Don Quixote (Nik Kershaw song)

"Don Quixote"
Single by Nik Kershaw
from the album The Riddle
B-side	"Don't Lie"
Released	22 July 1985 [1]
Recorded	1984
Genre	Pop rock new wave
Length	4:55 (album version) 4:11 (single version) 8:41 (extended version)
Label	MCA
Songwriter(s)	Nik Kershaw
Producer(s)	Peter Collins
Nik Kershaw singles chronology
"Wide Boy" (1985) "Don Quixote" (1985) "When a Heart Beats" (1985)
Music video
"Don Quixote" on YouTube

"Don Quixote" is a song by the English singer-songwriter Nik Kershaw from his second studio album The Riddle (1984). Released in July 1985 by MCA Records as the final single from that album, it reached No. 10 on the UK singles chart in September 1985. It also became Kershaw's seventh (and last) consecutive UK top 20 hit single. ^[2]

Nine days before "Don Quixote" was released as a single, it was the second of four songs played by Kershaw at Live Aid. The others were previous singles "The Riddle", "Wouldn't It Be Good" and "Wide Boy". ^[3]

Background

While discussing his method of writing lyrics, Kershaw explained the song's origins in the January 1986 issue of monthly music technology magazine Sound on Sound .

The lyric that ended up as 'Don Quixote', was actually 'Gorgonzola'! So I was walking about the house singing 'gor-gon-zola' all day long, trying to think of a lyric. Basically the music was a sort of Samba thing, which reminded me of Spain, and Don Quixote happened to come to mind so I thought, 'Why not write a song about Don Quixote ?'. So I went and bought the book. ^[4]

The music video was directed by the English art director Storm Thorgerson of Hipgnosis fame. ^{[5] [6] [7]}

Track listing

7" single (WEA NIK 8)
A. "Don Quixote" – 4:11
B. "Don't Lie" – 3:52

12" single (WEA NIKT 8)
A. "Don Quixote" (Extra Special Long Mix) – 8:41
B. "Don't Lie" – 3:52

Chart performance

Chart (1985)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [8]	83
German Media Control Charts [9]	39
Irish Singles Chart [10]	9
New Zealand Singles Chart [11]	36
UK singles chart [12]	10

References

1. Smith, Robin (13 July 1985). "News". Record Mirror . p. 6.
2. "www.nikkershaw.it". www.nikkershaw.it. 2005. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
3. "www.setlist.fm". www.setlist.fm. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
4. Webb, Nick (January 1986). "Nik Kershaw: Recording Secrets (SOS Jan 1986)". Sound on Sound (Jan 1986): 40–48.
5. Mvdbase.com The Music Video DataBase
6. "Nik Kershaw Music Videos". IMVDB.
7. Don Quixote at IMDb
8. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, New South Wales: Australian Chart Book. p. 165. ISBN   0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA from mid-1983 until 19 June 1988.
9. "charts.de". charts.de. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
10. Jaclyn Ward. "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Irishcharts.ie. Archived from the original on 2 June 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
11. Steffen Hung. "Nik Kershaw - Don Quixote". charts.nz. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
12. "The Official Charts Company - Don Quixote by Nik Kershaw Search". Official Charts Company. 6 May 2013.

External links

• " Don Quixote " at Discogs (list of releases)