Norfolk

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1503" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/nik-kershaw_0201_photo-by-steve-ullathorne_s-copy.jpg" alt="Nik Kershaw " class="wp-image-52842" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/nik-kershaw_0201_photo-by-steve-ullathorne_s-copy.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/nik-kershaw_0201_photo-by-steve-ullathorne_s-copy-532x800.jpg 532w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/nik-kershaw_0201_photo-by-steve-ullathorne_s-copy-665x1000.jpg 665w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/nik-kershaw_0201_photo-by-steve-ullathorne_s-copy-768x1154.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



Hi Nik. You’re playing a series of intimate summer gigs which are billed as having a distinct lack of dance moves, lasers, pyrotechnics, jazz-hands or anything remotely to do with showbiz. What can we expect? 



That’s the way to put bums on seats,&nbsp;isn&#8217;t it? These are basically warm-down gigs from the tour we did in October. It&#8217;s the same show but in smaller venues, just me and the band playing tunes &#8211; uncomplicated and back to basics. There&#8217;s a strong possibility it might get sweaty too &#8211; although the weather would have to improve for that to happen.



What’s on the set-list? 



I&#8217;m not a fool, I realise a lot of people will be buying tickets to hear the hits and we will be playing them, don&#8217;t worry about that! Expect Wouldn’t it be Good, The Riddle, I Won’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me, Dancing Girls, Wide Boy, Human Racing, Don Quixote and other highlights from my nine studio albums.



Any cheeky cover versions?



The closest I get to a cover version is The One and Only. I wrote it, so I’m allowed to play that.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/Untitled-design-2024-06-17T141741-copy.jpg" alt="Album cover to Nik Kershaw's The Riddle" class="wp-image-52843" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/Untitled-design-2024-06-17T141741-copy.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/Untitled-design-2024-06-17T141741-copy-800x800.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/Untitled-design-2024-06-17T141741-copy-400x400.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/Untitled-design-2024-06-17T141741-copy-768x768.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/Untitled-design-2024-06-17T141741-copy-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Nik’s The Riddle album cover</figcaption></figure>



Ah yes, you wrote it for Chesney Hawkes. Are you pretty fond of that song?



Yes, though I wasn&#8217;t particularly blown away by it when I wrote it. In 1989 I made a decision to step back from making my own records and just produce for other people, and The One and Only was pretty much the first one out of the bag. It didn&#8217;t take long to write, then I made a demo of it and just stuck it on a shelf for a while. 



About a year later, Chesney’s dad walked into Warner Chapel Music wanting some songs for a movie that Ches was doing with Roger Daltrey, so Chesney’s dad is responsible for discovering that song. In fact, the producers weren&#8217;t that keen on it either, but we recorded it at Abbey Road anyway and then everyone went bananas for it.



Do you and Chesney Hawkes still hang out?



I count him as one of my best mates, he’s a lovely, lovely man with a lovely family. I&#8217;ve been mates with him ever since that song, and we’ve written a fair bit together over the years. In fact, I played a gig with him in Islington about two weeks ago.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="800" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/447613172_1034929631323433_1783859149646791227_n.jpg" alt="Chesney Hawkes and Nik Kershaw playing together in London" class="wp-image-52846" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/447613172_1034929631323433_1783859149646791227_n.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/447613172_1034929631323433_1783859149646791227_n-800x640.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/447613172_1034929631323433_1783859149646791227_n-768x614.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image <a href="https://www.katehunterphotography.com/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR28OE_f2IkzAzLP81xKZZnruF4k2s-pdTW7G3D6A9ZQoZiK7zout2OOjCs_aem_bFirXi5Q4foSVNRUhgPFPQ">Kate Hunter Photography</a>, Chesney and Nik playing together in London</figcaption></figure>



We&#8217;re feeling the bromance. So, it’s been 40 years since you performed at Live Aid. How does it feel four decades on?



Live Aid is something I get asked about a lot. I know I was there because it&#8217;s on YouTube, but sometimes I don&#8217;t know whether my memories are me making stuff up over the last 40 years, or whether these things actually happened! 



Looking back, it was just such an incredible privilege to have been one of the lucky few to get press-ganged by Bob Geldof. I&#8217;d only been around for a few years at the time, so it was a real privilege to be amongst some heavyweights. I remember watching Queen doing their thing from the Royal Box and thinking something pretty special was happening. There&#8217;s some great moments from that day that I won&#8217;t forget. 



It was a pretty terrifying experience though. Back then, I wasn&#8217;t used to playing in front of crowds of that size, and certainly not two billion people watching at home on TV. Technically, Live Aid was kind of thrown together at the last minute so you didn&#8217;t know whether any of your equipment was going to be working when you went on stage. Fortunately, most of mine was. 



