Nik Kershaw is more than happy to continue performing his classic hits because they allowed him to “indulge” in music later in his career.
The singer-songwriter’s first single I Won’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me only reached No. 47 on the UK charts in September 1983, but it was second time lucky when he returned the following January with his second track Wouldn’t It Be Good, which launched into the Top 5.
It kickstarted a career that led to his first Top 5 LP ‘Human Racing’ – which was a hit across Europe too – and continues to this day, with Nik set to play his first UK Tour in over a decade later this year.
Reflecting on how his career has changed over the years, he tells RETROPOP’s May 2023 issue: “I’m not troubled by massive sales anymore. Is anybody?
“I don’t know how people make any money in the music business nowadays. I’m very lucky and it’s because of those old songs, which is why I don’t mind playing them.”
Having sustained his performing career through the eighties, Nik changed direction as he entered the next decade, reinventing himself as a writer-producer, with chart-topping The One and Only the first out of the gate.
The demo was gathering dust on a shelf when he was contacted about Chesney Hawkes recording it for the movie ‘Buddy’s Song’. “I met Chesney and he was a lovely kid and really talented,” recalls the musician.
“I had no problem at all letting him have it, then about a year later it came out and I was sitting in an armchair watching it fly up the charts and letting Ches do all the work.”
Among Nik’s other compositions was Old Friend, which saw him singing with Elton John on the latter’s 1993 ‘Duets’ album. He toured with Elton the previous decade and, having just finished reading Elton’s autobiography, says: “All the excesses he writes about and the problems he was going through were happening when I knew him.
“But he was always very sweet to me and I never saw him out of control or in the kind of states he describes in that book. I was witness to a few tantrums and stuff like that on tour but whenever I worked with him he was always incredibly generous and incredibly funny.”
He’s has also written songs for James Blunt and Let Loose, among others, but there were a few collaborations that never came to fruition, such as a track for Gary Barlow’s second solo album that never saw the light of day (“We probably wrote the worst song either of us had ever written,” he grimaces).
Of course, he’s now back in the spotlight where he belongs and looking back on a lifetime in pop, Nik is incredibly grateful to have such a strong catalogue of material. “[Those songs are] my pension and they have allowed me over the years to basically indulge myself whenever I get in the studio,” he smiles.
Nik Kershaw is playing live throughout 2023, including a stop at the Clitheroe Grand on May 11. For tour dates visit nikkershaw.com. Nik Kershaw Collected is out now on Music On Vinyl.
Read the full interview in the May 2023 edition of RETROPOP, out now. Order yours or subscribe via our Online Store, use our Store Finder to locate your nearest stockist, or get Digital Copies delivered direct to your devices.
