Biography of Nikka Costa

by Jon Merrill
North Carolina, USA
Updated 2008

When I first posted this Web page in 1996, it was the only information on Nikka Costa anywhere on the Web.  Now, of course, with three albums released in the USA since the beginning of this decade, there is lots of Web info on her current work.  This biography attempts to fill in Nikka’s recording career in the 1980s and 1990s.  Because her popularity was only outside the USA at that time, this biography of mine has been translated into several languages and posted on other fans’ Web sites around the world.

I became acquainted with Nikka’s music in the 1980s through friends in Europe, and after her song “Renegade (Take My Breath Away)” became my all-time favorite record in over 50 years in following pop music, I was prompted to research her early career for my Web site.

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NIKKA COSTA (real name Domenica) was born on June 4, 1972. She is the daughter of the late Don Costa, who produced many big hit records in the 1950s, including the classic #1 hit "Diana" by Paul Anka, and many of Frank Sinatra's hits on Capitol. Don Costa had some chart hits of his own, including "Never On Sunday." Nikka was raised in Los Angeles, but she was born in Tokyo, while her family was over there during the Tokyo Music Festival.

When Nikka was about 8, she recorded an album produced by her father called "Nikka Costa." Although Nikka is American, this album was released only overseas and not in the U.S. Shortly after, she recorded her second album, "Fairy Tales," which again was not released in the States. This little girl had an absolutely astonishing voice for someone so young, and this voice was noticed and praised around the world. Her first album went platinum in Europe, Israel, South America, and Central America. Nikka remembers opening for The Police in Chile in front of 300,000 people when she was 8 years old.

It should be noted that one of her best early songs, "So Glad I Have You," was co-written by Nikka herself and her mother Terry Ray Costa.

I became familiar with Nikka Costa's music in the 1980s because I had friends in Canada and Lebanon who knew I was the fan club president for the Broadway show of "Annie" and thought I would be interested to hear an outstanding voice on a young kid, and so they sent me tapes of her albums. Nikka had even recorded very nice versions of "Tomorrow" and "Maybe" from "Annie" on these first two albums. I was amazed at the quality of Nikka's voice, but of course I had no way of obtaining these old albums which were not available in the United States; not until eBay came along.

Nikka's single "Out Here On My Own" was a big hit in the Netherlands and other places in Europe, and it looked as if she was on the verge of a long string of hits. However, her father Don passed away in January 1983 (Quincy Jones did the eulogy at the funeral) when Nikka was 10, and that seemed to bring a halt to her singing career. Nothing more was heard from Nikka for many years, and many wondered if she would ever record again.

Then, when Nikka was a teenager, she released a "comeback" album, appropriately titled, "Here I Am, Yes It's Me." This album, recorded for a German label, was widely released all over the world--except in the U.S. where she had never had any following anyway. Whereas her first two albums were more in an adult contemporary vein, this one was more pop-rock-dance oriented, somewhat similar in style to that of the brilliant and extraordinarily talented American teenage singer of the same era, Debbie Gibson.

I first heard this album in late 1990 when a fellow Nikka fan from Lebanon found the album by chance in Paris and sent me a tape of it. To this day, over 10 years later, I still count this album as just about the best I have ever heard by any pop music artist. I could not believe how incredibly good the "Here I Am, Yes It's Me" album was. I immediately realized that I was perhaps one of her ONLY fans in the United States, solely on the strength of this amazing album. "Renegade (Take My Breath Away)," the opening cut on the album, is the best record I have ever heard by any artist in my whole life and sits at the very top of my lifetime Top 540 Hall of Fame of favorite songs (elsewhere in my Web site).  In 2001 I finally located the CD maxi-single (5:45) of the extra-long dance mix of “Renegade” on eBay, a HUGE find.

Interestingly enough, Nikka says she recorded "Here I Am, Yes It's Me" purely to fulfill a contractual obligation and was not even particularly proud of her work on it. Oh, well, I guess that makes me odd, because I personally thought it was absolutely superb, and it is because of that album I liked so much that I created this Web page about Nikka back in 1996. I guess some other fans must have thought it was great too, because I have heard that cuts from the album were still being played on the radio in Brazil and the Middle East a decade after its release in 1989.

Odd coincidence:  If Saddam Hussein had not invaded Kuwait in August 1990, I might never have heard “Renegade” to this day.  My friend was working in Qatar at the time and was planning to return to college in the U.S. at the end of the summer.  However, because of the unrest in the area, she decided to come back early, and in a hurry.  Normally, she would take a non-stop flight from the Middle East to the U.S. at the end of each summer, but on such short notice this time, the only flight she could get out of the area was with a change of aircraft in Paris.  While laying over in the French capital, she found a record store near the airport, and that is where she found “Here I Am, Yes It’s Me,” an album she had never even been aware of.  Had she taken her usual end-of-the-summer route--non-stop to New York--she would have bypassed Paris, but because of Saddam Hussein’s attack on Kuwait, she had to go through there this time, and, as a result, she found “Here I Am, Yes It’s Me” and sent me a copy and I heard “Renegade” for the first time.  And so, “Desert Shield” was significant to me in terms of becoming a big fan of Nikka Costa!