Can you believe it&#8217;s been 40 years?



I can because I can feel it in my aching bones! What I can&#8217;t believe is how quickly time goes by now, it&#8217;s terrifying. It&#8217;s not so much that 40 years feels like 40 years ago, but that these days, two years feels like five minutes ago. Time speeds up exponentially as you get older.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1033" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/NIK20K.jpg" alt="Nik Kershaw" class="wp-image-52849" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/NIK20K.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/NIK20K-774x800.jpg 774w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/NIK20K-968x1000.jpg 968w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/NIK20K-768x793.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



Elton John once called you ‘the best songwriter of his generation’? How did that make you feel?



That quote&#8217;s been following me about for years, and I have to confess to having used it a few times because, clearly, it&#8217;s nothing to be ashamed of. I had begun to doubt the authenticity of it, but I&#8217;ve been mixing some live tracks recently, including playing The Old Grey Whistle Test back in 1984 on New Year&#8217;s Eve. On that show Richard Skinner comes on and introduces us and that&#8217;s what he quoted that night. So I know I didn&#8217;t make it up, Elton actually said it.



Either way you&#8217;re going to take it. Have you ever met Sir Elton?



Yeah, I spent a fair bit of time with him back in the mid-80s and I toured with him in &#8217;89. He was a great champion of mine and has really sung my praises. He’s always been really amazing at taking a great interest in new acts and championing them and he still does it to this day. He&#8217;s really generous in that respect.



Is he still a friend?



Well, notoriously Elton hasn&#8217;t got a phone but if he did have one I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;d be on speed-dial or in his list of contacts or anything. The last time I saw him was at his first wedding to David [Furnish] when they had the civil partnership back in 2005.



Wow, was it a good party?



It was a great party. I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;ve ever been to a bad Elton John party, although there is one that brings back bad memories. I went to his 50th, which was a fancy dress party, but I left my costume literally to the last minute and couldn&#8217;t get fancy dress. I thought there would be loads of people without fancy dress but of course there wasn’t, and you were expected to have your photo taken on the red carpet. I had a pair of jeans on and a shirt, so that was a bit awkward. 



Sounds legendary, what was the fancy dress theme?



I think it was it pretty much anything goes! Famously they couldn&#8217;t get Elton&#8217;s costume and wig in the car, so they had to hire a truck or some sort of van to transport him in because his costume was so big.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="806" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/Nik-Kershaw-Rock-Bristol-2014-MDS_4296-copy.jpg" alt="Nik Kershaw playing guitar" class="wp-image-52845" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/Nik-Kershaw-Rock-Bristol-2014-MDS_4296-copy.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/Nik-Kershaw-Rock-Bristol-2014-MDS_4296-copy-800x645.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/norfolk/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2024/06/Nik-Kershaw-Rock-Bristol-2014-MDS_4296-copy-768x619.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Copyright 2018 www.martinshawphotography.com</figcaption></figure>



What do you love most about performing? Will you go on as long as The Rolling Stones?



I&#8217;ll go on as long as I enjoy it and as long as there&#8217;s anyone there to watch me enjoying it! I just love being on stage, there&#8217;s this kind of visceral energy you get from performing. Whether it&#8217;s walking out in front of 25,000 people in a festival, or just a few 100 people in a club, it’s all great. Everybody wants to be the centre of attention, don&#8217;t they?



Every now and again. What do you listen to when you’re off-duty?



Terribly, I don&#8217;t listen to that much music, I listen a bit in the car and my son introduces me to various things. I&#8217;m taking him to see the Foo Fighters in London next week. I do like the Foo Fighters, I think they&#8217;re really clever and Dave Grohl seems like such a lovely man, like the kind of guy you could sit down and have a pint with.



He does! So, we have to ask, do you have any anecdotes of bad rock &#8216;n’ roll behaviour from back in the day?



We did try to behave badly because that&#8217;s what you&#8217;re supposed to do. But you know, I grew up in a semi-detached house in Ipswich, my dad was an architect and I went to grammar school, so I wasn&#8217;t really that way inclined. I think the closest I got to misbehaving was trashing a hotel room in Toronto. I was having a bit of a moment and throwing my toys out of the pram. But I felt so guilty about it, I tidied it all up afterwards.



That is not very rock and roll, is it?&nbsp;



Not really no, but that’s the way it went. But you know, we&#8217;ve toured with loads of different people. Naming no names, there’s been trays of sushi flying around because the flowers weren&#8217;t right in the dressing room or whatever.



Wowza.



Nik Kershaw and his band will be playing at Epic Studios in Norwich on Sat 29 June; <a href="https://epic-tv.com/events/event/nik-kershaw/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tickets</a> are priced at £32.50 in advance.

Muddy meets 80s icon Nik Kershaw

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