Meat Loaf’s Neverland Express is the rotating backing band for the late American singer Meat Loaf . The Neverland Express have continued touring with American singer Caleb Johnson.
29-482: Note: George Borowski was the guitar tech during the '81/'82 period, but often played with the band onstage, especially during encores. By the end of the tour, he had become the opening act. Note: At one point in the 1988 tour, Stevie Lange filled in for one of the Goff sisters. Note: Paul Jacobs played piano at some rehearsals in 1989. Note: Carolyn ‘C.C’ Colleti-Jablonski joined the band through mid-2003. Note: This
58-586: A collection of earlier material with four new tracks. In 2006, he completed another solo studio album, You've Got to Laugh , available only through his website or digitally through iTunes . This album contained twelve tracks and was released on Kershaw's own label, Shorthouse Records. Neither Then and Now nor You've Got to Laugh was promoted by a tour. The year also saw the digital re-release of his 1980s back catalogue including Human Racing , The Riddle , Radio Musicola and The Works . In August 2009, Kershaw performed at Fairport's Cropredy Convention and
87-534: A number of projects, including playing guitar on Elton John 's hit single, " Nikita ". A cover version of "Wouldn't it be Good" by the Danny Hutton Hitters appeared on the soundtrack of the 1986 teen romantic comedy drama film Pretty in Pink . Later that same year, Kershaw's third solo studio album, Radio Musicola , was released to critical acclaim but to little commercial success. The Works
116-597: A solo artist. He released eight singles that entered the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart during the decade, including " Wouldn't It Be Good ", " Dancing Girls ", " I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me ", " Human Racing ", " The Riddle ", " Wide Boy ", " Don Quixote ", and " When a Heart Beats ". His 62 weeks on the UK Singles Chart through 1984 and 1985 beat all other solo artists. Kershaw appeared at
145-560: Is Kershaw's most recent full studio album, which was released in October 2020. It features 16 songs, which were recorded at Abbey Road Studios . Kershaw's first wife was Canadian Sheri Pogmore , herself a musician who featured on several of Kershaw's early studio albums. The couple married in July 1983, had three children together, and divorced in 2003. Their second son was born with Down syndrome . Kershaw remarried in 2009 and has also had
174-530: The Rewind Festival on Temple Island Meadows at Henley-on-Thames . On 13 May 2010, Kershaw appeared on stage and hosted "Our Friends Acoustic" in aid of Mencap . He performed "The Riddle", "Wouldn't It Be Good", "Dancing Girls" and "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me". Other 1980s performers joined him and performed their own songs, including Howard Jones , Andy Bell of Erasure , Carol Decker of T'Pau and Jimmy Somerville of Bronski Beat and
203-570: The Airwaves". Night recorded no further albums and broke up in 1982. Free of Night and divorced from Lange, Vann continued her career as a solo artist, backup singer, and commercial jingle singer. Among the more notable of her adverts in the United Kingdom were ad campaigns for Trio , a chocolate bar, and the feminine hygiene product Bodyform in the 1980s. Additionally, a slightly altered version of her minor 1981 solo hit Remember My Name
232-565: The Communards at The O2 in London. Kershaw wrote songs and performed for the soundtrack of the 2010 film, Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks . He wrote and sang the theme song, "If It Gets Much Better Than This". He also appeared as an extra in the penultimate scene, presenting a copy of the book to Hawks for signing in the book shop. Following the release of his eighth studio album in 2012 ( Ei8ht , his first release to reach
261-523: The Krew, consisting of Keith Airey, Tim Moore, Mark Price and Dennis Smith. In July 1985, Kershaw was among the performers at Live Aid , held at Wembley Stadium . He described the experience as "absolutely terrifying". The concert turned out to be the peak of his career, as his stardom began to wane soon afterwards and he enjoyed only one more UK top 40 hit with " When a Heart Beats ". He continued to record and release records and collaborated with others on