I found out much later that in 1981 Frank Sinatra had recorded a song called "To Love A Child" in Los Angeles for First Lady Nancy Reagan's To Love A Child foundation, with Don Costa producing. There was a children's chorus on this song led by none other than Nikka Costa, who had one solo verse but was credited on the record. It was also performed by Sinatra and Nikka on the East Lawn of the White House. This is the ONLY record ever released in the U.S.A. prior to 2001 with Nikka on it. Currently, the only place this song is available is on Sinatra's multi-CD box set on Reprise records (although I found a small-hole promo pressing of the 45 rpm record of it on eBay in 1999).  Frank Sinatra was Nikka’s godfather.

Many years passed, and Nikka grew up, married, and moved to Australia. Fortunately, for her fans, she began to record again. In 1996 or early 1997 she put out an album in Australia called "Butterfly Rocket" and several singles from it. It was critically acclaimed Down Under, and word of it began to leak out to the world, thanks to the Internet, and Nikka fans eagerly ordered the album. Meanwhile, the album earned Nikka a nomination for Best New Artist at the Australian Recording Industry Awards. It was very different from the others she has done and a far cry from "Out Here On My Own," but now she was in her mid 20s and wanted everyone to know that she was all grown up and wanted everyone to see her and listen to her in that way now. But there was no mistaking her superb voice, and once again Nikka was being heard on radio, but only in Australia. On her Australian album, her vocal intensity reminds me a lot of the late, great Janis Joplin. The “Butterfly Rocket” album on CD is a collectors’ item today. 

Neither of Nikka's first two albums that she did in her childhood has ever been re-released on CD, and I suspect Nikka would just as soon keep it that way, since she is an adult now and wants fans to pay attention to her modern rock-soul style.

In 1997 Nikka played some club dates in Los Angeles. I tried very hard to track down her booking agent so that I could find out her performance schedule, but by the time I made contact with the club, Nikka and her husband had moved to Austin, Texas, and he had joined the police force there. However, later on they were back in Australia, and her husband re-entered the music business working with Leonardo's Bride on their album “Angel Blood.”

In early 2001 Nikka was back in America and released "Everybody Got Their Something" on Virgin/Cheeba records. It was her first album released in the USA, and there was a lot of interest in the album among American listeners, many of whom had never heard of her before. Her song "Like a Feather" was featured in a Tommy Hilfiger commercial, and Nikka performed the song on The Chris Rock Show on HBO in November 2000. I didn't even know she was going to be on TV, but the next day I was flooded with e-mails from people who had seen Nikka for the first time and had found my Web page biography and contacted me to find out more about her.

In 2003 Nikka released her second album “Can’tneverdidnothin’.”  The album was about to come out, but Nikka wasn’t totally happy with it, so it was held up until later in the year while she took out three songs, put three others in, and remixed some of the cuts prior to its formal release.  By this time, Nikka was touring regularly around the U.S.

Nikka’s third album, “Pebble to a Pearl,” has just come out at this writing in October 2008.

Finally, the Nikka Costa story has full circle, all the way from her early albums to her third USA album release. She has received a lot of critical acclaim among music critics, and it is hoped she will continue to have lots of success with her new “American” career.

Having had this Web page on Nikka up for more than 12 years, it is nice for me to know that at last, USA listeners are hearing her for the first time. Now that she is a hit in America, there are numerous Web sites on Nikka's current career now (check them out by searching at Google), but continue scrolling down on this page for some pictures and info on her early career that I have researched and compiled.

-- Jon Merrill, state of North Carolina, United States of America, updated 2008.

 

Nikka in the early days

 

Nikka as an adult

Nikka's rare early record sleeves from Europe and South America

                                                                    (laboriously collected on eBay over several years)                                   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This song was recorded by Frank Sinatra and a children's chorus, for which Nikka was the lead. Up until 2001, this was the only record released in the USA with Nikka's name on it.

 

 

 

 

 

A Spanish version of "Jimmy" from the "Here I Am, Yes It's Me" album.

 

A Spanish version of "Renegade (Take My Breath Away)" from the "Here I Am, Yes It's Me" album.  It is the same picture as the one on the regular “Renegade” single.

 

 

Recorded in Italy a year after "Here I Am, Yes It's Me," and was the last song she recorded until 1996.  This is her rarest single.

