The first complete retrospective of Nik Kershaw’s early career has been done in conjunction with Nik who has overseen the project. A 10CD box set featuring all of the MCA albums as well as four discs of B-Sides, Remixes, and Extended Mixes, some of which have never appeared on CD before. It also includes a live show from Hammersmith released for the first time in its entirety. The DVD features promo videos and the Hammersmith show from 1984 pulled together for the first time. The extensive booklet contains new notes by Paul Sinclair who interviewed Nik about the history and his recollections behind these albums and his life in the 80s. Newly mastered audio overseen by Nik Kershaw with Tony Dixon. Nik Kershaw exploded onto the UK pop scene in 1984 as a solo artist. A string of global hit singles – including ‘Wouldn’t it Be Good,’ ‘The Riddle’ and his biggest hit, ‘I Won’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me’ – helped to propel him to 62 weeks on the UK Singles Chart through 1984 and 1985. Nik appeared at the Live Aid show in 1985 and has also penned hits for other artists, including a UK No. 1 single in 1991 for Chesney Hawkes, ‘The One and Only’. The Nik Kershaw box set that SDE exclusively revealed in our 2024 SDE Reissue Preview will be released in July. Called The MCA Years, the 10CD+DVD box set brings together Nik’s first four albums with a further seven discs of bonus content. The four albums are of course Human Racing (1984), The Riddle (1984), Radio Musicola (1986) and The Works (1989). While the first two albums got decent – but not perfect – 2CD reissues around a decade ago, the last two have never been expanded so for that reason alone, The MCA Years is rather exciting. The albums all stand alone on their respective CDs, newly remastered by Tony Dixon and overseen by Nik Kershaw. After that is six CDs of bonus content, made up of one disc of B-sides, three CDs of extended remixes, seven-inch mixes and the odd dub mix, and two CDs featuring Kershaw’s 1984 Hammersmith Odeon show released in its entirety for the first time!
Tracklist:
Disc 1 - Human Racing 1. Dancing Girls (3:48) 2. Wouldn't It Be Good (4:37) 3. Drum Talk (3:10) 4. Bogart (4:37) 5. Gone To Pieces (3:13) 6. Shame On You (3:37) 7. Cloak And Dagger (4:55) 8. Faces (4:05) 9. I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me (3:23) 10. Human Racing (4:35)
Disc 2 - The Riddle 1. Don Quixote (4:55) 2. Know How (4:52) 3. You Might (3:16) 4. Wild Horses (3:58) 5. Easy (4:13) 6. The Riddle (3:54) 7. City Of Angels (3:56) 8. Roses (3:58) 9. Wide Boy (3:28) 10. Save The Whale (6:05)
Disc 3 - Radio Musicola 1. Radio Musicola (5:53) 2. Nobody Knows (4:21) 3. L.A.B.A.T.Y.D. (4:14) 4. What The Papers Say (3:33) 5. Life Goes On (5:02) 6. Running Scared (5:03) 7. James Cagney (5:20) 8. Don't Let Me Out Of My Cage (4:34) 9. When A Heart Beats (4:30) 10. Violet To Blue (6:17)
Disc 4 - The Works 1. One Step Ahead (3:53) 2. Elizabeth's Eyes (4:40) 3. Take My Place (4:03) 4. Wounded Knee (3:52) 5. Cowboys & Indians (3:52) 6. One World (4:38) 7. Don't Ask Me (4:05) 8. Burning At Both Ends (4:05) 9. Lady On The Phone (4:13) 10. Walkabout (4:58)
Disc 5 - B Sides 1. Dark Glasses (4:17) 2. She Cries (3:48) 3. Monkey Business (3:30) 4. So Quiet (3:10) 5. Don't Lie (Featuring Sheri Kershaw) (3:55) 6. One Of Our Fruit Machines Is Missing (Instrumental) (3:38) 7. When I Grow Up (3:45) 8. My Friend John (4:02)
Disc 6 - Extended Mixes And Remixes 1. Wouldn't It Be Good (Special Extended Mix) (6:53) 2. Dancing Girls (Special Extended Version) (8:03) 3. I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me (Extended Remix By Simon Boswell) (6:34) 4. Human Racing (Re-mix By Simon Boswell) (5:28) 5. Drum Talk (Special Extended Version) (5:00) 6. Faces (Re-Mix By Simon Boswell) (4:42) 7. Bogart (Extended 12" Remix) (4:29) 8. I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me (Extended Dance Mix) (6:02) 9. The Riddle (Extended 12" Remix) (5:10)
Disc 7 - Extended Mixes 1. Wide Boy (Special Extended Mix) (5:11) 2. Don Quixote (Extra Special Long Mix) (8:44) 3. Wild Horses (Extended Mix) (6:52) 4. When A Heart Beats (Extended Mix) (6:15) 5. Radio Musicola (Extended Version) (7:18) 6. Nobody Knows (Extended Mix) (7:34) 7. James Cagney (Extended Mix) (5:23) 8. One Step Ahead (Industrial Mix) (8:20) 9. Elisabeth's Eyes (Extended Version) (6:05)
Disc 8 - Remixes 1. I Won''t Let The Sun Go Down On Me (7'' Remix By Simon Boswell) (3:49) 2. Wide Boy (7'' Remix By Gary Langan) (3:22) 3. James Cagney (Edited Version) (3:59) 4. Dancing Girls (Remixed Version) (3:38) 5. Dancing Girls (Special Hi-Energy Remix) (7:31) 6. Drum Talk (Special Hi-Energy Remix) (7:29) 7. Wouldn't It Be Good (Remix) (7:40) 8. Elizabeth's Eyes (Club Dub) (4:44) 9. Shame On You (Additonal Brass Mix) (3:41) 10. Nobody Knows (Phil Harding Promo Remix) (5:37) 11. Dancing Girls (DJ Edit) (3:24) 12. Don Quixote (Single Edit) (4:12) 13. Radio Musicola (Single Edit) (4:16) 14. Radio Musicola (Acetate Floor Remix) (6:51)
Disc 9-10 - Live At Hammersmith Odeon, December 1984 1. Roses [Live] (4:46) 2. Know How [Live] (4:55) 3. Dancing Girls [Live] (3:42) 4. Bogart [Live] (5:13) 5. City Of Angels [Live] (3:58) 6. Cloak And Dagger [Live] (5:12) 7. Wild Horses [Live] (3:59) 8. Gone To Pieces [Live] (3:54) 9. Save The Whale [Live] (6:04) 10. The Riddle [Live] (4:17) 11. Shame On You [Live] (4:04) 12. Wide Boy [Live] (3:32) 13. Human Racing [Live] (4:00) 14. Drum Talk [Live] (4:26) 15. Wouldn't It Be Good [Live] (5:16) 16. Faces [Live] (3:58) 17. I Won't Let The Sun Go Down [Live] (5:34) 18. Don Quixote [Live] (4:49) 19. You Might [Live] (3:30) 20. Progress [Live] (3:03)
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