Old Enough to Forget

I was going through some old posts and stumbled upon a couple of pieces I'd written about Nik Kershaw. Yes I read my own stuff on occasion just to see what I was thinking at the time. I have found that I am more often than not full of shit. It's like I don't know what I was thinking. This must be what it's like for you when you read my posts. Sorry. But, honestly it's just the way it is. Sometimes I surprise myself. Take this post, this isn't the way I wanted to start, but now that I'm typing I am sort of mesmerized as the letters start filling in the white space. If you have no idea what's happening, I feel the same way. Let's see where this goes. I had somewhat boldly proclaimed that "Wouldn't It Be Good" was merely the tip of the iceberg when considering the depths of his talents. A bit of hyperbole, but since there are no take backs, only retractions, I'll stand by the comment, and Nik was without question as ambitious as he wa...

The Riddle dropped in the fall of 1984, several months after his debut Human Racing was released. 1984 was a good year for Mister Kershaw. Although The Riddle wasn't as successful in North America as his debut, it was the album I preferred. I likely picked this up a couple of years after it came out, as I still think of this as being an album that I was listening to in 1986 or 1987. Which means I found it on sale and took a chance on it. Sounds about right. Listening to this now, with the benefit of hindsight and perspective that I didn't have at the time, I'm struck by the change in tack between his debut and what he was writing and recording for his follow up. Right out of the gate "Don Quixote" was an odd blend of techno with elements of funk. A little bit like what Level 42 was doing as well - oddly enough, Mark King would guest on the closing track on side one, "Easy." At the time I wasn't a big fan of Level 42, although Mark's talent as ...

Right off the bat, let's shine a light on the elephant in the room. "Wouldn't It Be Good" is probably the song he's best remembered for, and for good reason. The petulant, sulky song about the whiny kid who's self absorbed in his problems and has no idea how bad he's got it. Waugh, waugh, waugh. It's also an absolutely killer song, and it is still an absolutely killer song. It was also the tip of the iceberg, but in order to understand the depth of his talent you'd have to immerse yourself, and most people didn't bother. Frankly, I can't claim to know that much either, I only had his first two albums back in the day. Those first two albums gave us a decent look at the bits floating on top, we were able to take a picture and then moved on. Maybe instead of trying to craft some elaborate and disconnected allegory (is it an allegory?) about frozen water, I should have just pigeon holed Nik as a one hit wonder ... but that wouldn't have bee...