This morning my ongoing attempt to find Michael Nyman's musical piece Flicker (his first ever with electronic instruments) went well weird with the discovery that Howard Jones was in the "recently added" list. Struggling mentally to separate him from Limahl, I clicked through to see if any of my teenage favourites (note to self: there's a live version of Like to get to know you well) were up for download, only to find that they were talking about his recent stuff. Recent??? From his bio: Jones racked up a string of hits in the mid- and late '80s before he retreated into being a cult figure in the '90s. I guess it's not bad, as fates go: retreating into being a cult figure.

Then I spotted Nik Kershaw in the "related artists". Could it be that he too is a cult figure in a UK seaside town? Oh. No. Kershaw's main musical contribution since the late '80s is as a songwriter; he's written several songs for other artists, including Chesney Hawke's hit single "The One and Only." Hmmmm. I give the new work (of course there's new work) an experimental listen, and it's eerie. Like opening a time portal back to the radio I used to listen to in the caravan. Except the lyrics, now; they make more sense, although that's not necessarily a good thing ...

Paging Nik Kershaw Also, Chesney Hawke???