Chartography - Nik Kershaw

So, finally, another installment - a chartography of Nik Kershaw. One of the biggest teen sensations of 1984, and not just in his homeland - all of Europe and most of the countries abroad fell to his appeal. And yet, very little appreciation in the USA, something even his record label couldn't comprehend. A bit too Stevie Wonder-y in the vocal department, maybe. Anyway, massive hits for year and a half, ones that are pop classics to this day - "Wouldn't it be good?", "I won't let the sun go down on me", "The riddle". All of this - with songs of substance and unusual subjects, barely a straight love song among them all. "Only in the 1980s". Unfortunately the plug was pulled rather harshly: having started in early 1984, by the end of 1985 Nik started faltering and then disappeared as a commercial force in the space of a year. Another mystery, though he never felt comfortable as a teen pop star and perhaps started to write less catchy, more grown-up songs in no small part to escape the image and adulation. In the 1990s he had another carrier as a pop hit writer, quite successful at that, but then started to perform again, of course on a much smaller scale, but still writing, releasing and playing live. Still, he's an important part of the 1980s culture (especially mid-decade), and had his fair share of hits to warrant a list.

Nik Kershaw

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