Nick Heyward
Encyclopedia
Nick Heyward is an English
singer
, songwriter
and guitarist
. He is best known for being the frontman of the early 1980s band Haircut One Hundred, and also had a briefly successful solo career after he left the band in 1983.
(1982), reached #2.
During the sessions for their second album Heyward became unwell and Mark Fox took over vocal duties with the band as songwriters. Heyward departed at the end of 1982.
The band are currently working on new material as a four piece without Mark or Phil
by Geoff Emerick
. The album reached #10 in the UK and contained a further singles three Top 20 hits. In 1984, he released two new singles, "Love All Day" and "Warning Sign", which were both minor Top 40 hits.
The singles featured on his second solo album, 1986's Postcards From Home. By 1988, he had moved to Warner Bros. Records
and released his third album, I Love You Avenue. For the next four years, Heyward concentrated on his second career as a graphic artist
, until returning to music in 1993 with a new album for Epic Records
and tour dates alongside Squeeze, Paul Weller
. Over the next two years, he toured regularly, particularly in the US
, where he supported Belly
, The Lemonheads
, Mazzy Star
and Therapy?
.
Heyward released From Monday to Sunday in 1993, which heralded a change to a more classic rock
style. The album yielded a US hit with "Kite" which reached #4 on the Billboard
Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart
.
In 1995, Heyward released the album Tangled on the Epic
label
, and provided him with his first UK
Top 40 single in twelve years when "Rollerblade" reached #37 on the UK Singles Chart. After being 'discovered' by Alan McGee
performing at an Ed Ball
gig
, The Apple Bed was released in 1998 on Creation Records
. However, his 1990s albums received little attention outside of his loyal fanbase, and he was dropped by Creation the same year.
Heyward has released new music less frequently in recent years. Open Sesame Seed (2001), a collaboration with British actor/singer Greg Ellis
, featured Ellis reading Heyward's poetry to the accompaniment of Heyward's musical backing. An album of songs recorded with singer/actress India Dupre
, The Mermaid and the Lighthouse Keeper, was released in 2006.
Heyward has been active out of the public view writing and recording for various future projects. He plays solo gigs from time to time, and with a reformed Haircut One Hundred. He is planning more gigs for 2011.
Heyward has been involved with a planned re-issue program of his solo catalogue through Cherry Red Records. Starting with two releases in October 2010, the first being a double album
deluxe edition of his debut album, North of A Miracle. This new edition included all the b-sides
and mixes from the original singles, and a previously unreleased concert, recorded for Capital Radio
on 7 November 1983, at London's Dominion Theatre
. The second reissue is a expanded edition of his 1993 album From Monday To Sunday. This features selection of tracks from a previous unreleased album produced by Bob Sargent along with b-sides from the singles. Both these editions were overseen by Heyward and included notes from him and Gary Crowley
, along with rare photographs and lyrics.
The third and fourth releases in the reissue campaign are set for August 2011 release. These being expanded versions of Tangled (1995) and The Apple Bed (1998), both feature all the b-sides from the single releases and in the case of The Apple Bed a previously unreleased song called 'The End'. These were overseen by Heyward and feature notes, previously unseen photos and lyrics for both the album and b-sides.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
singer
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
. He is best known for being the frontman of the early 1980s band Haircut One Hundred, and also had a briefly successful solo career after he left the band in 1983.
Haircut One Hundred
Nick Heyward formed Haircut One Hundred after the demise of a previous band, Moving England. The band had four UK Top 10 singles and their debut album, Pelican WestPelican West
Pelican West is a 1982 album by the new wave band Haircut One Hundred. It featured their hit singles, Love Plus One and Favourite Shirts...
(1982), reached #2.
During the sessions for their second album Heyward became unwell and Mark Fox took over vocal duties with the band as songwriters. Heyward departed at the end of 1982.
