NIK KERSHAW – The MCA Years [Cherry Red 10-CD Box Set] (2025)

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NIK KERSHAW‘s career gets a comprehensive revisit with ”The MCA Years”, a new, huge 10-CD box set from Cherry Red Records. This collection offers the most complete look at Kershaw’s 80s output, featuring four remastered studio albums, four discs of B-sides and remixes, two discs of mostly unreleased live material, and a DVD of music videos and concert footage.
Celebrating 40 years since Kershaw’s debut, the set includes his breakthrough album Human Racing, featuring the hit single ‘Wouldn’t It Be Good,’ and its follow-up The Riddle. The box set also includes Radio

Musicola (1986) and the stupendous The Works (1989), showcasing Kershaw’s evolution as an artist.
Other highlights include a disc of eight non-LP tracks / B-sides, 18 extended 12″ mixes, and nine special single mixes and edits, with much of this material making its CD debut. The set is rounded out with the complete release of a 1984 live show at London’s Hammersmith Odeon, previously only partially available.
Kershaw has actively participated in the project, overseeing Tony Dixon’s remastering. ”The MCA Years” is a definitive collection for his 80s work.
While most people only heard NIK KERSHAW first two albums, this reissue is really welcomed to re-discover the long time out of print Radio Musicola and The Works. Especially ‘The Works’ (1989) is a highly recommended listen, much, much more than just an ’80s rock&pop album’.
What ”The MCA Years” proves is that Kershaw never quite fitted in, even while Wouldn’t It Be Good and Don Quixote were massive hits. If he was too in thrall to pop to be labelled as prog, he had more in common with Tears For Fears’ quest to find true meaning than simply settling for big dumb fun. It all climaxed with third album, 1986’s Radio Musicola.

While the first two albums got decent – but not perfect – 2CD reissues around a decade ago, the last two have never been remastered / reissued, so for that reason alone, ”The MCA Years” is rather exciting.
Also, a highlight is the first full release of a 20-song 1984 live show captured at Hammersmith Odeon around The Riddle across the final two CDs. They have faded every live track at the end, mostly just during the audience applause but there are a couple of instances where the performance of one song merges into the next and they have done the same thing with those so you actually get the beginning of the next song at the end of one track and then again at the beginning of the next one.
The fades are unfortunate, but not a deal-breaker. It’s still a fantastic listen. Great musicianship… plus the live recording sound quality is excellent.

Regarding the extended versions / remixes, these are a must for ’80s fans. The extended tracks from songs of the fisrt two albums are cool, but just dancefloor workouts. However later songs like ‘Radio Musicola Extended Mix’ are just wonderful, inventive, varied – never outstays its welcome.

Both Human Racing and The Riddle were expanded in the early 2010s by UMC with remixes and live material. ”The MCA Years” includes all of that and more: a dedicated disc of eight non-LP B-sides, a collection of 18 extended 12″ mixes, plus a further nine special single mixes and edits.
A healthy amount of this material is being released on CD for the first time – previously only available on vinyl, these were cleaned / remastered for this box set by Rock Candy Records resident Andy Pearce.
In the 40 years since Nik Kershaw burst out of Ipswich with the hit albums Human Racing and The Riddle, both released in 1984, it’s bizarre that there hasn’t been a proper overview of his career until now.
Highly Recommended

[CD1: Human Racing]
1. Dancing Girls
2. Wouldn’t It Be Good
3. Drum Talk
4. Bogart
5. Gone To Pieces
6. Shame On You
7. Cloak And Dagger
8. Faces
9. I Won’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me
10. Human Racing

[CD2: The Riddle]
1. Don Quixote
2. Know How
3. You Might
4. Wild Horses
5. Easy
6. The Riddle
7. City Of Angels
8. Roses
9. Wide Boy
10. Save The Whale

[CD3: Radio Musicola]
1. Radio Musicola
2. Nobody Knows
3. L.A.B.A.T.Y.D.
4. What The Papers Say
5. Life Goes On
6. Running Scared
7. James Cagney
8. Don’t Let Me Out Of My Cage
9. When A Heart Beats
10. Violet To Blue

[CD4: The Works]
1. One Step Ahead
2. Elisabeth’s Eyes
3. Take My Place
4. Wounded Knee
5. Cowboys And Indians
6. One World
7. Don’t Ask Me
8. Burning At Both Ends
9. Lady On The Phone
10. Walkabout

[CD5: B-Sides]
1. Dark Glasses
2. She Cries
3. Monkey Business
4. So Quiet
5. Don’t Lie (Featuring Sheri Kershaw)
6. One Of Our Fruit Machines Is Missing (Instrumental)
7. When I Grow Up
8. My Friend John

[CD6: Extended Mixes]
1. Wouldn’t It Be Good (Special Extended Mix)
2. Dancing Girls (Special Extended Version)
3. I Won’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me (Extended Remix By Simon Boswell)
4. Human Racing (Remix By Simon Boswell)
5. Drum Talk (Special Extended Version)
6. Faces (Remix By Simon Boswell)
7. Bogart (Extended 12” Remix)
8. I Won’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me (Extended Dance Mix)
9. The Riddle (Extended 12” Remix)

[CD7: Extended Mixes]
1. Wide Boy (Special Extended Mix)
2. Don Quixote (Extra Special Long Mix)
3. Wild Horses (Extended Mix)
4. When A Heart Beats (Extended Mix)
5. Radio Musicola (Extended Version)
6. Nobody Knows (Extended Mix)
7. James Cagney (Extended Mix)
8. One Step Ahead (Industrial Mix)
9. Elisabeth’s Eyes (Extended Version)

[CD8: Mixes]
1. I Won’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me (7” Remix By Simon Boswell)
2. Wide Boy (7” Remix By Gary Langan)
3. James Cagney (Edited Version)
4. Dancing Girls (Remixed Version)
5. Dancing Girls (Special Hi-Energy Remix)
6. Drum Talk (Special Hi-Energy Remix)
7. Wouldn’t It Be Good (Remix)
8. Elisabeth’s Eyes (Club Dub)
9. Shame On You (Additional Brass Mix)

[CD9: Live At Hammersmith Odeon December 1984]
1. Roses
2. Know How
3. Dancing Girls
4. Bogart
5. City Of Angels
6. Cloak And Dagger
7. Wild Horses
8. Gone To Pieces
9. Save The Whale
10. The Riddle

[CD10: Live At Hammersmith Odeon December 1984]
1. Shame On You
2. Wide Boy
3. Human Racing
4. Drum Tal
5. Wouldn’t It Be Good
6. Faces
7. I Won’t Let The Sun Go Down
8. Don Quixote
9. You Might
10. Progress

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