Customer Reviews

Collection

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I was shocked to discover the other day that none of my friends remember the song "Wouldn't it be good?", and my mentioning of it only attracted several odd glances. My further discussion about Nik Kershaw rendered me all but completely ostracised by my peers. This, in essence, would be the only pitfall or shortcoming I could justifiably attribute to this CD. Despite the merit his songs unequivocally deserve and success they may have had upon their release, they are for the most part all but forgotten.

This CD contains some classics from when Nik Kershaw was commercially successful and, oddly enough, a few good songs from his later albums which flopped.

For me, this is one of the better compilations floating around. It features the usual essential Kershaw 'best of' tracks: Wouldn't it be good, The Riddle, I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me, Wide Boy and Don Quixote but what I like about this CD in particular is that it features a few songs I wouldn't have expected to see. One Step Ahead, the single from his ill-fated "The Works" album, and One World are great songs that are harder to find these days than a 5-door Porsche 911. As well as this, the songs all appear completely non-molested. The other Nik Kershaw compilation I came across here had 12" versions of the songs which didn't do the originals justice, indeed Dancing Girls, Don Quixote and Wide Boy are if anything, shorter versions on this CD.

I would recommend this to any Nik Kershaw fan who doesn't already have all the songs or who can't be bothered tracking down the albums to get them. It contains some really good (albeit old) songs and they really grow on you. Just don't go telling all your mates about it...

time passes and people forget. but if you are into the 80s music scene your collection will not be complete without this one. two of the best songs of the 80s wouldnt it be good and the riddle ! timeless classics.

Nik Kershaw was an unfortunately typical artist in the video-happy 80's. Tuneful, photogenic and big on synths, he was a cross between George Micheal and Howard Jones. That is epitomized on his biggest international hit, "Wouldn't It be Good." The video was typical of the period, wild haircuts, ersatz Bowie posturing and satellite dishes. The album "Human Racing" became his biggest hit and he established himself overseas, but is pretty much a one-hit wonder in the US.

This collection doesn't do much to dissuade anyone from thinking his lack of star magnitude was unjust. The songs on the collection are pretty run of the mill, with only "I Won't Let The Sun Go Down on Me" and "The Riddle" (which was the title track to his second album and another pretty cool video) being the most interesting and individualistic songs here. For those three, this collection rates 3 stars. As for the rest, it's a tad on the generic side.