Nick Heyward – Haircut One Hundred
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English funk-pop group Haircut One Hundred scored a Top 10 hit in Australia in 1982 with their song, Love Plus One.
And though they would earn another chart entry with Fantastic Day which peaked at Number 85, not long after, the group’s singer-songwriter and guitarist Nick Heyward departed for a solo career and eventually the group split in 1984.
But in 2023 the group officially reformed, and since then, they have been on a busy schedule of recording and touring, and last month they issued their first album of new material in 44 years. Titled Boxing the Compass, it sees the group in fine form and picking up where they left off. An album filled with pop nuggets and their distinct funk infused pop sound.
“That's the magic of a band to sound the same,” Nick Heyward told Musical Musings recently.
“That's why people are drawn to the sound of that band.
“And every time I go to sing Fantastic Day, I sing it like it's as fresh as the day that I stood in my cabin bedroom writing the song.
“And the moment I knew exactly what I wanted to do.”
Also in the works is a documentary on the band and autobiography by Heyward.
“It’s like a fan's eye view of being in the band as well as, a documentary about the band,” says Heyward.
“It’s tough making a documentary because it involves getting all the footage approved and cleared and paid for.
“But we’re getting lots of footage and stuff from the BBC and Top of the Pops.”
Heyward has experienced the heights and says its nothing as one would imagine it to be.
“You watch at the television and go, “Oh yeah, I can do that, but when you get there it’s like, "Oh God, it's nothing like it because you're this side of it looking out,” he says.
“You're in a goldfish bowl looking out.
“You had a desire to be a goldfish, but once you become a goldfish you go, “I don't know about this.
“There's not much room in here."
Haircut One Hundred are one of many bands that were birthed during the post punk era of the late Seventies.
“We lived through punk and new wave, so I was hugely influenced by it,” he says.
“But around about 1980, things were beginning to lightening up for everyone.’
“Even the bands that previously had been industrial like Human League and Depeche Mode were seemingly embracing the pop side.
“Human League were sounding more like the best of ABBA.”
For more on the band, check out: https://haircut100.com/
Music News
This week Sam Fender and Olivia Dean’s Rein Me In which was released a year ago, remains still at number one on the UK singles chart. They've amassed 18 weeks in total at the top, equalling Frankie Laine’s 1953 classic I Believe which currently holds the record of 18 weeks at number one. If they remain at number one, again next week, this will set a new chart record, and become the longest-running UK Number 1 single in history.
Swedish pop rockers Roxette, who are currently touring for their 40th anniversary celebrations in Europe, have had to cancel their upcoming tour of North America, "Due to logistics and hugely increased touring costs.”
Tours announced this includes System of a Down and Faith No More who will tour Australia together in January and February next year. System of a Down were last here in 2012 while Faith No More were last here in 2015.
In the wake of the recent World Cup, Oasis 1995 hit Wonderwall has made a welcome return to the US charts, earning the band their first number one on Billboard’s Rock Streaming Song Chart.
British alternative group Jesus Jones who had a huge hit in 1990 with Right Here, Right Now have a new studio album titled Twilight, coming on 21 September 2026.
From The Diary: February 2003 – Jackson Browne
During his career, singer-songwriter Jackson Browne has personified the American West Coast sound and mind set. I first interviewed him when he was on his fifth tour of Australia in 2003. He had recently released his most recent studio album – his twelfth to date - The Naked Ride Home at the tail end of 2002.
Browne was staying at the upmarket Como Hotel in South Yarra, and his media schedule that day was heavily booked, and as was the case in many circumstances like this, the interviews were running a little behind schedule by the time I arrived for my 10.30am interview. It would be another hour before I finally got to do the interview with him. We ended up having a great chat together. He openly shared with me his plans for the day, as well as informing me that the previous day’s schedule was filled with just as many interviews as that day, and that Browne had not finished the interviews until about 6.30pm that evening.
I was curious to ask him how he felt about being credited with spearheading the whole 1970s West Coast singer-songwriter scene. “I’m a product of the values of that time, so I don’t think of myself as starting anything" he told me. “I'm really just the continuation of certain values that are too very much alive today in other great singer-songwriters.”
After half an hour later, our time was up, and it was time for Browne to move onto his next scheduled interview.
Music Quiz
Which 80s pop group had three members with the surname Taylor, none of whom were related? – Answer below.
This Week’s Music Charts Number 1s.
AUS: Choosin’ Texas – Ella Langley
UK: Rein Me In – Sam Fender & Olivia Dean
US: Choosin’ Texas – Ella Langley
Fun Fact
English Physicist Brian Cox once played keyboards in 1990s pop-dance band D:Ream who had several hits including Things Can Only Get Better that became associated with the UK Labour party coming back to power in 1997.
Music Quiz Answer: Duran Duran (John Taylor, Roger Taylor and Andy Taylor)