Nik Kershaw came to prominence in 1984 as an artist. After releasing his solo debut album Human Racing in February 1984, Kershaw's career went into hyper overdrive. 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". Kershaw follow-up album The Riddle came out only nine months later and he appeared at the dual-venue concert Live Aid in 1985.

The career spanning overview on Nik Kershaw Collected features all his hits and is available as a 2LP-set, housed in a gatefold sleeve with liner notes.