Song · Nik Kershaw
“Wouldn't It Be Good” by Nik Kershaw
Released 1984
“Wouldn't It Be Good” by Nik Kershaw appears on 11 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 1988 and 2025. It was first released in 1984. Its best result is #182 on the 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #2,451 alternative song of all time.
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Video from YouTube (NikKershawVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"Wouldn't It Be Good" was Nik Kershaw's second single, a 1984 cut from his debut album Human Racing, and it's synth-pop with a real case of the blues, a bright, clipped groove with something wistful tugging just under the surface. Kershaw wrote it by himself, backed it with the non-album track "Monkey Business", and handed the video to Storm Thorgerson.
It sat at number four in Britain for three weeks, went top 10 in Canada and Australia and did well across Europe, and in the States, where it fell just short of the top 40, it's still the song people know him for. Its success even gave his first single, "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", which had missed the first time round, a second life. A year on, Kershaw was playing it at Live Aid at Wembley Stadium.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 315 | Live 105 | Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988) | 501 |
| 1990 | 295 | Live 105 | Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1990) | 299 |
| 1996 | 282 | Q101 | Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) | 500 |
| 1999 | 182 | 91X | 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) | 500 |
| 1999 | 711 | Q101 | Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1017 |
| 1999 | 772 | 107.7 The End | The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1077 |
| 2001 | 362 | WBRU | WBRU Modern Rock Top 500 (2001) | 500 |
| 2002 | 1114 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 842 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
| 2023 | 232 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s | 850 |
| 2025 | 479 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs | 800 |
Also listed as: Wouldn't it be Good.
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