443 Hello Nick Heyward - Whistle Down The Wind

Chart  entered : 19  March  1983

Chart  peak : 13

Number  of  hits :13

Paul  Weller  wasn't  the  only  artist  embarking  on  the  second  phase  of  his  career  that  week.

Nick  Heyward  was  born  in  Beckenham  Kent  in  1961. He  started  putting  bands  together  in  his  teens   with  school  friend  Les  Nemes. They  first  made  a  record  as  Moving  England  with  a  song  called  "Moving  Back"  on  a  tiny  label  in  1980. It's  very  much  early  80s  indie, sort  of  Fall-lite  with  its  scratchy  guitars  and  Nick's  nonchalantly  off  key  vocal.  When  another  friend , guitarist  Graeme  Jones  joined  they  changed  their  name  to  Haircut  100  and  recruited  three  other  musicians  to  complete  the  line  up.

Haircut  100  were  quickly  signed  up  to  Arista   and  released  their  first  single  "Favourite  Shirts  ( Boy  Meets  Girl ) "  in  October  1981. At  this  point  they  were  taken  to  be  part  of  the  British  jazz  funk  movement  as  it  sounds  a  bit  like  Spandau  Ballet's  Chant  Number  One   played  twice  as  fast  with  nonsense  lyrics  and  an  astonishing    horns  and  percussion  break  in  the  middle. It  was  a  combination  that  made  for  a  fresh  and  exciting  single  and  when  the  band  appeared  on  Top  of  the  Pops  as  a  clean  cut,  good-looking  bunch  of  guys  it  shot  up  to  number  4.

The  follow-up  single  "Love  Plus  One" went  one  better  but  was  more   straightforward  pop   than  funk   and  I  found  it  slightly  insipid. Nevertheless  it  established  Haircut  100  and  particularly  their  cute  lead  singer  as  the  new  teen  idols  on  the  block. I  must  admit  at  this  point  I  found  him  intensely  irritating  especially  in  interviews  where  he  deflected  any  probing  question  with  unfunny  non  sequiturs. I  remember  him  being  on  Radio  One's  Round  Table  and  avoiding  giving  a  sensible  opinion  on  any  of  the  records.    

Because  of  this  I  didn't  investigate  their   big-selling  debut  album  "Pelican  West"  which  reached  number  two  in  the  charts. It  now  sounds  like  a  distillation  of  Postcard  influences,  the  scratchy  funk  guitars  of  Josef  K, the  quirky  lyricism  of  Orange  Juice  and  general  celebration  of   a  sixties childhood.  It  also  reveals  a  band  of  skilled  musicians  with  some  very  sophisticated  horn  arrangements  and  jazz  touches  on  songs  about  baked  beans  and  toy  cars. I  can  see  why  the  breezy   guitar  pop  of  "Fantastic  Day"  was  chosen  as  the  next  single  but  it's  far  from  the  most  interesting  track.

Unfortunately  there  wasn't  much  more  to  come  from  the  band. "Nobody's  Fool",  an  undemanding  song  that  picks  up  the  torch  for  late  sixties  pop  recently  dropped  by  Teardrop  Explodes  reached  number  nine  in  September  1982. By  that  time  there  were  already  rumours  of  trouble  in  the  Haircut  camp. Assertive  percussionist  Mark  Fox  who  did  most  of  the  talking  in  band  interviews  was  sacked  then  re-instated.  The  main  problem  was  Nick's  suffering  from  nervous  exhaustion. A  second  album  was  half-recorded  and  then  he  stopped  attending  the  sessions. Not  being  informed  of  his  condition,  the  others  heard  reports  of  a  holiday  in  the  Caribbean  and  understandably  got  a  bit  browned  off.  Fox  was  persuaded  to  assume  lead  singer  duties  , a  decision  he  now  disowns,  and  Nick  was  out  at  the  beginning  of  1983.

We've  said  before  on  this  blog  that  often  such  splits  benefit  both  parties. That  didn't  happen  in  this  case. The  Fox-led  Haircut  100  went  down  the  tube  completely  after  one  minor  hit.
"Whistle  Down  The  Wind" , which  was   originally  slated  as  the  next  band  single , marked  the  start  of  a  moderately  successful  solo  career  which  never  hit  the  same  heights.

"Whistle  Down  The  Wind"  actually  takes  the  first  couple  of  lines  of  "Moving  Back"  as  its  starting  point  but  sounds  very  different  to  that. Recorded  with  session  musicians  including  Pino  Palladino  whose  fretless  bass  is  very  prominent  , it's  much  slower  than  a  Haircut  single  with  Nick  often  slipping  towards  a  David  Sylvian  murmur  in  the  verses. It  rouses  itself  a  bit  for  the  chorus  which  does  sound  more  like  the  old  band  but  it's  all  rather  flat. The  lyrics  are  vague  without  being  intriguing  and  nothing  to  do  with  the  British  film  classic  of  the  same  name  ( the  first  film  to  make  me  cry ). Despite  a  fair  amount  of  publicity , and  a  Top  of  the  Pops  appearance  in  which  he  missed  his  cue  to  start  lip-synching,  it  peaked  below   any  of  the  Haircut  100  singles  setting  the  tone  for  an  underachieving  career.