowess as a songwriter served him well in 1991, when his song "The One and Only" appeared on the soundtrack to the British film Buddy's Song, and in the American movie Doc Hollywood. "The One and Only" proved to be a UK Number 1 for the star of Buddy's Song, Chesney Hawkes. In 1993, The Hollies had a minor hit with another of Kershaw's songs, "The Woman I Love". During the mid-1990s he also wrote and produced material for the boy band Let Loose, with two of the tracks ("Seventeen" and "Everybody Say Everybody Do") achieving reasonable success.

1999 saw the release of 15 Minutes. Kershaw revealed that he decided to record the tracks himself, when he could not envisage them being recorded by other artists. The album spawned two singles, including "What Do You Think Of It So Far?", a song described as "an elegant and soaring ode to the transience of time, infused with both self-doubt and an acceptance of life that can only come with maturity".

2000s

The follow-up album, To Be Frank, was released in 2001. Over the years, Kershaw has collaborated on albums with artists such as Elton John, Bonnie Tyler, Tony Banks, Les Rythmes Digitales, Michael W. Smith and Imogen Heap.

In 2005, Kershaw released Then And Now, a collection of earlier material with four new tracks. In 2006, he completed another solo album, You've Got to Laugh, available only through his website or digitally through iTunes. This album contained twelve tracks and was released on the musician's own label, Shorthouse Records. Neither Then And Now nor You've Got To Laugh was promoted by a tour. The year also saw the digital re-release of his 1980s back catalogue including Human Racing, The Riddle, Radio Musicola and The Works.

Kershaw performed at Fairports Cropredy Convention on the 15 August 2009 and the Rewind Festival on 23 August 2009, on Temple Island Meadows at Henley-on-Thames. Kershaw also performed at The New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich on 15 November 2009.

In 2009, Kershaw wrote a song called "Falling Backwards"; it appeared in the PlayStation 3 game, "Heavy Rain".

2010s

On 13 May 2010, Kershaw appeared on stage and hosted 'Our Friends Acoustic' in aid of Mencap. He performed "The Riddle", "Wouldn't It Be Good", "Dancing Girls" and "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me". Other 1980s performers joined him and performed their own songs, including Andy Bell, Carol Decker, Howard Jones, Jimmy Somerville, China Crisis and Steve Strange at The O2 in London.

Kershaw wrote songs and performed for the soundtrack of the 2010 film, Round Ireland With A Fridge by Tony Hawks. He wrote and sang the theme song, "If It Gets Much Better Than This". He also appeared as an 'extra' in the penultimate scene, presenting a copy of the book to Hawks for signing in the book shop.

Following the release of his eighth studio album in 2012 (Ei8ht), Kershaw undertook a small tour of the UK, with some European dates. As part of each show he played the entirety of his debut album Human Racing which was re-mastered and re-released earlier in 2012.

Personal life

Kershaw married Sarah, his girlfriend of four years, in June 2009 and is stepfather to Renee. On 10 June 2010, Kershaw revealed his wife had given birth to a son. They now divide their time between their homes near Little Dunmow, Essex and West Cork, Ireland.

Discography

Main article: Nik Kershaw discography

Studio albums

Year of release	Album title
1984	Human Racing
1984	The Riddle
1986	Radio Musicola
1989	The Works
1999	15 Minutes
2001	To Be Frank
2006	You've Got to Laugh
2012	Ei8ht

Collaborations

• 1985: "Nikita" by Elton John – Kershaw on electric guitar and backing vocals with George Michael.
• 1985: "Act of War" by Elton John – Kershaw on electric guitar
• 1991: Still by Tony Banks – Kershaw on lead vocals on "Red Day on Blue Street", "I Wanna Change the Score" and "The Final Curtain". "Red Day on Blue Street" and "I Wanna Change the Score" co-written by Banks and Kershaw.
• 1993: Duets by Elton John – "Old Friend" written by Kershaw. All instruments by Kershaw. Vocals by Kershaw and John.
• 1996: "Walls of Sound" (single) from Strictly Inc – B-side "Back to You" was co-written by Banks and Kershaw.
• 1998: Live the Life by Michael W. Smith – "Let Me Show You The Way" co-written by Kershaw, Smith and producer Stephen Lipson. Also featured Smith and Kershaw on guitar.
• 1999: Darkdancer by Les Rythmes Digitales – "Sometimes" co-written by Jacques Lu Cont and Kershaw. Lead vocals by Kershaw.
• 1999: This Is Your Time by Michael W. Smith – "Hey You It's Me" – co-written by Kershaw and Smith. Backing vocals by Kershaw.
• 2001: "Island" by Orinoko – co-written by Kershaw.
• 2010: "Come Out and Play" by Kim Wilde – duet with Wilde on the track "Love Conquers All".
• 2012: Genesis Revisited 2 by Steve Hackett, song "The Lamia" – lead vocals Kershaw.

See also

• List of New Wave bands and artists
• List of singer-songwriters
• List of synthpop artists
• List of performers on Top of the Pops

External links

• Official Nik Kershaw website
• Italian based fansite
• Nikography – Nik Kershaw discography & collectors fansite
• Nik Kershaw at Allmusic
• Nik Kershaw at the Internet Movie Database