"Wouldn't It Be Good" is a song by English singer-songwriter
Nik Kershaw
Nicholas David Kershaw (born 1 March 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer.
Kershaw came to prominence in 1984 as a solo artist. He released eight singles that entered the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart during the ...
, released on 20 January 1984 as the second single from his debut studio album, ''
Human Racing
''Human Racing'' is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Nik Kershaw, released on 27 February 1984 by MCA Records. Several songs like "Drum Talk" were based around improvisation; other songs, like "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on ...
'' (1984). The release was Kershaw's second single, and features the non-album track "Monkey Business" as the B-side, which was also released as a bonus track on the 2012 re-release of the album.
Background and recording
"Wouldn't It Be Good" was the second single from Kershaw's debut studio album ''
Human Racing
''Human Racing'' is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Nik Kershaw, released on 27 February 1984 by MCA Records. Several songs like "Drum Talk" were based around improvisation; other songs, like "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on ...
'' (1984) and turned out to be among his more popular single releases. It spent three weeks at number four on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
and became successful throughout Europe, as well as a top-10 entry in Canada and Australia. Kershaw is also most closely associated with this song in the United States, where it narrowly missed the top 40. Kershaw performed this song at
Live Aid
Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...
in London's
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
in July 1985.
Kershaw's first single from this album had failed to be a major hit, and it was on the strength of this recording's success that the earlier single, "
I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me
"I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" is a song by English singer-songwriter Nik Kershaw from his debut studio album, ''Human Racing'' (1984). It was his first single, released on 9 September 1983 to limited success. When re-released on 4 June 19 ...
", was promoted for a re-release. This time the single went all the way to number two in the UK, becoming his highest-charting single there to date.
Kershaw remembers that this was one of the last songs he wrote for the ''Human Racing'' album, firstly mapping out the chords on a keyboard. However, the aggressive guitar sound he wanted led to a clash in harmonics and therefore the result sounded rather unpleasant. Thus he decided to create a kind of "guitar orchestra", inspired by work of
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
's
Brian May
Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Fredd ...
, where the notes were separated into single lines and harmonies.
Kershaw elaborates on the layering of the guitar lines:
According to Kershaw, there were about 20 guitars on this song alone, and there was a bit of trouble in trying to get the other instruments being overdubbed (such as bass and keyboards) in tune with the guitars.
The main synthesizer riff was produced using a combination of
PPG Wave 2.2 and a
Yamaha DX7
The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units.
In the early 1980 ...
.
Release
"Wouldn't It Be Good" was released in a single version and an extended 12" version. A remix by Simon Boswell, clocking in at 7:20, appears on the album ''Retro:Active 4: Rare & Remixed''.
In 1985, "Wouldn't It Be Good" appeared on the soundtrack to the film ''
Gotcha!''
Music video
The
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
for "Wouldn't It Be Good", which features Kershaw cast as an alien visitor who observes the characteristics of the people around him, was directed by graphic designer
Storm Thorgerson
Storm Elvin Thorgerson (28 February 1944 – 18 April 2013) was an English graphic designer and music video director. He is best known for closely working with the group Pink Floyd through most of their career, and also created album or other a ...
, was released in 1984 and received heavy rotation on
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
, which helped the song reach No. 46 on the
US charts. It used
chroma key
Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to ...
technology to achieve the alien suit's special effects. The music video was filmed in mid-January 1984 over a period of three days, primarily in and around St. James' Court Hotel, London. The closing scenes were recorded at the
Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory
The Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory (MRAO) is located near Cambridge, UK and is home to a number of the largest and most advanced aperture synthesis radio telescopes in the world, including the One-Mile Telescope, 5-km Ryle Telescope, an ...
, near
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
.
According to Kershaw, the song was about "always wanting it better than everyone else", a concept which the director of the video further developed and integrated into the video plot of Kershaw being the alien who steps into other people's shoes. But in the end the alien realises that it was not such a good idea at all, and decides to return to his home planet.
[
]
Critical reception
In a review of the single's 1991 reissue, Stephen Dalton of ''NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' praised it as "a deeply felt ennui at the hopeless dreams and aspirations of idealistic youth" and a "welcome re-release from a much underrated innovator of early synth-pop
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...
".
Track listings
* 7-inch single
:A. "Wouldn't It Be Good" – 4:35
:B. "Monkey Business" – 3:28
* 12-inch single
:A. "Wouldn't It Be Good" (special extended mix) – 6:50
:B. "Monkey Business" – 3:28
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Cover versions
* In 1984, German singer Juliane Werding
Juliane Werding (born 19 July 1956 in Essen) is a German singer and alternative therapy practitioner (''Heilpraktiker'').
Her recordings include "Am Tag, als Conny Kramer starb" and "Nacht voll Schatten" in 1983 (German cover of Mike Oldfield' ...
recorded a German-language version of "Wouldn't It Be Good", titled "Sonne auf der Haut".
* In 1986, Danny Hutton Hitters covered "Wouldn't It Be Good" which appeared on the soundtrack for the 1986 film ''Pretty in Pink
''Pretty in Pink'' is a 1986 American teen romantic comedy-drama film about love and social cliques in American high schools in the 1980s. A cult classic, it is commonly identified as a "Brat Pack" film. It was directed by Howard Deutch, produc ...
''.
* In 1986, Barbara Dickson
Barbara Ruth Dickson (born 27 September 1947) is a Scottish singer and actress whose hits include 'I Know Him So Well', 'Answer Me' and 'January February'. Dickson has placed fifteen albums on the UK Albums Chart from 1977 to date, and had a n ...
covered "Wouldn't It Be Good" for her album ''The Right Moment''
* In 1992, American singer-songwriter Tommy Page
Thomas Alden Page (May 24, 1967 – March 3, 2017) was an American singer-songwriter, best known for his 1990 hit single " I'll Be Your Everything" and was later a music industry executive. Page collaborated with many artists, including Malaysi ...
recorded a cover of the song for his album, ''A Friend to Rely On''.
* In 2006, German dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...
act Cascada
Cascada (, Spanish for "Waterfall", stylized as CASCADA, CASC''A''DA and cascada) is a German dance music act founded in 2004 by singer Natalie Horler and DJs/producers DJ Manian and DJ Yanou. They are best known for their hit singles " Everyti ...
recorded their version for their album '' Everytime We Touch''. It reached number 54 in the Swedish national record chart.
* Tina Arena
Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena (born 1 November 1967) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, musical theatre actress and record producer. She is one of Australia's highest-selling artists and has sold over 10 million records worldwid ...
released a piano ballad
A ballade (from French '' ballade'', , and German ''Ballade'', , both being words for "ballad"), in classical music since the late 18th century, refers to a setting of a literary ballad, a narrative poem, in the musical tradition of the , or to a o ...
version of the song for her 2008 cover album '' Songs of Love & Loss 2'', which was later released as a digital-exclusive single as part of her greatest hits album '' Greatest Hits & Interpretations'' in 2017.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1984 singles
1984 songs
Cascada songs
MCA Records singles
Nik Kershaw songs
Song recordings produced by Peter Collins (record producer)
Songs written by Nik Kershaw