Information on the Songs on Nikka's Albums

First Album - "Nikka Costa" - produced by Don Costa (Nikka's father), Tony Renis, and Danny B. Besquet; arranged and conducted by Don Costa

1. Someone To Watch Over Me - written by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin; featured in a Broadway show called "Oh, Kay." Gertrude Lawrence had a #2 hit on the song in 1927. Willie Nelson had an album in the 1970s with this as the title song.

2. I Believe In Love - written by Danny B. Besquet and Ronald Jackson. Besquet is a co-producer of the album.

3. (Out Here) On My Own - written by Michael Gore and Lesley Gore for the movie "Fame." Nikka covered the Irene Cara #19 hit from 1980 featured on the film's soundtrack. Lesley Gore had a #1 hit with It's My Party in 1963 and several other top 10 hits. Michael is Lesley's brother. This song by Nikka was a major single hit in Europe in 1982.

4. Grown Up World - written by Don Costa, Terry Ray Costa, and Nikka Costa. A family effort by Nikka and her dad and mom.

5. Theme From "Ice Castles" (Through The Eyes Of Love) - written by Marvin Hamlisch and Carole Bayer Sager for the movie. Hamlisch was famous for adapting Scott Joplin's piano music for the movie "The Sting" in 1974 and having a #3 hit with The Entertainer.

6. Go Away, Little Boy - written by Jerry Goffin and Carole King. The prolific American songwriting team had dozens of hits including this song (originally Go Away, Little Girl), which was a #1 U.S. hit in 1963 for Steve Lawrence. Carole King is best known for the album "Tapestry" and the big #1 hit single from it, It's Too Late, in 1971.

7. It's Your Dream - written by Teddy Randazzo. Randazzo charted with a few U.S. hits including The Way Of A Clown in 1960. It is supposed that Nikka's father Don Costa knew Randazzo and probably produced that hit for him and maybe others long before Nikka was born.

8. Maybe - written by Martin Charnin and Charles Strouse. This song was the opening number for Andrea McArdle in the Broadway show of "Annie," which ran in New York from 1977 to 1983 and in many countries around the world. A 20th anniversary revival ran on Broadway in 1997.

 

Nikka with her mother and father

Photo by Marva Marrow and Jonathan Exley

9. Bubble Full of Rainbows -written by Tony Renis and Jan Marrow. Renis co-produced this album with Danny B. Besquet and Nikka's dad.

10. Chained To The Blues - written by Terry Ray Costa, Nikka's mom.

11. You - written by Paul Anka/Sammy Cahn. Don Costa produced Anka's first hit, Diana, in 1957, which hit #1 in the U.S. and all over the world and is one of the biggest selling singles worldwide of all-time. (P.S. Diana is one of my all-time Top 10 favorite records - Jon Merrill.)

12. So Glad I Have You - written by Terry Ray Costa and Nikka Costa, the mother-daughter team. This is my personal favorite of the songs in Nikka's two childhood albums.

Second Album - "Fairy Tales" - produced by the same three men, and arranged by Don Costa, except for Stay Daddy Stay and Morning Comes, which were produced by Danny B. Besquet.

1. First Love - written by Teddy Randazzo/Roger Joyce. See comments about Randazzo above.

2. I Believe In Fairy Tales - written by Teddy Randazzo and Roger Joyce. See comments about Randazzo above.

3. Without You - written by Nikka's parents, Don Costa and Terry Ray Costa.

4. My Boyfriend's Back - written by Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein, and Richard Gottehrer. This was a huge #1 hit in the U.S. in 1963 by The Angels. The American songwriting team wrote this song after hearing an argument between a high school boy and a high school girl in which they used almost exactly what became the first two lines of the song.

 

Nikka with her producers, Tony Renis and Danny B. Besquet
Photo by Marva Marrow and Jonathan Exley

5. Morning Comes - written by Danny B. Besquet and Ronnie Jackson. Jackson played guitar on this album.

6. He's My Clown - written by Don Costa, Terry Ray Costa, and Jimmy Ford.

7. Stay, Daddy, Stay - written by Danny B. Besquet and Ronnie Jackson.

8. Trick Or Treat - written by Teddy Randazzo and Victoria Pike.

9. Candy Man - written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. This was a big #1 hit in the U.S. by Sammy Davis, Jr., which just happened to be #1 on the charts exactly when Nikka was born, June 4, 1972.

10. Time On My Side - written by David Lawrence.

11. Someone Who Needs Me - written by Terry Ray Costa and Dean Andre.

12. Tomorrow - written by Martin Charnin and Charles Strouse for the musical "Annie" (see comments above under Maybe on Nikka's first album). Tomorrow is one of the best known and best loved songs on the planet, thanks to its being the big hit song from the enormously popular musical.

...more material forthcoming...

 

http://www.hingepepper.com/nikkacostapage.htm