A FORMER Ipswich school-boy turned pop star will be hoping to make a return to the charts today with the release of a new album.Nik Kershaw, who first found fame in the early eighties, will be setting out to prove he's stuck to the lyrics of an early song and has refused to let the sun go down on his music.

A FORMER Ipswich school-boy turned pop star will be hoping to make a return to the charts today with the release of a new album.

Nik Kershaw, who first found fame in the early eighties, will be setting out to prove he's stuck to the lyrics of an early song and has refused to let the sun go down on his music.

The singer has today released his seventh album, called You've Got To Laugh, that has been released on his own record label, Shorthouse.

The album is his first release since Then and Now, a greatest hits collection released in 2005.

Born in Bristol in 1958, Nik's family moved to Ipswich just a year later and he spent twenty years living here.

His school days were spent at Morland Road Primary School and the Northgate Grammar School for boys and he had his first tastes of live performances as a member of the Co-op Juniors drama group.

It was also in and around Ipswich that Nik first began to perform as a musician, making his debut in 1974 at Rushmere Village Hall as part of a band called Thor.

The band later changed it's name to Half Pint Hogg, but success still eluded them, even when the Half Pint was dropped and they became just Hogg.

During this time Nik worked in the Ipswich Unemployment Benefit Office by day and rehearsed with Hogg during the evenings at Claydon Cement Works before being offered the chance to be guitarist with another Ipswich band, Fusion.

But when the group disbanded in 1982, he found himself unemployed and began searching for a manager to help him launch a solo career.

After finding a manager - by advertising in Melody Maker magazine - Nik eventually secured a record deal and began to release records.

Although the first release of I Wont Let The Sun Go Down On Me only reached number 47 in the singles chart in 1983, his second single reached number four and proved to be the launch pad for a series of hit singles and an appearance at Live Aid.

As well as releasing his own music, Nik has also worked with the likes of Cliff Richards, Ronan Keating, Jason Donovan, Imogen Heap, The Hollies and Gary Barlow. He has also recorded a duet with Elton John.

As well as releasing You've Got To Laugh on his own record label, Nik has also produced the 12-track collection and speaking on his website, he revealed the process his goes through when planning an album.

He said: “There's no particular science to putting together a running order.

“It's a bit like constructing a setlist. You look at the pace and energy of the tracks and try to vary that a bit. Separate tracks with similar keys, guitar solos etc. Alternatively, you can stick them all in a hat and pick your order that way.

“I play the songs to friends and as a lot of my friends are in the business, they're usually not shy in expressing an opinion. I take in what they say, carefully process and consider their opinions and then totally ignore them!”

Do you know Nik Kershaw? Are you a big fan? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or send us an e-mail to eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk

WEBLINK: www.nikkershaw.net

Real name: Nicholas David Kershaw

Birthdate: March 1 1958

Education: Nik went to Morland Road Primary School and Northgate Grammar School for Boys.

Career high: Nik Kershaw was signed to MCA Records and in January 1984 his second single Wouldn't It Be Good made it to number four in the UK singles chart and stayed there for five weeks. It was this song that found him worldwide fame.

Career low: In 1982 Fusion, the band Nik had joined as guitarist, disbanded and he was forced to sign on as unemployed.

Famous For: His hits throughout the 1980s.

Words of Wisdom: On taking delivery of boxes of his new CD: “Laid end to end, they would stretch for quite a long way and back again; melted down and poured into a mould, they would form a full scale model of David Hasselhoff's ego.”

Source: www.nikkershaw.net