Radio Musicola

This article is about the album. For the single, see Radio Musicola (song).

Radio Musicola
Studio album by
Nik Kershaw
Released20 October 1986 (1986-10-20)[1]
Recorded1985–1986
Studio
Genre
Length48:50
LabelMCA
ProducerNik Kershaw
Nik Kershaw chronology
The Riddle
(1984) 		Radio Musicola
(1986) 		The Works
(1989)
Singles from Radio Musicola
  1. "When a Heart Beats"
    Released: November 1985
  2. "Nobody Knows"
    Released: September 1986[2]
  3. "Radio Musicola"
    Released: November 1986[3]
  4. "James Cagney"
    Released: 1987 (Germany)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Record Mirror[5]

Radio Musicola is the third studio album by the English singer-songwriter Nik Kershaw, released on 20 October 1986 by MCA Records, just under two years after Kershaw's previous studio album, The Riddle (1984). It was the first studio album to be produced by Kershaw. It features guest backing vocalists, including Icehouse's Iva Davies, and Night's Stevie Lange, and Miriam Stockley.

The album was released to critical acclaim, but wasn't as successful as Kershaw's previous studio albums. It peaked at #47 on the UK Albums Chart, marking the beginning of a downturn in Kershaw's fortunes on the album charts. Four singles were issued from Radio Musicola: "When a Heart Beats", "Nobody Knows", "Radio Musicola", and "James Cagney", but none of them reached the Top 20, a first for Kershaw.[6] However, Kershaw did find some minor success with the aforementioned single "When a Heart Beats" (which was not featured on the LP release, only on the cassette and CD versions of the album). The track "Running Scared" was dismissed as title track of the film Running Scared (1986). The album (to date) remains Kershaw's last album to make the Top 75, and was his last to receive a certification, being certified silver by the BPI.

After the original release, the album remained out of print on any format for many years. However, the album became available via online MP3 download on major sites such as Amazon,[7] and iTunes.[8]

  1. ^ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 70.
  2. ^ Smith, Robin (20 September 1986). "News Digest". Record Mirror. p. 42.
  3. ^ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 61.
  4. ^ "Radio Musicola - Nik Kershaw | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  5. ^ Morton, Roger (25 October 1986). "Albums". Record Mirror. p. 22.
  6. ^ "(AWS) - Nik Kershaw". Antiwar Songs. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  7. ^ "Radio Musicola: Nik Kershaw: Amazon.co.uk: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  8. ^ "Radio Musicola by Nik Kershaw on iTunes". Itunes.apple.com. 1 March 1958. Retrieved 29 November 2015.