Nick Heyward
Nicholas Heyward (born 20 May 1961) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist.[1] He came to international attention in the early 1980s as the lead singer and songwriter for Haircut One Hundred. He and the band parted ways after their first album, after which he continued as a solo artist.
Nick Heyward | |
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 Heyward at Let's Rock Bristol, June 2015 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Nicholas Heyward |
| Born | 20 May 1961 Beckenham, Kent, England |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Instrument(s) |
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| Years active | 1980–present |
| Labels | Arista 1981–1986 Reprise 1988–1989 Epic 1993–1996 Creation 1997–1998 |
| Website | nickheyward |
Biography
Early life
Born in Beckenham,[2] Heyward spent his early years in and around south London. He attended Kelsey Park School for Boys in Beckenham where he studied art and photography. He left school at 16 to work as a commercial artist.[3]
Haircut One Hundred
Heyward and school friends Graham Jones and Les Nemes,[4] the core of Haircut One Hundred, started bands together as far back as 1977. They were first known as Rugby, then the Boat Party, Captain Pennyworth and Moving England, before settling on Haircut One Hundred.[5] The band signed with Arista Records in 1981 and had four UK top 10 singles between 1981 and 1982.[6] Their debut album, Pelican West (1982), written by Heyward, reached No. 2. It was certified platinum[7] by the British Phonographic Industry.
Work on the band's second album commenced in October 1982 but, in January 1983, a statement was issued confirming that Heyward had left the band,[1] and percussionist Marc Fox had taken over on vocals. At the time of the announcement, Heyward told Smash Hits magazine that he had been contemplating going solo for a while and had already recorded some tracks with session musicians.[8] However, many years later, Heyward stated that he had been struggling with stress and depression at the time after a year of constant work and pressure which led to him being, in effect, sacked by the other members of the band.[9][10]
Over the years, the band has reformed several times, most recently in May 2023. Heyward described a "deep love" for the band and remarked that "the door is always open".[11] In an interview with Lorraine, he said he was "ever hopeful" that the band would one day play a reunion show at the Roundhouse where Pelican West was recorded.[12]
Solo career
Heyward's solo career began in March 1983 with the single "Whistle Down the Wind",[1] which reached No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart.[13] Two further top 20 hits followed: "Take That Situation" (No. 11)[1] and "Blue Hat for a Blue Day" (No. 14).[13] His debut solo album, North of a Miracle, was released in October 1983 and peaked at No. 10 in the UK.[1] The successive non-album singles, "Love All Day" and "Warning Sign" both went top 40 although a subsequent single "Laura" failed to do so.[13]
Postcards from Home, Heyward's second solo album, was released in 1986,[1] and featured the singles "Over the Weekend" and "Goodbye Yesterday".[13] By 1988, he had moved to Warner Bros. Records and released his third album, I Love You Avenue, which included the single "You're My World".
Heyward's 1993 album, From Monday to Sunday, on Epic Records, featured a more classic rock style,[14] and brought him his first hits of the 1990s. The first single, "Kite", reached No. 44 on the UK Singles Chart[13] and No. 4 on Billboard's Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart.[15]
In 1995, Heyward released his second Epic Records album, Tangled, providing him with the UK top 40 single "Rollerblade".[13]
In 1998, Creation Records released The Apple Bed,[16] Heyward's most recent major label release. It featured three singles, "Today", "The Man You Used to Be" and "Stars in Her Eyes".[17]
Since 1998, Heyward has released two independent albums: Open Sesame Seed (2001), a collaboration with British actor/singer Greg Ellis, and featuring Ellis reading Heyward's poetry to the accompaniment of Heyward's musical backing; and The Mermaid and the Lighthouse Keeper (2006), an album of songs recorded with singer/actress India Dupre.[18]
In November 2013, Heyward announced on his website that he was in the process of recording a new album with his son, Oliver.[19] A preview of the album was made available on the site in October 2015.[20] A PledgeMusic campaign to support the album was announced on Heyward's website, on 4 April 2017[21] and the album title, Woodland Echoes, was released the following day.[22]
Personal life
Heyward married Glaswegian Marion Killen in 1987. They had two children, Oliver and Katie, before divorcing in 2000.[23] In 1998, he had a spiritual awakening[24] that he described as a feeling of complete contentment and a deep connection with nature.
