B02.09 Wide Boy
In 2012, a podcast interview with Sodajerker was recorded. You can listen it it HERE.
Nik Kershaw gives some details about how Wide Boy was written (starts at 19:11).
"[And you mentioned Wide Boy. I think you said that was another one that was written early on].
It was, yeah, it was written and actually performed with that band in pubs and clubs and stuff in sort of the early 80s.
[And was that a similar process of thinking through the tune in your head and then trying to sort of transcribe it onto the guitar?]
Yes, it was because I was just fascinated by leading from one section to another with just the single notes, which completely changing the key and changing the mode because it goes all over the place, doesn't it? Because it starts in D minor, the intro, but then it sort of ends up modulating to the second intro as in F sharp minor. And it's all by then the fact that the note I'm singing just goes across the chord. So that kind of was quite a technical song for me to write. It was just a little musical experiment. I tried a guitar with me, I could probably explain it a bit more. It's just, yeah, that's the only way I can explain it really. I had no idea what it was about either. I don't know who the Wide Boy was. I guess he was probably having a go at pop stars really because it was never my intention to be a pop star. It was always just kind of, I was in a band that played fusion music, you know. It was almost an ironic thing because it is such a pop song. But yeah, I just love the way those notes stay in the straight line, but the chords and the mode changes and the key changes underneath it".
Note that Wide Boy was originally planned to be on the "Human Racing" album.
It was supposed to be track 4 on the B side of the LP album.
The song was dropped from the "Human Racing" album before its release but was included on the following album, "The Riddle".
Album version (3:28)
Available on the 1984 "The Riddle" album (vinyl LP, tape, CD and online digital file).
Note that this version is replaced by the "single version" on the 1984 US release of "The Riddle" album (Tape & Vinyl)
The album version is also available on two CD collections.
bpm speed is slightly different on some collections.
1993 Best Of NK (Track 16 - 3:24)
2022 Essential Nik Kershaw (Track 5 - 3:25)
A remastered version was released for the first time on the 2013 "The Riddle" album double CD and online digital file.
Even though track 3 of the 2022 online only "Extended Versions" collection is identified as "Wide Boy (Edited Version)", the recording is in fact the album version.
Also released as track 6 on the A side (first vinyl record) of the 2023 "Collected" vinyl collection.
The remastered version was also released on February 21st 2025 as track 9 of Disc 2 ("The Riddle" album) from the MCA YEARS box set.
7" Remix version (3:20)
This remix version (by Gary Langan) was released on the 1985 NIK7 "Wide Boy" 7" single.
Note that this version is track B2 on the 1984 US release of "The Riddle" album (Tape & Vinyl) instead of the regular album version.
Some Nik Kershaw fans debated for years on whether this version is or is NOT available on CD.
Some claimed that the 7" version was NOT the same that can be found on some collections.
So I decided to have a deeper analysis of both 7" version and the one available on the 1991 "The Collection" CD...
You can read it HERE.
The conclusion is that the 7" version is EXACTLY the same version that can be found on four collections:
(Note that the bpm speed is slightly different on some collections).
1991 The Collection (Track 5 - 3:21)
1994 Wouldn't It Be Good (Track 8 - 3:22)
1998 Greatest Hits (Track 5 - 3:21)
2000 The Essential (Track 5 - 3:19)
2001 I Won't Let the Sun Go Down On Me (Track 5 - 3:19)
A remastered version was also released on February 21st 2025 as track 2 of Disc 8 ("Remixes") from the MCA YEARS box set.
Video versions
FIVE different video versions of "Wide Boy" can be found...
The first four of them are based on the 7" version...
(They don't have the echo "You're just a wide boy [a wide boy... a wide boy... a wide boy...]").
***
The first one is the "longer" video (with a 2:20 music-less introduction) can be watched HERE, on Nik Kershaw Vevo Youtube Channel (5:55).
It has scenes in "black and white" like in old movies.
A remastered version was released on February 21st 2025 on the unique DVD from the MCA YEARS box set.
***
The second one is the "shorter" version (without the music-less introduction).
It also has scenes in "black and white" like in old movies.
Il can be watched HERE (3:22)
Note that this "shorter" video is not a true edit of the "longer video" as it has some different shots in the last 10 seconds of the song.