The band are currently working on new material as a four piece without Mark or Phil
Solo career
Heyward's solo career took off in March 1983 with the single 'Whistle Down The Wind', with the album North of a Miracle, producedRecord producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by Geoff Emerick
Geoff Emerick
Geoffrey Emerick is an English recording studio audio engineer, who is best known for his work with The Beatles' albums Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles and Abbey Road...
. The album reached #10 in the UK and contained a further singles three Top 20 hits. In 1984, he released two new singles, "Love All Day" and "Warning Sign", which were both minor Top 40 hits.
The singles featured on his second solo album, 1986's Postcards From Home. By 1988, he had moved to Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
and released his third album, I Love You Avenue. For the next four years, Heyward concentrated on his second career as a graphic artist
Graphic designer
A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, printed or electronic media, such as brochures and...
, until returning to music in 1993 with a new album for Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
and tour dates alongside Squeeze, Paul Weller
Paul Weller
Paul Weller is an English singer-songwriter. Starting with the band The Jam , Weller then went on to branch out musically to a more soulful style with The Style Council...
. Over the next two years, he toured regularly, particularly in the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where he supported Belly
Belly (band)
Belly was an alternative rock band formed in 1991 by former Throwing Muses members Tanya Donelly and Fred Abong. The band was based in Boston, Massachusetts, though all of the original members grew up in Newport, Rhode Island. The band consisted of Donelly on lead vocals and guitar, Abong on bass,...
, The Lemonheads
The Lemonheads
The Lemonheads are an American alternative rock band first formed in 1986 by Evan Dando, Ben Deily and Jesse Peretz. Dando has remained the band's only constant member....
, Mazzy Star
Mazzy Star
Mazzy Star is an American alternative rock band formed in Santa Monica, California, in 1989 from the group Opal, a collaboration of guitarist David Roback and bassist Kendra Smith...
and Therapy?
Therapy?
Therapy? is an alternative metal band from Northern Ireland. The band was formed in 1989 by guitarist–vocalist Andy Cairns from Ballyclare and drummer-vocalist Fyfe Ewing from Larne, Northern Ireland. The band initially recorded their first demo with Cairns filling in on bass guitar...
.
Heyward released From Monday to Sunday in 1993, which heralded a change to a more classic rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
style. The album yielded a US hit with "Kite" which reached #4 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
.
In 1995, Heyward released the album Tangled on the Epic
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, and provided him with his first UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Top 40 single in twelve years when "Rollerblade" reached #37 on the UK Singles Chart. After being 'discovered' by Alan McGee
Alan McGee
Alan McGee has been a record label owner, musician, manager, and music blogger for The Guardian.McGee is best-known for co-forming and running the independent Creation Records label from 1983–1999, and then Poptones from 1999-2007...
performing at an Ed Ball
Ed Ball (musician)
Edward "Ed" Ball is a songwriter, singer, guitarist and keyboard player from London, who has recorded both solo and as a member of the Television Personalities, 'O' Level, Teenage Filmstars, The Times, and Conspiracy of Noise. He also served as an executive at Creation Records...
gig
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
, The Apple Bed was released in 1998 on Creation Records
Creation Records
Creation Records was a British independent record label headed by Alan McGee. Along with Dick Green and Joe Foster, McGee founded Creation in 1983. The label lasted until its demise in 1999. The name came from the 1960s band The Creation , whom McGee greatly admired. McGee, Green and Foster were...
. However, his 1990s albums received little attention outside of his loyal fanbase, and he was dropped by Creation the same year.
Heyward has released new music less frequently in recent years. Open Sesame Seed (2001), a collaboration with British actor/singer Greg Ellis
Greg Ellis (actor)
Greg Ellis is an English actor known for his TV, movie, and video game voice over work. He has appeared in films such as the Pirates of the Caribbean series, the 2009 Star Trek film , Titanic, Beowulf, To End All Wars, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith...
