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Human Racing [CD]

Nik Kershaw Audio CD
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
Price: £11.80 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
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Product details

  • Audio CD (27 Feb 2012)
  • Number of Discs: 2
  • Format: CD
  • Label: Commercial Marketing
  • ASIN: B006ONOT68
  • Other Editions: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 9,298 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s

Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         


Disc 1:

Samples
Song Title Time Price
Listen  1. Dancing Girls 3:48£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  2. Wouldn't It Be Good 4:37£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  3. Drum Talk 3:10£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  4. Bogart 4:37£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  5. Gone To Pieces 3:12£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  6. Shame On You 3:37£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  7. Cloak And Dagger 4:55£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  8. Faces 4:05£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  9. I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me 3:23£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen10. Human Racing 4:35£0.89  Buy MP3 


Disc 2:

Samples
Song Title Time Price
Listen  1. Dancing Girls (Extended 12 " Remix) 8:04£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  2. Bogart (Extended 12" Remix) 4:27£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  3. Monkey Business 3:29£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  4. Shame On You (Additional Brass Mix) 3:39£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  5. Drum Talk (Extended 12" Remix) 4:58£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  6. Faces (Extended 12" Remix) 4:39£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  7. Dark Glasses 4:14£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  8. Wouldn't It Be Good (Extended 12" Remix) 6:51£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  9. Human Racing (Extended 12" Mix) 5:23£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen10. She Cries 3:46£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen11. I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me (Extended Mix) 6:31£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen12. Cloak And Dagger (Live) 5:07£0.89  Buy MP3 


Product Description

CD Description

2012 re-issue of Nik Kershaw's 1984 debut album Human Racing, faeturing the title track, "I Won't Let the Sun Go down on Me", the breakthrough hit "Wouldn't it be Good" and "Dancing Girls".

Human Racing was released in February 1984. The first of four albums recorded for MCA records, it achieved platinum sales and a nomination for Best Album at the 1985 Brit Awards. Its release was greeted by a combination of teen hysteria, critical acclaim and praise from the likes of Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton and prompted Elton John to call Kershaw "one of the best songwriters of a generation".

This special two CD edition, compiled by Nik himself features the album, digitally re-mastered from the original 1/2" mix tapes and associated 12" mixes and B-sides. It includes a previously un-released version of “Bogart”, a special brass mix of "Shame on You" and a live version of "Cloak and Dagger" recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon. None of the material on CD Two has ever before been available in a digital format and the booklet contains a brand new sleevenote written by Nik.

Product Description

2CD Expanded Edition

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By Max
Format:Audio CD
Great to see this release being give a new lease of life. The sound is excellent and can't be faulted, and at £8.99 is a steal for the deal on offer. All the original songs and production are brilliant. No album filler just 10 strong tracks, and 4 great singles.

I do have some "anorak" points to make. Having been a fan for since the beginning and having purchased all versions of singles on vinyl, cassette and CD (bit sad I know) there are some omissions that I think would have been nice to add.

I agree with both previous reviews who have said they wanted more and some liking the album on disc one as is. I think the B sides could have been tagged on the end to make more space for some missing remixes.

Namely:

The Wouldn't It Be Good Simon Boswell mix which was on the B Side on the 2nd Human Racing 12".

The Hi Energy 12" of Dancing Girls by Alan Coulthard (also known as the Special New Mix). This was a second 12" and the B side had a Simon Boswell remix of Drum Talk too. Both sadly missing.

It would have been nice to have the 7" version of Dancing Girls as well. The 7" had a slightly different intro and the end had some brass overlays on it.

It would have been also great to see the original rare 12" of I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me which came out in 1983 and wasn't a major hit. When re released after Dancing Girls the 12" changed to the mix on the CD by Simon Boswell.

This leads to another point, Nik's sleeve notes say that some of the mixes were by Simon Darlow and that he can't remember some others. The ones he listed as Simon Darlow were actually listed on the original vinyls as Simon Boswell, so not sure where the Darlow name comes from.

He says he can't remember who did the remix for Human Racing or Bogart. The former on the 12" says Simon Boswell and listening to Bogart for the first time it sounds in Boswell's style. Similar to his remix of Faces.

Though I know it sounds like complaining, but if they were getting the original tapes out it would have been great to get them all out and give us some real rarities for us completists. All of this could have been fitted onto the 55 minutes of spare space on the 2 discs. (yes, sad - I checked)

I do hope they do a similar job of The Riddle, though I know there are less rare mixes available for this album (or are there, we didn't know about Bogart!).

Please Universal do us proud. I expect the same treatment for Radio Musicola and The Works is pushing it too far, but we can but ask as they are great albums (and mixes) too.

