''The Riddle'' is the second studio album by the English singer-songwriter

Nik Kershaw Nicholas David Kershaw (born 1 March 1958) is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He 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 decade, i ...

, released on 19 November 1984 by

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

. On release, the album was received favourably by the majority of music critics. It peaked at number eight on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

and reached the top 10 in New Zealand and Norway. The album spawned three charting singles in the United Kingdom—" The Riddle" peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart; "

Wide Boy ''Wide boy'' is a British term for a man who lives by his wits, wheeling and dealing. According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' it is synonymous with spiv.Oxford English Dictionary accessed 13 Dec 2010 The word "wide" used in this sense mean ...

" at number nine; "

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

" at number 10. The album has been certified platinum by the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

(BPI). The album was re-released on 9 August 2013 on

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

's Re-presents imprint featuring rare bonus content. The reissue is a two-disc set with the original album digitally remastered from the original 1/2" mix tapes; the bonus content consists of associated

B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

, 12″ mixes, and live versions of the songs featured on the album.

Cover artwork

The album's cover photograph was shot on

Chesil Beach Chesil Beach (also known as Chesil Bank) in Dorset, England, is one of three major shingle beach structures in Britain.A. P. Carr and M. W. L. Blackley, "Investigations Bearing on the Age and Development of Chesil Beach, Dorset, and the Associ ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, England. On the back sleeve of the album, the

Isle of Portland The Isle of Portland is a tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. The southern tip, Portland Bill, lies south of the resort of Weymouth, Dorset, Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A barrier ...

is seen in the background. Additionally, the single release of the title song "The Riddle" used the same image of Kershaw on the beach, whilst the back sleeve featured a photograph of Kershaw reading a map, standing at

Portland Bill Portland Bill is a narrow promontory (or bill) at the southern end of the Isle of Portland, and the southernmost point of Dorset, England. One of Portland's most popular destinations is Portland Bill Lighthouse. Portland's coast has been notori ...

. The

Trinity House Obelisk The Trinity House Obelisk, also known as the Trinity House Landmark, is a 19th-century obelisk located at Portland Bill, on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England. Built as a daymark, it has been Grade II Listed since 1978. The obelisk was built ...

is highlighted in the photograph.

Critical reception

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' gave the album a mostly positive review calling it "a commendable offering from the thinking man's

Limahl Christopher Hamill (born 19 December 1958), known professionally as Limahl ( , an anagram of Hamill), is an English pop singer. He was the lead singer of the pop group Kajagoogoo beginning in 1982, before embarking on a solo career, garnering t ...

". Reviewing retrospectively for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, critic Scott Bultman wrote that the album "finally garnered some deserved attention. The rest is his unique style of well-crafted synth-pop."

Track listing

US release

The US edition of the album reorders the track listing and replaces "City of Angels" with "Wouldn't It Be Good".

2013 reissue

The track listing of the second disc is: All of the live tracks were recorded at the

Hammersmith Odeon The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly and still commonly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Pa ...

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

1984. The website ''SuperDeluxeEdition'' noted that the second disc had some notable absences, specifically "Progress (Live)", which was the B-side of "The Riddle", an extended mix of "Wild Horses", which had been on the 12" version of " When a Heart Beats", and the single edits of "Wide Boy" and "Don Quixote". Kershaw defended the omissions, calling "Progress" "a dodgy performance of a mediocre song, badly recorded". Of the "Wild Horses" extended mix, he commented: He also noted that his choice of material was limited as master copies of certain items had gone missing in the intervening years.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes. Musicians * Nik Kershaw –

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

and background vocals; vocal percussion;

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

;

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

; keyboards *

Paul "Wix" Wickens Paul "Wix" Wickens is an English musician best known as keyboardist and musical director of Paul McCartney's touring band since 1989. In a career that started in 1973, Wickens has also worked with artists including Nik Kershaw, Bob Dylan, Joni ...

–

Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, music sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commerc ...

programming;

Oberheim DMX The DMX is a programmable Digital data, digital drum machine manufactured by Oberheim Electronics, Oberheim. It was introduced in 1980 at a list price of and remained in the company's product line until the mid-1980s. The Oberheim DMX was the se ...

programming * Tim Moore – keyboards (and acoustic piano on "So Quiet" (2013 re-release only) *

Andy Richards Andrew John Richards (born 26 October 1952) is an English pianist, Film score, composer, music producer and keyboardist. Richards has played with artists including Frankie Goes to Hollywood, George Michael, Propaganda (band), Propaganda, Grace ...

– keyboards * Charlie Morgan –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

* Dennis Smith – bass guitar * Stuart Curtis –

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (anatomy) * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * Horns (novel), ''Horns'' (novel), a dar ...

* Dave Land – horns *

Pandit Dinesh Pandit Dinesh (born 29 May 1955) is a music composer and percussionist specializing in Indian rhythms. He uses the tabla, conga drums, and more. Dinesh is known for his collaborations with West India Company, Dizrhythmia, The Pax Trio, and Blanc ...

–

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

Sheri Kershaw Sheri Kershaw (born Sheri Pogmore in 1953) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. From 1983 to 2003 she was married to Nik Kershaw. She toured extensively with him and sang backing vocals on his early albums, achieving a No. 3 singles hit with his son ...

–

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

(and lead vocal on "Don't Lie" (2013 re-release only) *

Don Snow Don Snow (born 13 January 1957 in London) is a British vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, who plays the Hammond organ, piano, guitar, bass guitar, drums and saxophone. He is primarily known for his work with the new wave bands Squeeze, the Sin ...

– backing vocals * Mark King – special guest bass guitar on "Easy" Production team * Peter Collins – producer *

Julian Mendelsohn Julian Mendelsohn is an Australian record producer, audio engineer and mixer. Early life After completing school in Australia, Mendelsohn moved to the United Kingdom. He secured his first job in 1974 at Milner Sound Fulham Rd. Chelsea, run by ...

–

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

Dave Meegan Dave Meegan is an Irish record producer, born in Dublin in 1963. Meegan is best known for his work with Marillion. Meegan's association with Marillion began when he worked as an assistant engineer on their second album, ''Fugazi'' in 1984. He go ...

– assistant engineer Live personnel (2013 re-release) * Nik Kershaw – vocals; guitar; keyboards * Keith Airey – guitar; keyboards; backing vocals * Tim Moore – keyboards; backing vocals *

Mark Price William Mark Price (born February 15, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. The last coaching job he held was as head coach of the Charlotte 49ers men's basketball, Charlotte 49ers. As a four-time NBA All-Star and ...

– drums * Dennis Smith – bass guitar *

Gary Wallis Gary Wallis (born 10 June 1964) is a British drummer, percussionist, drum programmer, producer and musical director. He has worked with a wide range of artists and bands, including Nik Kershaw, Pink Floyd, 10cc, Il Divo, Westlife, Girls ...

– percussion

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Riddle 1984 albums Albums produced by Peter Collins (record producer) MCA Records albums Nik Kershaw albums