How many people did breathe in Nik's Oxygen? We already know that some don't want to see the Sun Go Down and that some others think that It Wouldn't Be that bad to be in someone else's shoes? But do we know how often She Cries? And is One World enough for all these covers? Riddle time! I'll try to unveil some obscure relations between Nik and other artists (known or not). We'll see in another part of this report that Nik's contributed to many artists as a musician, a producer or a songwriter. But right now, it's time to discover together some artists who simply copied Nik's songs or rearranged some of Nik's Hit Singles hoping for fame and glory.

I'll start with I WON'T LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON ME. Did you know that there is a Czech version of the song? Petr Kotvald wrote new lyrics in the mid 80s and recorded the song as a single in his own country. The new title is VRASKI SI NEDELAM. Funny to hear a Kershaw song in a language you can't understand. Yet, this version isn't that bad… Not as good as Nik's but not that bad (at least better than the '98 Remixes). It happened once again with the release of ICH WILL, WENN ICH WUSSTE, DASS ICH DARF, German version recorded by Florian Haidt. In the 90s, a Scandinavian man named Robin Cook released his own version of the song (CD Single including three different mixes). This time, the song was in English.

Sara:"In 1997/98 radios relayed a raggy version of this song but the name of the group is unknown to me".

Let's pick another one… WOULDN'T IT BE GOOD. In 1986, on the sountrack album of the Movie Pretty in Pink, everyone could find a strange version of the song performed by Danny Hutton Hitters. Not bad at all but weird though. The same year, Barbara Dickson recorded her own version, much closer to the original one. Some time later, Richard Page recorded the song too A rumor also claimed that Eric Clapton performed this song live for his Behind The Sun Tour.

Sara:"I want also to add that back in 1985 I heard on the radio a version of W.I.B.G. by Eric Clapton, so the song was surely recorded, but I don't know which album it is contained in"

Less famous but a great song nevertheless is SHE CRIES. This song was obviously recorded by the band Bucks Fizz for the B-Side of one of their singles (I HEAR TALK). But I can't say more about this one since I'm still looking for it!!!

Next comes the enigmatic RIDDLE. In the late 80s, Mister Petr Kotvald (again!!!) made his own Czech version of this song… which was then entitled TANECNI. As for his previous cover, the song is correct even if it's not the right text anymore. Some years later, in 1999, Lightforce released five different mixes on a CD Single of their TAKE YOUR TIME (RIDDLE '99)… I don't mean to be rude but they should really have taken more time!!! Apart from the main keyboard melody, there's nothing left of the song… The Dum Dums played the introduction of THE RIDDLE at Nik's London Concert (March 24th 1999) but I don't think that counts. Last but not least, a dance version called THE RIDDLE - TANZEN was recorded in 1999 by Gigi D'Agostino in Italy.

ONE WORLD is a more puzzling case. As everyone knows, this song was written for Nik's album THE WORKS… A rumor said that it was planned as the third single to be released from this album… A remix version (supposed to be that of the unreleased single) can be found. That would prove the rumor to be true (Yet, no reason is given for the cancellation of the release of the single). In 1991, Chesney Hawkes released ONE WORLD as B-Side of his single SECRETS OF THE HEART and on the US album THE ONE AND ONLY (different from the UK Buddy's Song). Listen closely to Chesney's ONE WORLD and you'll notice that his version sounds A LOT like Nik's remix version… Nik was working with Chesney at that time (remember that Chesney's first Number One Hit Single THE ONE AND ONLY was written by Nik)?

The last song I'll deal with is in fact a more complicated case as it's not really a cover: Nik wrote the song for others first and then released his own version after… You've probably understood that I'm talking about OXYGEN… Petula Clark released the song as a single in the USA in 1992 (the B-side was a "soft mix" of the same song). OXYGEN also appeared on her album Treasures - Volume 1 in the same year. Then comes Jason Donovan in 1993. (I really like his version for it's a fully orchestrated one… Keyboard atmosphere… Soft bass… Breath-taking backing vocals, I'm sure that Sheri would have done something great with those backing vocals had Nik recorded a more sophisticated version. Then comes Anita Hegerland with a VOICES album including her own vision of OXYGEN. Also Richard Page with a version which sounds a lot like that of Nik's acoustic version (apart from some changes which don't affect the quality of the song). Elaine Paige added a verse with a brand new melody of her own and new lyrics. Newton's version, released in 1998, is a dance version mainly based on Elaine Paige's version… This one fails on bringing us the moving and magic atmosphere at the heart of the song. Some other artists have recorded OXYGEN: they are Seven, Barbara Dickson, Brooke Shields and allegedly Mister Mister and Lulu. (Put no real proofs of those recordings).

So far, we've talked about Nik's songs covered by other artists. Yet, his collaborations with other singers or bands don't only consist in cover versions of songs already recorded by Nik. It's amazing how often Nik's name can be found on record sleeves. Sometimes he appears as a songwriter… Sometimes he's a co-writer… Sometimes he's part of the musicians on the record… Sometimes he's merely a producer… Most of the times, he combines several of the possibilities previously announced! That's why we're not going to split any of the four categories mentioned above. We'll work on a chronological basis, starting with FUSION, in this part and ending with LES RYTHMES DIGITALES and Ronan Keating in the next part… Well, let's travel back in time some twenty years ago…

Nik started to work solo after quitting FUSION but, in 1985, ELTON JOHN asked him to perform some guitars on his album ICE ON FIRE (check the record credits on the sleeve and you'll be amazed…). Nik appears on SATELLITE, NIKITA (released as a single) and ACT OF WAR (this single doesn't appear on the vinyl album but was added on the CD later on). Nik also appeared as co-singer on projects such as LET IT BE (by FERRY AID in 1987) and LIVE IN WORLD (by The Anti-Heroin Project in the late 80s). Yet, Nik was quite busy with his own albums at that time and the collaborations really started in the nineties.

In 1990, Nik appeared on JANE WIEDLIN'S album TANGLED (her album sounds a lot like those of the BANGLES). Nik played the bass and was Backing vocal on her song BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN. By the end of the year, he started collaborating with Mark Stevens (ex-neighbors). Nik wrote the song THIS IS THE WAY TO HEAVEN which was released some months later. 1991 was indeed a more prolific year. First of all, there was CHESNEY HAWKES' album BUDDY'S SONG (released in the USA as THE ONE AND ONLY… with different tracks on it). The record includes the Number One Hit Single THE ONE AND ONLY. A great song written by Nik which definitely has the "Kershaw-ish" touch. Bonnie Tyler released her BITTER BLUE including Nik's HE'S GOT A HOLD ON ME (on which Nik also performs guitars, keyboards and programming). A song you can't forget!!! (I admit it's one of the collaborations I like best!). TONY BANKS (from GENESIS) released his own Collaboration album that year, and of course, Nik was on it. He sang three songs on this record (two of which were co-written by Nik and Tony Banks: I WANNA CHANGE THE SCORE, released as a single, and RED DAY ON BLUE STREET). The third song is THE FINAL CURTAIN (that also appear as B-Side of the Single STILL IT TAKES ME BY SURPRISE), written by Tony Banks. In 1992, Nik appeared as guitar player on Tim Moore's single IF THIS IS CALLED LOVE…