290-569: The U.S. Top 40, while also becoming an international hit in Canada (#23), South Africa (#13) and elsewhere. Their second single, "If You Remember Me", was the theme song for the movie The Champ and reached #17 in the United States. Night also performed a song, "The Stripper", on screen in the 1980 horror film The Monster Club . The group's second album, 1980's "Long Distance", was less successful and produced only one minor hit, "Love on
319-607: The UK Albums Chart since 1986), Kershaw undertook a small tour of the UK, with some European dates. As part of each show he played the entirety of his debut studio album, which had been re-mastered and re-released in March 2012. In 2012, Kershaw was featured as the lead vocalist on a new recording of "The Lamia", originally recorded by Genesis for their studio album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974), with Steve Hackett for
SECTION 10
#1732787480400348-524: The UK, and was a big success in Europe, particularly in Ireland, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and Scandinavia, and also in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The music video , featuring Kershaw as a chroma key -suited alien , received heavy rotation from MTV , helping the song to reach No. 46 in the United States. He enjoyed three more top 20 hits from his debut solo studio album Human Racing , including
377-400: The album Watch by Manfred Mann's Earth Band . Shortly after Thompson invited her to be a part of "Night", a new band he was forming. Signed to Planet Records , Night recorded two albums with producer Richard Perry . The first, their self-titled 1979 debut, only reached #113 on the U.S. Billboard album charts but garnered two Top Twenty U.S. singles. Hot Summer Night peaked at #18 in
406-467: The guitar – he was self-taught on this instrument. He left school in the middle of his A-Levels and got a job at an unemployment benefit office. He also sang in a number of underground Ipswich bands. When the last of these, Fusion, broke up in 1982, he embarked on a full-time solo career as a musician and songwriter. Kershaw was unemployed for a year after leaving Fusion, but during this time he found manager Mickey Modern after placing an advertisement in
435-506: The keyboardist of Genesis , on Banks' third solo studio album Still . Kershaw co-wrote two songs with Banks, providing lead vocals on both. He also sang on the Banks composition "The Final Curtain". In 1993, the Hollies had a minor hit with another of Kershaw's songs, "The Woman I Love". During the mid-1990s he also wrote and produced material for the boy band Let Loose , with two of
464-535: The late 1970s. Stevie Vann was raised in Mufulira , Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia ). She showed an early aptitude for music, playing piano by age six. Soon after turning 16 Stevie starred in her own television variety show and within a few years she had released two solo albums. In high demand as a radio and TV commercial jingle singer while still a teen, she also earned a "Sarie Award" as South Africa 's Top Female Vocalist. Vann met Robert "Mutt" Lange when
493-417: The latter a song described as "an elegant and soaring ode to the transience of time, infused with both self-doubt and an acceptance of life that can only come with maturity". The follow-up studio album, To Be Frank , was released in 2001. Over the years, Kershaw has collaborated on albums with artists such as Elton John, Bonnie Tyler , Sia and Gary Barlow . In 2005, Kershaw released Then and Now ,
522-502: The latter part of 2015 he performed a 31-date tour of the UK, on a double bill with Go West , supported by Carol Decker of T'Pau. On 11 November 2016, Kershaw performed in Reykjavík , Iceland, together with the pop rock band Todmobile . He joined them after a short set of eight songs and played guitar on three Todmobile songs. In June 2020, Kershaw released an extended play (EP) of six new songs, These Little Things . Oxymoron
551-530: The latter's Genesis Revisited II studio album. He is also featured as a guest performer on the same song on Hackett's Genesis Revisited: Live at Hammersmith CD and DVD, released November 2013. Kershaw performed a solo acoustic set at Fairport's Cropredy Convention in August 2013. He was on tour in the UK and Ireland in Autumn 2014. He continues to perform at 1980s revival events and festivals each year. In
580-539: The magazine Melody Maker . Modern secured a recording contract for Kershaw at MCA . In September 1983, Kershaw released his first single " I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me ", which reached No. 47 on the UK Singles Chart . It became a major hit in Scandinavia, Switzerland and the Netherlands. At the beginning of 1984, Kershaw released his breakthrough song " Wouldn't It Be Good ", which reached No. 4 in