Buy It Now - you won't regret it.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Overdue but worth the wait 29 Feb 2012
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Ah...what it was to be 13 years old, without a care in the world and living through an era when pop music was colourful, flamboyant and full of character (unlike the plastic autotuned talentless pretty boys and bimbos of today). Two debut albums of 1984, both with similar titles, hit my radar and have pretty much stuck there ever since, mainly because of their superb songwriting but also because they're quite simply brilliant albums. Howard Jones Human's Lib was the first and Nik Kershaw's Human Racing was the other. I have to admit to being a huge fan of both this and follow up, The Riddle, before my teenage interest wandered off to pastures new. I bought the singles, the remixes, the albums (like you did back then). I've found it quite remarkable and an incredible oversight that Human Racing has never been revisited before and has, for a number of years, been totally out of print. So when I discovered that Universal were to finally dust off the masters and reissue it on their new 'Re-presents' imprint I was pleasantly surprised. My faith in catalogue departments has taken a battering recently with lack lustre reissues and over-priced, underwhelming 'super-deluxe' editions so it's nice to know that the biggest player of them all, Universal, has finally decided they have gold that is worth mining.
The album itself is a product of it's time. No doubt about it but listening to it again it's astounding just how good it still is. Superbly dynamic and brilliantly arranged with an emphasis on melody and hooks. Catchy choruses a-plenty, guitar solos and the customary 80s keyboards and brass section. The four singles released were radio friendly slices of pop/rock that touched on thought provoking lyrics backed up by memorable tunes.
Included here are the remixes that graced the obligatory 12" format of the day (RIP real format), many available on CD for the first time. Typical of their time, they rejigged the tracks, looped various aspects of it and gave it a punchy back beat. Some of them went on a bit, got a little annoying and probably drove you nuts but listening to them today makes me realise just how superior the sound was to the saturated, compressed and ear-fatiguing trash of today.
Amusing notes from the man himself who, almost 30 years later, is able to recall his memories as an emerging artist in a business that has now changed beyond recognition (and not for the better).
Finally, the remastering is quite simply brilliant. Sadly, nobody is credited in the liner notes but whoever did the job should be proud of their effort. Amazing clarity and detail, superbly balanced with incredible dynamics. Sounds very faithful to the original vinyl. No ridiculous compression and artificial boosting of levels here. Turn it up and be moved by the sound. Exactly how a good remaster should sound.
At £9 this is a brilliant value reissue in every way and hopefully Universal will see fit to at least do the same with The Riddle which is as equally deserving.
Also, let's hope the 'Re-presents' imprint brings us many more forgotten gems that deserve another spin in these dying days of physical media.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Pretty darn sweet 20 Mar 2012
Format:Audio CD
I'm not claiming to be as big a Kershaw fan as some of the other reviewers on here, but I do have a soft spot for Human Racing. It was one of the first CDs I bought when I got my Ferguson player in 1985. There weren't a huge number of titles available so I took a chance on Nik's debut.

27 years later, I was pleased to see this upgrade and took advantage of the low price. I have to say that the remastering is first rate. Too many times nowadays, our ears are assaulted by overly compressed reissues that have you running back to the originals. Human Racing sounds lovely and it's nice to be reminded what an excellent singer and songwriter Kershaw is.

I'm not a massive remix fan so Disc 2 was largely redundant to me. There are a few new (to me) songs that I presume are the B-sides to HR's vinyl singles and these are decent enough to warrant repeated plays. There's also witty sleevenotes from Mr Kershaw himself, which makes it a splendid package, all in all.

So, Human Racing 2012 is absolutely worth your time, and like other reviewers here, I hope something similar for The Riddle is planned.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars 28yrs in a day
Nik Kershaw is one of those artists from the 1980's that I liked at the time yet never bought any of his records. Anyway times change and so did my musical tastes. Read more
Published 6 months ago by P. R. MacCabe
5.0 out of 5 stars The best album of the 80s?
It's been 28 years since Human Racing was released, and this re-mastered version manages to demonstrate just what a brilliant album this still proves to be, including extra tracks,... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Sharron Hather
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic
I bought this CD as I had it as an album when I was teenager and a huge Nik Fan. I'm still a Nik fan and this ditgtal version has brought it up to date. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Liz Stobart
5.0 out of 5 stars Blast from the past
It's as good now as it was in the 80s. Brought back some brilliant memories. The bonus was receiving the 12" versions CD which I hadn't realised was included. Very happy! :)
Published 9 months ago by tkd_babe
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Remaster of an 80's Classic
Back in the day, this was one of the must-have albums amongst my muso friends and I. Red-blooded heterosexual males that we were (and still are), Kershaw's pretty boy looks and... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Douglas Milne
4.0 out of 5 stars Wouldn't it be good ............ It is!!
This has been an absolute treat to hear this album again sounding so great.
It brings back so many memories from first hearing it as a young teenager. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Baglady
4.0 out of 5 stars Eighties poster boy done good
It's hard to believe now, but nigh on 30 years ago, Nik Kershaw was the poster boy du jour, with hit singles and albums falling out of his incredibly wide sleeves. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mr. H
5.0 out of 5 stars An All Time Favourite - And I don't even like this kind of music!
This is the only "synthpop" album in my collection. I love it because it's filled with impossibly catchy songs, which still sound fantastic today, and because Human Racing is one... Read more
Published 14 months ago by alewis41
5.0 out of 5 stars A great album finally given its due!
First off, we are presented with a first class remastering job on the original classic album. (I have the old cd and it didn't sound much better than a cassette) Second, we can... Read more
Published 14 months ago by elektrolad
5.0 out of 5 stars "Behind my dark glasses...
...there's a man who has a point of view." I loved that song (Dark Glasses, b-side to I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me). Read more
Published 14 months ago by Nick Hawkins
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