Nik Kershaw

Bio:

Born Nicholas David Kershaw on 1st March 1958 in Bristol, England.

Spent his early years gurgling and blowing snot bubbles.

He left school in 1975 (halfway through taking his ..A.. levels) in order to concentrate on his music career. To this end, he secured a job in Ipswich Unemployment Benefit Office. By day he was mild mannered clerical officer Nick Kershaw, by night he wore loon pants and tie died batwing shirts. The band Hogg.. was born.

Every Thursday evening for the next three years Hogg honed their skills at Claydon cement works. The schedule was punishing and not everybody was to make it through.

The gigs came thin and slow but this didn..t discourage Kershaw and soon Hogg had attracted a small following. Fortunately, they managed to shake them off by hiding in a skip.

On Sunday evenings the great and good of Ipswich descended on ..The Kingfisher.., purveyor of fine lagers and the Towns premier music venue. There they would marvel at the silky skills of Boy Bastion and Fusion. Fusion was a professional Jazz/Funk/Rock band, which wowed the locals with renditions of classics from Steely Dan and Weather Report. What..s more, they left in all the twiddly bits and had a drummer who could count up to seven. They thumbed their noses at flattened fifths and spat in the face of diminished scales. These were real men.

It came to pass that, one evening, Fusion..s bassist (one Kenn Elson) was passing a hostelry in Ipswich called the King William. He was strangely drawn to the sounds wafting through the open door. At first he thought that someone was building a shed but, on entering the premises, he discovered that Hogg were in residence and performing one of their rare gigs. Obviously under the influence of one too many lime cordials, he walked straight up to Kershaw and offered him the vacant Guitarist..s job in Fusion. It was a tough choice: live the dream and become a professional musician or fester for the rest of his life in the Civil Service. After a few days deliberation, he decided to fester. Then he changed his mind.

Over the next few months he was to learn the ancient and noble art of ..busking it... Playing songs he..d never heard of, leaping with a wing and a prayer from chord to chord, he grew slowly into his suit (the suit had shrunk dramatically due to repeatedly being used to clean the van windscreen).

In 1982 Fusion disbanded and Kershaw was forced to sign on as unemployed. Being almost completely unemployable and consequently unencumbered with job offers, he was free to pursue his song writing.

In an act of desperation, he placed an advert for management in the Melody Maker. Ten replies were forthcoming.

Nine came from investment companies and one from a character operating under the dubious nom de plume: ..Mickey Modern... Kershaw sent him a tape and a particularly dodgy photograph and waited for another addition to his rejection slip collection. In spite of the photograph, Modern saw potential and offered his services.

Over the next few months, deals were wheeled and wheels were dealed; palms were crossed and arms were twisted; ears were bent and tapes were sent and Mickey courted the same people Kershaw had already been rejected by. One of said number was Charlie Eyre, head of A&R at MCA records. After much cajoling, Eyre agreed to a singles deal and a trial period.

In September 1983, ..I won't let the sun go down.. was released for the first time and reached the dizzy heights of No.47. This was followed in January 1984 by ..Wouldn't it be good.. which languished gracefully at No.4 in the UK charts for five weeks and was to break Kershaw worldwide. The album was released in March and achieved platinum sales in many territories. He managed to squeeze in two European tours, four more hit singles and another platinum album (The Riddle) before the end of the year.

1985 saw three hit singles, a world tour and an appearance at ..Live Aid..

He was to record two more albums with MCA before quitting in 1989 to concentrate on song writing and ferret husbandry.

The 90s saw him writing for/with, amongst others: Chesney Hawkes, Cliff Richard, Bonnie Tyler, Lulu, Ronan Keating, Jason Donovan, Michael W Smith, Connah Reeves, Nick Carter, The Hollies, Colin Blunstone, Imogen Heap, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Darius, Gary Barlow and Let Loose.

He briefly poked his Artiste..s head out of the trenches to work with Tony Banks (Genesis) and to record a self penned duet with Elton John (little fella, glasses) but didn..t return to making his own records until 1998 when he released the critically acclaimed ..15 Minutes.. through Eagle Records. This was followed by the equally well received ..To be Frank...

To be continued. . . . .

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Sounds Like:

Drum Talk (Q&A shown on www.nikkershaw.net): drumtalk@shorthouserecords.co.uk

Record Label: