INTERVIEW:Who knew that behind all the big hair and synthesisers, Nik Kershaw was hiding an virtuoso jazz guitarist . . .
IF YOU THOUGHT you had Nik Kershaw pegged, think again. Eighties synth guy, Gary Numan-meets-Howard Jones, big hair, songs that sound like they were written by a pocket calculator. That's him, right? Then who's the 50-plus balding guy sitting in the corner of the pub with an acoustic guitar, performing unplugged versions of Wouldn't It Be Nice, The Riddleand I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me, finger-picking with the skill of a virtuoso jazzman?
You'd be hard-pressed to recognise Nik Kershaw walking down the street today, unlike in his mid-1980s heyday when he was setting young hearts alight with his pop-star pout, and setting the charts on fire with his now-classic synth-pop anthems. And who could forget his "TV reception suit" – a cheap-looking special effect from the video for Wouldn't It Be Nice?.
“D’you know what? I look back at all that stuff and all that period, and it’s almost like it was someone else,” says Kershaw. “It happened to someone else who I’m only vaguely related to. And yeah, there was a lot about that period to be embarrassed about, but if you go to anyone around my age and show them a picture of themselves in 1984, that’d probably be just as hilarious. We were all caught up in that.”
Kershaw's pop stardom didn't last beyond the 1980s but he certainly made the most of it while he was on top, enjoying worldwide success with two albums, Human Racingand The Riddle, and notching up an impressive 50 weeks in the singles chart in 1984. He even performed at Live Aid – not bad for a former civil servant. In his short few years in the spotlight, he became the physical embodiment of 1980s synth-pop, but what the kids frugging to Wouldn't It Be Good?didn't realise was, behind the mullet, the pout and the banks of Rolands and Prophet-5s, there was an old-fashioned guitar god trying to burst out.
Before he discovered the joy of synthesisers, Kershaw was an accomplished jazz guitarist who could hold his own with the best axemen. Once he hit Top 10, that side of him got pushed aside.
“You’re just not in control of it when it happens that big, that fast,” says Kershaw. “People are gonna perceive you how they perceive you. And you rarely get the same bite of the cherry . . . And it did bother me for a while, but it doesn’t bother me anymore. There are people out there that do know what I do, and that’s fine.”
When the hits dried up towards the end of the 1980s, Kershaw was "unemployable", so he freelanced as a songwriter and producer. Over the years, he worked with Elton John, Cliff Richard, Bonnie Tyler, Lulu, Jason Donovan. He guested on an album by Genesis keyboard player Tony Banks and he even worked with our own Ronan Keating. But his most successful post-fame project was penning The One And Only, a No 1 hit for Chesney Hawkes. In the late 1990s, he tried for one more bite of the cherry with the critically acclaimed album, 15 Minutes.
Meanwhile, the public’s appetite for 1980s nostalgia grew to voracious proportions and Nik began to get requests to play 1980s revival gigs around the world. This would entail firing up the old synths and trotting out the hits to middle-aged punters quaffing pina coladas. He said yes.
“I resisted it for years, ’cause you don’t want to be defined by something you did 25 years ago. But on the other hand, it’s a laugh. It’s great fun. People want to hear it, and you get to play in front of 20,000-30,000 people sometimes, which is great. And they pay you for it. What’s not to like?”
In recent years, Kershaw has taken a complete stage left-turn, performing at pubs and small venues with just his voice and acoustic guitar (he’s embarking on an Irish tour). This is Kershaw in the raw, playing stripped-down versions of his songs for anyone who cares to drop by and sing along. There are no bells and whistles, but your jaw might drop when you hear Kershaw transposing his elaborate synth arrangements onto a six-string acoustic guitar.
“Midge Ure goes out sometimes with just an acoustic guitar, and Glen Tillbrook has been doing it for years, so I thought I’d give it a go. Mind you, I’m not trying to win any new fans – this is purely for the converted.”
If Nik is worried we’ve forgotten him, he needn’t fret. Here’s a post from Helen in Wexford on his official website: “You ignited my love of love. Thank you so much for wonderful music, wonderful memories and wonderful dreams . . . I’m 14 again and loving it.” Helen goes on to say she’ll be bringing her 12-year-old daughter, also a fan, along to the Wexford gig, and signs off: “I did like Nick Heyward, too, but you were my favourite Nik (no c).”
Kershaw doesn’t get too many obsessive female fans hoping to reignite their girlhood fantasies: “They usually bring their husbands along.” He is married for the second time and the couple are expecting a child soon. He has three grown-up children from his previous marriage.
If his kids are aware of or embarrassed by his previous life as a 1980s teen idol, they’re not letting on. “They never say anything to me about it but it’s all there on YouTube if they ever want to know what their dad got up to in the 1980s.”
He is bemused at bands’ current obsession with the sounds of the 1980s. He often gets asked to sprinkle some 1980s space dust on people’s records but for him, the 1980s sound is so, well, 1980s. “I’ve gone past that. I want to move on.”
CATCH ONE OF THESE TOO
A Flock of Seagulls
Tripod, Dublin, Oct 27th I Ran, sang Mike Score, and you’d run too if you saw him approaching with that famous aerodynamic haircut. These days he looks more like a brickie than a hairdresser from Mars, but you can bet the 80s hits will sound the same.
Simply RedO2, Dublin, Nov 7th; Odyssey Arena, Belfast, Nov 8th
Mick Hucknall’s ginger curls are still intact, but the carrot-topped soul man promises this will be his final farewell tour – at least until the next final farewell tour.
Crowded HouseRoyal Theatre, Castlebar, May 29th; Olympia, Dublin, May 30th and 31st Don't dream it's over, cos it's not. Sensible-haired House-mates Neil Finn and Nick Seymour have reconvened and will be delivering all their timeless hits.
Nik Kershaw’s No Frills Acoustic Tour begins at The Yard in Wexford on April 27th; nikkershaw.net