Heyward lives in Stoke Row, South Oxfordshire,[25] and in February 2016 announced his engagement to Sara, his American girlfriend.[26]
Discography
Albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [13] |
US [15] |
SWE [27] |
NZ [28] | |||
| Pelican West (with Haircut One Hundred) |
2 | 31 | 29 | 12 | BPI: Platinum[7] | |
| North of a Miracle |
|
10 | 178 | – | – | BPI: Gold[29] |
| Postcards from Home |
|
– | – | – | – | |
| I Love You Avenue |
|
– | – | – | – | |
| From Monday to Sunday |
|
– | – | – | – | |
| Tangled |
|
93 | – | – | – | |
| The Apple Bed |
|
– | – | – | – | |
| Open Sesame Seed |
|
– | – | – | – | |
| The Mermaid and the Lighthouse Keeper |
|
– | – | – | – | |
| Woodland Echoes |
|
89 | – | – | – | |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [13] |
US Hot 100 [15] |
US AC [15] |
US Alt [15] |
US Dance [15] |
US Rock [15] |
NZ [28] |
DE [30] | |||||
| 1981 | "Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)" (Haircut One Hundred) | 4 | – | – | – | 41 | 50[31] | 32 | – | BPI: Silver[7] | Pelican West (Haircut 100 album) | |
| 1982 | "Love Plus One" (Haircut One Hundred) | 3 | 37 | – | 18 | 8 | 18 | 22 | – | BPI: Gold[7] | ||
| "Fantastic Day" (Haircut One Hundred) | 9 | – | – | – | – | – | 29 | – | ||||
| "Nobody's Fool" (Haircut One Hundred) | 9 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Pelican West Plus | |||
| 1983 | "Whistle Down the Wind" | 13 | – | 20 | – | – | – | – | – | North of a Miracle | ||
| "Take That Situation" | 11 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| "Blue Hat for a Blue Day" | 14 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| "On a Sunday" | 52 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 1984 | "Love All Day" | 31 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Non-album singles | ||
| "My Pure Lady" (Japan only) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| "Warning Sign" | 25 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 1985 | "Laura" | 45 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| 1986 | "Over the Weekend" | 43 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Postcards from Home | ||
| "Goodbye Yesterday" | 82 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 1988 | "You're My World" | 67 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | I Love You Avenue | ||
| 1989 | "Tell Me Why" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| 1993 | "Kite" | 44 | 107 | – | 4 | – | – | – | – | From Monday to Sunday | ||
| "He Doesn't Love You Like I Do" | 58 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 55 | ||||
| 1995 | "The World" | 47 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Tangled | ||
| 1996 | "Rollerblade" | 37 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| 1997 | "Today" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | The Apple Bed | ||
| "The Man You Used to Be" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 1998 | "Stars in Her Eyes" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| 2017 | "Baby Blue Sky" / "Mountaintop" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Woodland Echoes | ||
| "Perfect Sunday Sun" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 2018 | "The Stars" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||
- "Whistle Down the Wind" additionally charted at No. 20 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.
- "Kite" charted at No. 7 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.
See also
References
- Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 135. ISBN 0-85112-579-4.
- Roberts, David (1998). Guinness Rockopedia (1st ed.). London: Guinness Publishing Ltd. p. 183. ISBN 0-85112-072-5.
- Rice, Maureen (19 June 1985). "Love, Money and Perfect Pop" (jpg). Smash Hits. Flickr: EMAP. pp. 58–59. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
- Stand, Mike (4 February 1982). "Bitz" (jpg). Smash Hits. Flickr: EMAP. p. 11. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
- Ellen, Mark (29 April 1982). "The Boy Wonder" (jpg). Smash Hits. Vol. 4, no. 9. Flickr: EMAP. pp. 28, 31. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
- "Haircut 100". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
- "British Phonographic Industry". 23 June 1982. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
- "Bitz: Cuts Up". Smash Hits. Vol. 5, no. 3. EMAP Metro. 3 February 1983. p. 13.
- Williams, Andrew (26 January 2011). "Facebook is the reason Haircut One Hundred are reuniting". Metro. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
- Tennant, Neil (31 March 1983). "Back to Square One". Smash Hits. Flickr: EMAP. p. 14.
- Heyward, Nick (23 July 2017). "Loose Ends" (Interview). Clive Anderson. London: BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
- Heyward, Nick (27 July 2017). "Lorraine" (Interview). Lorraine Kelly. London: ITV. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
- "Nick Heyward". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
- "AllMusic: Nick Heyward". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
- "Nick Heyward". Billboard. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- "AllMusic: The Apple Bed – Nick Heyward". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
- "The Apple Bed". NickHeyward.com. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- "The Mermaid and the Lighthouse Keeper". NickHeyward.com. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- "New album update". NickHeyward.com. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- "New album preview". NickHeyward.com. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
- "PledgeMusic campaign launching this Wednesday". NickHeyward.com. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
- "Nick Heyward: Woodland Echoes on PledgeMusic". PledgeMusic.com. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
- "BEYOND THE FRINGE; Oasis boss gives Haircut 100 star new lease of life". Daily Record. Glasgow. 13 February 1998. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
- Heyward, Nick (7 February 2016). "Clare Balding's Sunday Best with Nick Heyward". Good Morning Sunday (Interview). Interviewed by Clare Balding. London: BBC Radio 2. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
- "Nick Heyward". Henley Life: 7. August 2014. Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
- Heyward, Nick (21 February 2016). "Gaby Roslin" (Interview). Interviewed by Gaby Roslin. London: BBC Radio London. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
- Steffen Hung. "Sweden charts portal". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
- Steffen Hung. "New Zealand charts portal". charts.nz. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
- "British Phonographic Industry". 24 November 1983. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
- "Nick Heyward". Offizielle Deutsche Charts. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
- Whitburn, Joel (2003). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955 – 2002. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. 297. ISBN 0-89820-155-1.