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HAIRCUT 100 Revisited
An EXCLUSIVE Q&A
with guitarist
GRAHAM JONES
Haircut 100’s debut album Pelican West remains one of the
truly great albums of the ‘80s. Inspired by everything from Jazz and Latin
music to ‘60s Pop and Post-Punk, the 1982 album was a breath of fresh air at a
time when pretentious ‘Popstar’ posing was more important than making music.
From Bob Sargent’s warm and crisp production and
singer/guitarist Nick Heyward’s Pop
smarts, to the inventive horn arrangements, Pelican West was an album
inspired by many styles embedded in the past, yet sounded modern and fresh. The
band’s ability to embrace their influences while also creating their own unique
sound is what makes Pelican West a timeless album. It is not rooted to a particular
time period, so you can still play it thirty four years later without feeling
that the album has dated itself. You can’t say that about other career-defining
albums from this time period including The
Human League’s Dare, Culture Club’s Colour By Numbers, Duran Duran’s Rio or any number of so-called New
Wave classics.
Initially lumped in with the
British Jazz Funk movement, Haircut 100 were a true musical phenomenon formed
by Heyward and bassist Les Nemes.
Guitarist Graham Jones completed the
original trio. The band grew into a sextet with the addition of percussionist Marc Fox, drummer Blair Cunningham and
horn player Phil Smith. The band’s
first three singles – “Favorite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl),” “Love Plus One,” and
“Fantastic Day” – became radio hits all over the world, and even earned airplay
on the then-still-fresh MTV. To many, this fresh and seemingly wholesome band
came out of nowhere and became a sensation. They may have been treated like
teen idols in the UK, but other countries – including the U.S. – focused on the music.
The album itself was filled to the brim with great songs, many of which could
have easily been a hit had they been released as singles (I’m looking at you in
particular, “Lemon Firebrigade”!). When the band released the Pop-tastic
post-album single “Nobody’s Fool,” it was obvious that Heyward’s songwriting
skills were still top notch.
However, the band’s massive success proved to
be their downfall. Faced with the enormous pressure of writing a follow-up
album, Heyward quit the band in the midst of recording sessions. Nick pursued a
solo career (the lushly-produced North Of A Miracle contained a few of
the songs the band had been working on prior to his departure) while the rest
of the band soldiered on. By the time the sorely overlooked and quite wonderful
second Haircut 100 album Paint And Paint was released, the
band was down to a quartet (Cunningham had also left the band). The band
quietly broke up a short time later. Though they have reunited in some form or
another over the last decade for live shows, no new recordings have emerged.
Now, with the release of the
Deluxe 2CD Edition of Pelican West – featuring additional
non-album tracks and remixes – being reissued on Cherry Pop, Stephen SPAZ
Schnee was able to catch up with H100 guitarist Graham Jones and send him
off a few questions in hopes of discovering more about this classic album…
STEPHEN SPAZ SCHNEE: The definitive double disc version of Pelican
West is now being released on Cherry
Pop. How do you feel about this reissue?
GRAHAM JONES: It’s a great chance for young ears to hear Haircut
100 and for those who missed out on the 12” mixes back in the 80’s.
SPAZ: There is no doubt that every band member played an important
role and that Haircut 100 would have been a different beast if you switched out
any of the members. How did the band initially come together?
GRAHAM: Nick and Les were already playing together. It was a form
of post-punk that was reminiscent of Talking Heads and XTC. Our girlfriends
were school friends so we came together that way. I joined them as the punk
member after spending many weekends with Nick and Les in Beckenham (Bowie land in
South East London).
SPAZ: Where did the band name come from? Do you remember any of the
other names before you settled on Haircut 100?
GRAHAM: We were called Moving England and we decided it didn’t fit
our sense of humor. We sat around in Nick’s house throwing names around.
Captain Pennyworth, Blue Penguin, Biggest Haystack In The Land all had a
chance. Les said to Nick, “Did you just say Haircut 100?” That was the one that
made us laugh the most. “You can’t call a band that!”
SPAZ: And how long had the band been together before you were
offered a record deal? Did H100 play the live circuit for a while?
GRAHAM: Haircut prided ourselves on not playing the circuit but set
up our own ‘pop concerts’ where we served wine and marshmallows! You need to
offer something interesting to get noticed and this created the interest. We
were signed very quickly.
