B01.10 Human Racing
In 2012, a podcast interview with Sodajerker was recorded. You can listen it it HERE.
Nik Kershaw gives some details about how Human Racing was written (starts at 18:00).
"That was an old song. One of the songs I wrote when I was in a jazz fusion band. It was slightly different. There is a slightly different form to it and it was called Look Behind You because that was kind of the main hook on the choruses. And it wasn't even in the demos, I don't think. And I think I just played it to the producer when we were getting songs together for the first album and he said, I love that. Can we make that happen? And can we get the same keyboard player to play it? (...) Reg Webb. That was such an important part of those keyboards and his playing (...). But yeah, that was written on guitar. I do remember that because that's all I had. I just had acoustic guitar at home to write anything. Although I didn't really write on the instrument I'd sort of wrote in my head and then just try and figure out what chords I was hearing in my head on guitar because they're not sort of normal guitar chords. They're not, you know, C, G and D and E minor. They're not the easiest chords to play on a guitar. So if I'd written on a guitar, we wouldn't have had those progressions because it would just make a lot difficult for myself. So yeah, again, it's just the way the tune went in my head. That's just how it came out".
Album version (= 7" single version) (4:30)
Available on the 1984 "Human Racing" album (vinyl LP, tape, CD and online digital file) and on the 1984 NIK5 "Human Racing" 7" single and NIKD5 "Human Racing" double 7" single.
Some Nik Kershaw fans debate on whether the single version is or is NOT available on CD.
Some claim that the 7" version is NOT the same that can be found on the album or some collections.
So I decided to have a deeper analysis of the 7" version, the album version, the video 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 the album.
It is also available, with a slitghly earlier fade out, on many collections.
bpm speed is slightly different on some collections resulting in different track length of the same mix of the song.
1991 The Collection (Track 3 - 4:24 - slightly shorter fade-out)
1994 Wouldn't It Be Good (Track 14 - 4:23)
1995 Anthology (Track 10 - 4:29)
1997 Wouldn't It Be Good (Track 14 - 4:25 - slightly shorter fade-out)
1998 Greatest Hits (Track 3 - 4:26)
2000 The Essential (Track 8 - 4:18 - much shorter fade-out)
2022 Essential Nik Kershaw (Disc 2 - Track 3 - 4:20 - shorter fade-out)
A remastered version was released for the first time on the 2012 "Human Racing" album double CD and online digital file.
The soundtrack of the single video clip is the same album version with a shorter and cut fade-out.
Note that it was originally supposed to be track 6 on the B side of the LP album.
Extended Version (5:25)
This Simon Boswell remix was released on the 1984 NIKT5 and NIKX5 "Human Racing" 12" records.
Also available as track 18 on the 1993 "Best Of NK" collection.
Note that the track on this collection has a slightly earlier fade out.
A remastered version was released for the first time as track 9 on disc 2 of the 2012 "Human Racing" album double CD and online digital file.
Also released as track 12 and 14 of the 2022 online only "Extended Versions" collection.
Track 12, identified as Human Racing (Remix by Simon Boswell) and track 14, identified as Human Racing (Special Extended Remix), are the same remix of the song, with a slightly different bmp speed.
Yet, one and the same mix!
Also released as track 4 on the E side (third vinyl record) of the 2023 "Collected" vinyl collection limited edition only.
Then & Now Edit version (3:48)
This unique short version is track 4 on the 2005 "Then & Now" CD collection.
80's Classical Version (4:01)
This version was recorded with the Orchestra of Opera North.
It was released as track 7 on the "80's Classical - Volume 1" album.
[Listen to it HERE]
Live in Germany 1984 (5:06)
An official live version of the song, recorded in Alabama Hall in Munich (Germany) in 1984, can be found on the CD/DVD release 2011 Live In Germany CD/DVD release.
Reissued in 2013 on the "The Riddle (Live in Concert)" CD/DVD release.
Live at the Hammersmith Odeon 1984/1985 (Video version) (3:47)
This live version of the Hammersmith Odeon concert was broadcasted in 1984/1985.
For unknown reasons, it was not available on the VHS release.
NOT AVAILABLE on CD.
Live at the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire 2012 (4:04)
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 - Look Behind You (3:56)
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".
Early "Fusion" version - Look Behind You (4:17)
An early version of the song was released on the Fusion's 1980 LP "Till I Hear From You".
A remastered version was released for the first time on the 2013 Till I Hear From You album CD and online digital file.