, featured Ellis reading Heyward's poetry to the accompaniment of Heyward's musical backing. An album of songs recorded with singer/actress India Dupre
India Dupre
India Dupré is an English singer, songwriter and actress best known for her voice work in Lost and Mercenaries 2: World in Flames and her music....
, The Mermaid and the Lighthouse Keeper, was released in 2006.
Heyward has been active out of the public view writing and recording for various future projects. He plays solo gigs from time to time, and with a reformed Haircut One Hundred. He is planning more gigs for 2011.
Heyward has been involved with a planned re-issue program of his solo catalogue through Cherry Red Records. Starting with two releases in October 2010, the first being a double album
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
deluxe edition of his debut album, North of A Miracle. This new edition included all the b-sides
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
and mixes from the original singles, and a previously unreleased concert, recorded for Capital Radio
Capital Radio
Capital London is a London based radio station which launched on 16 October 1973 and is owned by Global Radio. On 3 January 2011 it formed part of the nine station Capital radio network.- Pre-launch :...
on 7 November 1983, at London's Dominion Theatre
Dominion Theatre
The Dominion Theatre is a West End theatre on Tottenham Court Road close to St Giles Circus and Centre Point Tower, in the London Borough of Camden.-History:...
. The second reissue is a expanded edition of his 1993 album From Monday To Sunday. This features selection of tracks from a previous unreleased album produced by Bob Sargent along with b-sides from the singles. Both these editions were overseen by Heyward and included notes from him and Gary Crowley
Gary Crowley
Gary Crowley is an English broadcaster and DJ.When he was at school in the late Seventies Crowley started a punk fanzine titled The Modern World, interviewing some of the most important bands of the day including the Sex Pistols, the Clash and the Jam.After leaving school he took up a junior...
, along with rare photographs and lyrics.
The third and fourth releases in the reissue campaign are set for August 2011 release. These being expanded versions of Tangled (1995) and The Apple Bed (1998), both feature all the b-sides from the single releases and in the case of The Apple Bed a previously unreleased song called 'The End'. These were overseen by Heyward and feature notes, previously unseen photos and lyrics for both the album and b-sides.
Albums
- North of a Miracle (1983) (UK #10, US #178)
- Postcards from Home (1986)
- I Love You Avenue (1988)
- From Monday to Sunday (1993)
- Tangeled (1995)
- The Apple Bed (1998)
- Open Sesame Seed (2001) with Greg EllisGreg Ellis (actor)Greg Ellis is an English actor known for his TV, movie, and video game voice over work. He has appeared in films such as the Pirates of the Caribbean series, the 2009 Star Trek film , Titanic, Beowulf, To End All Wars, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith...
- The Mermaid and the Lighthouse Keeper (2006) (with India DupreIndia DupreIndia Dupré is an English singer, songwriter and actress best known for her voice work in Lost and Mercenaries 2: World in Flames and her music....
)
Singles
- "Whistle Down the Wind" (1983) #13 UK, #20 US ACHot Adult Contemporary TracksThe Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
- "Take That Situation" (1983) #11 UK
- "Blue Hat for a Blue Day" (1983) #14 UK
- "On a Sunday" (1983) #52 UK
- "Love All Day" (1984) #31 UK
- "My Pure Lady" (1984) Japan only
- "Warning Sign" (1984) #25 UK
- "Laura" (1985) #45 UK
- "Over the Weekend" #43 UK
- "Goodbye Yesterday" (1986)
- "You're My World" (1988) #67 UK
- "Tell Me Why" (1989)
- "He Doesn't Love You Like I Do" (1993) #58 UK
- "Kite" (1993) #44 UK, #4 US Modern Rock, #107 US
- "The World" (1995) #47 UK
- "Rollerblade" (1996) #37 UK
- "The Man I Used to Be" (1997)
- "Today" (1997)
- "The Stars in Her Eyes" (1998)
See also
- List of performances on Top of the Pops
- List of Never Mind the Buzzcocks episodes
- Creation Records discography
- List of people from Beckenham