SPAZ: The band was often lumped in with the Jazz Funk movement in
the UK, yet H100 were much more than that. Do you feel the band aligned itself
to any genre…or perhaps created your own?
GRAHAM: The Haircuts started life more as a guitar post-punk band,
but there were roots in Jazz from Nick, funk from Les, and as the band expanded
with the sax and percussion from Phil and Marc, it changed the course of our
musical direction. With Blair’s powerhouse American drum style, the Haircuts
became a formidable live and studio band. Nick’s quirky and melancholy style
gave it the edge and mystery.
SPAZ: For a band of such young players, your sound was far more
advanced and mature than most of your contemporaries. What were your
influences?
GRAHAM: Everything from Pat
Metheny, War, James Burton, Talking Heads, The Clash, The Beatles, Steely Dan,
Earth Wind And Fire, Bowie, Flora Purim, The Waitresses, The Associates, George
Duke, Orange Juice, The Jam, Brecker Bros., Gil Scott-Heron, Generation X, Lalo
Schifrin, Sex Pistols, The Faces, TV soundtracks, etc.
SPAZ: Where did the album title Pelican West come from?
GRAHAM: From Pelican Wharf in Wapping Docks, London. Near to the
prospect of Whitby Pub where Nick used to watch Jazz with his dad.
SPAZ: In hindsight, we now know what the ‘hit singles’ are, but
when you were recording the album, did you have a clear idea on what tracks you
wanted to go with as singles?
GRAHAM: “Fantastic Day” was a clear single before it was even
recorded, but the songs developed into singles in the studio with every overdub
that was added. That’s the magic of working together with great musicians. The
unexpected.
SPAZ: The album is filled to the brim with great songs, many of
which are overlooked these days: “Surprise Me Again,” “Snow Girl” and “Lemon
Fire Brigade” come to mind. Are there any that you feel are overlooked?
GRAHAM: “Kingsize (You’re My Little Steam Whistle)” was almost a
single.
SPAZ: The band achieved great success all over the world. Was it a
shock to experience that kind of success outside of the UK? Or even outside of
your hometown?
GRAHAM: It was great to be appreciated in the USA for our music
alone.
SPAZ: The single “Nobody’s Fool” was released after the album. Was
this originally scheduled to be part of the ill-fated second album or was it a stop-gap
single in between full lengths?
GRAHAM: “Nobody’s Fool” was just part of the ongoing creative
process and was originally recorded by Nick as a Beatles-style demo. We thought
it was hit material.
SPAZ: Was it a shock when Nick left or had you sensed it coming?
Did you feel confident in moving forward at first or did it take a while to get
your confidence levels back up?
GRAHAM: It was a big shock and a massive disappointment. I don’t
think we had expected Nick to leave. He felt he was under pressure to ‘deliver’
the goods. It was too much for his sensitive temperament. I don’t think we ever
really recovered as a band after that.
SPAZ: The band released the sorely overlooked Paint And Paint in 1984. That
second album is a pretty amazing continuation of the band given that your lead
singer and songwriter had left. How do you view that album now? And can we hope
to ever see it reissued on CD?
GRAHAM: There are some fantastic moments in Paint And Paint and we
all have some flashes of brilliance but I feel our musicality was best placed
with the full line-up including Nick. We were good but the magic element had
gone. Nick said the same about his own solo stuff…He missed the band. I would
hope that Paint And Paint will be available with this resurgence of
interest in Haircut 100. I always get asked if or when it will be released.
SPAZ: The band has reunited on occasion over the last decade. Any
chance of seeing any more shows or even new music from Haircut 100?
GRAHAM: There is always the possibility of something new happening
with the Haircuts but what shape it may take next time is anyone’s guess.
SPAZ: What’s next for Graham Jones?
GRAHAM: I’ll continue to keep Haircut 100 in people’s minds. In my
other life, I’ll be (and always have been) recording and helping other artists
and young musicians to get a start and have the chances we had.
SPAZ: What are you currently listening to?
GRAHAM: The sound of the wind and the roar of the sea.
Special thanks to Matthew Ingham, Nick Kominitsky and
Charles Reddick
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