609-530: The multi-venue benefit concert Live Aid in 1985 and has also penned a number of hits for other artists, including a UK No. 1 single in 1991 for Chesney Hawkes , " The One and Only ". Nicholas "Nik" Kershaw was born on 1 March 1958 in Bristol and grew up in Ipswich , Suffolk. His father was a flautist and his mother was an opera singer. He was educated at Northgate Grammar School for Boys where he played
SECTION 20
#1732787480400638-456: The music industry. While occasionally performing as a backing singer, her career now is mostly focused on being a vocal coach. In that aspect she has provided assistance to many acts like Blue , Sophie Ellis-Bextor , Robbie Williams , Atomic Kitten and KT Tunstall . Nik Kershaw Nicholas David Kershaw (born 1 March 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He came to prominence in 1984 as
667-686: The title track and a successful re-issue of "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me". This track ultimately proved his biggest hit as a performer when it reached No. 2 in the UK. Kershaw's second studio album was The Riddle . The title track , released in November 1984, proved to be his third international hit single , reaching No. 3 in the UK and Ireland, and No. 6 in New Zealand. The album also spawned two more UK top 10 hits, " Wide Boy " and " Don Quixote ", as it went multi-platinum . During this time, Kershaw toured extensively with his backing band
696-548: The tracks ("Seventeen" and "Everybody Say Everybody Do") achieving reasonable success. Following this year, Kershaw appeared on Elton John's 1993 Duets studio album, where Kershaw not only wrote the song but produced, and played all the instruments on the track. The year 1999 saw the release of his fifth studio album, 15 Minutes . Kershaw decided to record the tracks himself, when he could not envisage them being recorded by other artists. The album spawned two singles, " Somebody Loves You " and "What Do You Think of It So Far?",
725-876: The two attended the same school in Mufulira, and the two reconnected a few years later while attending Belfast High School in South Africa. The two would play together in a short-lived band named Hocus, later marry and emigrate to the United Kingdom in the 1970s. Stevie Vann found work as a studio singer through the mid and latter part of the decade both on her own and as part of a backing group called "Bones". Among those acts she contributed vocals to were Bijelo Dugme , Sweet , Colin Blunstone , Jim Capaldi , Trevor Rabin , Rick Wakeman and UFO . In 1978 Vann met Chris Thompson while providing backing vocals for
754-451: The two remained good friends and musical collaborators. She sang backing vocals Def Leppard 's When Love & Hate Collide from Vault: Def Leppard Greatest Hits (1980–1995) . Additionally in 1995 she recorded a self-titled solo album with Lange as producer. With backing musicians Dann Huff , Max Carl and Bob Carlisle and a duet with Bryan Adams , the album failed to garner chart success or hit singles. Vann continues to work in
783-423: Was Patti Russo’s final tour with the band, departing in 2013 Stevie Vann Stevie Vann (born Stevie van Kerken ), also known as Stevie Lange , is a Zambian -born British singer and vocal coach . She is best known for her work as a backing vocalist and studio singer for many groups and solo performers in the 1970s and 1980s. As lead vocalist for the group Night , she had two top 20 U.S. chart hits in
812-593: Was released in 1989, also to little success. Two singles were released from the album, " One Step Ahead " and " Elisabeth's Eyes ". Kershaw's prowess as a songwriter served him well in 1991, when his song " The One and Only " appeared on the soundtrack to the British film Buddy's Song , and in the American movie Doc Hollywood . "The One and Only" proved to be a UK No. 1 hit for the star of Buddy's Song , Chesney Hawkes . During 1991, he worked with Tony Banks ,
841-471: Was used in an advert for Limara body spray in the early 1980s. Her studio session work in the 1980s included backing vocals for acts like Wildhearts , Chaka Khan , Billy Ocean , Tears for Fears , Johnny Hates Jazz , Wham! , Swing Out Sister , Nik Kershaw , and Ray Charles . She also toured with Elton John for two years in the 1980s as a backing vocalist. In 1995 Vann worked with ex-husband Mutt Lange on two projects. Despite their divorce years earlier
#399600