Both of the "longer" and the "shorter" videos have the regular 7" record version for their soundtracks.
***
The third video starts exactly like the first "longer" video.
But here comes the tricky part...
Even though this version is also a "longer" version with the 2:20 music-less introduction, the main keyboard that can be heard throughout the song is much lower.
The starting note from the keyboard was even cut off the song.
During the music-only part, with the guitar solo, before the second verse, sounds a cheering crowd have been added to the soundtrack.
The ending of the song
(Right after Nik Kershaw sings:
"With your symmetry teeth and your California tan
I'm here to tell you that you ain't no Superman
You're just a wide boy
A wide boy!")
is very different from both album version and 7" version.
More guitars and less keyboards!
The video that can be found on three video collection DVDs : 2005 "Classic Nik Kershaw", 2005 "Essentials Videos" and 2005 "Then & Now"
***
The three previously mentioned videos have parts of the film which are in black and white.
But another video that can be found has NO black and white parts.
Only colorful pictures from the first image to the last one.
It doesn't have the long introduction.
Yet, it has the same mix as the one that can be found on the "Then & Now" video collection.
You can watch that fourth video HERE.
***
Last but not least, an alternate version of the "only colorful pictures" plays the "album" audio recording for its soundtrack.
***
Note that the videos with "black and white" parts and the "only coloful" videos have some very different shots.
One can be seen near the end of the song when Nik Kershaw sings :
"With your symmetry teeth in your Californian town
I’m here to tell you that you ain't no Superman
You're just a wide boy"
Nik Kershaw is lying on a pool-chair next to a swimming-pool when someone comes talking to him.
While the three different videos with "black and white" parts show the same man,
the two "only colorful" videos show Nik Kershaw talking to Nik Kershaw!!!
In the three different videos with "black and white" parts, the man talking to Nik Kershaw by the pool can be seen in several other shots.
He's checking a watch and guides Nik Kershaw.
The final shot shows that man carrying the dead body of Nik Kershaw.
These shots with this man are NOT in the "only colorful" videos.
Special Extended version (5:07)
This remix version was released on the 1985 NIKT7 "Wide Boy" 12" single.
A remastered version was released for the first time as track 8 on disc 2 of the 2013 "The Riddle" album double CD and online digital file.
Also available as track 6 on disc 3 on the 2022 "Essential Nik Kershaw" collection.
Also released as track 18 of the 2022 online only "Extended Versions" collection.
Also released as track 2 on the F side (third vinyl record) of the 2023 "Collected" vinyl collection limited edition only.
The remastered version was released on February 21st 2025 as track 1 of Disc 7 ("Extended Mixes" CD) from the MCA YEARS box set.
Then & Now Edit version (3:12)
This unique short version is track 6 on the 2005 "Then & Now" CD collection.
It is based on the album version but has a fade-out that starts much earlier.
Live at the Hammersmith Odeon 1984 (3:38 // 3:31 // 3:23)
This live version was recorded on December 31st 1984 at the Hammersmith Odeon, London (England).
And there are three different recordings of it.
The first one is that of the VHS video released in 1985.
An audio only recording was also released on February 21st 2025 as track 2 of Disc 10 ("Live at the Hammersmith Odeon - Disc Two") from the MCA YEARS box set.
Note that the audio only version has a fade-in and a fade-out.
Percussions from "Human Racing" can be heard at the end of the track.
A remastered video version was released as track 12 on February 21st 2025 on the unique DVD from the MCA YEARS box set.
The DVD chapters are split in a way that the track ends before the percussions from "Human Racing" can be heard.
Live Aid 1985 (3:27)
This live version was released on vinyl record (fourth LP of a 12 record-pack).
NOT AVAILABLE on CD.
Available on Internet digital format.
[Listen to it HERE]
Live at the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire 2012 (5:30)
Another official live version of the song, recorded in Shepherd's Bush Empire in London (England) on September 28th 2012, can be found on the 2013 DVD release of the concert.
Demo (3:01)
A demo tape containing many demo versions of Nik Kershaw's early songs leaked in the early nineties. Copies were shared amongst fans.
Digital format transfers appeared on the Internet in the late nineties.
This recording is NOT an official release and can be found on bootleg CDs such as "NK Demos Part 2 - The Early Versions".
