Nik Kershaw

Nik Kershaw carved out a reputation as a commercially viable songwriter in the mid-1980s on the strength of several pop successes. Guitar lessons during his teenage years marked the start of his musical path. In 1974 he entered his first group, Half Pint Hogg, which restricted itself to Deep Purple covers. After finishing school he moved into the jazz-funk outfit Fusion, whose sole album, 'Til I Hear From You, surfaced in the late 1970s. When Fusion dissolved, manager Micky Modern of Nine Below Zero helped Kershaw land a contract with MCA Records.

His debut solo single, "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," appeared in 1983 and stalled at number 47 on the U.K. charts. The next release, "Wouldn't It Be Good," reached number five in Britain and number 46 in the U.S., quickly elevating Kershaw to stardom at home. A summer 1984 reissue of the first single climbed to number two and triggered a run of further hits. The 1986 album Radio Musicola, his third, failed to replicate the earlier commercial impact, prompting Kershaw to withdraw from regular performing and recording. Although The Works emerged in 1990, his chief activity from the late 1980s onward was songwriting for other artists, among them Chesney Hawke's hit single "The One and Only." Years spent writing externally preceded his own return via 15 Minutes on Pyramid Records.