The band was originally formed by Heyward (guitar, vocals),
[1] Les Nemes (bass), Tim Jenkins (guitar) and Rob Stroud (drums). Jenkins left quite early on when the band was unsigned. He was later followed by Stroud who joined the
punk band
The Sex Gang Children. Graham Jones left The Low Numbers to join the band, which at the time was named 'Moving England'. Stroud was replaced by Patrick Hunt on drums who played on their first single, "Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)". Hunt was fired and replaced by the
American Blair Cunningham. Cunningham replaced the drum track on the
album version of "Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)", although the single had the original drums played by Hunt. During their early
gigs, Phil Smith and Mark Fox were drafted to play
saxophone and
percussion respectively. Originally meant to be
session musicians, they were asked to join the line up of the band when they signed to
Arista Records.
Haircut 100 appeared just as
New Wave was peaking. They were quickly successful: their first single, 1981's "Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)" reached number four in the
UK Singles Chart.
[2] Their next single, "Love Plus One", reached number three and made the
Top 40 in the
United States. The following two singles "
Fantastic Day" and "
Nobody's Fool" each reached number nine in the
UK.
[2]
Haircut 100 seemed poised for further success, then Heyward left the band in January 1983 to pursue a
solo career.
[3][4] Percussionist Mark Fox took Heyward's place as vocalist.
[3] In 1984, the band released the album
Paint and Paint, but the album was unsuccessful and the band broke up soon after.
[3]
In 2004, all of the band's ex-members reunited for an episode of
VH1's series
Bands Reunited. Haircut 100 reunited again (partially) on 18th December 2009 at Cadogan Hall, London.
[5
Thw Awesome 80s' Video of the week is from Haircut 100, about half way downthe page. Check it out! Mac
No comments:
Post a Comment