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Biography

In the annals of British pop history, few bands have managed to capture the zeitgeist quite so perfectly while simultaneously burning out quite so spectacularly as Haircut One Hundred. Born from the ashes of punk's sweaty rebellion and disco's glittering excess, this Beckenham quintet emerged in 1980 wielding a sound so irresistibly sunny it could have powered the National Grid through the darkest days of Thatcher's Britain.

The band's genesis reads like a textbook case of right place, right time, right haircuts. Nick Heyward, a cherub-faced songwriter with an ear for melody sweeter than a Werther's Original, had been kicking around the South London music scene when he crossed paths with guitarist Graham Jones, bassist Les Nemes, drummer Blair Cunningham, and percussionist Mark Fox. What united them wasn't just their shared love of crisp shirts and even crisper pop hooks, but an almost telepathic understanding of how to make music that sounded like pure joy distilled into three-minute packages.

Their sound was a delicious cocktail of influences that shouldn't have worked but absolutely did. Taking the rhythmic sophistication of Chic, the melodic sensibilities of The Beatles, a dash of reggae's laid-back groove, and the new wave's angular energy, Haircut 100 created something that was both utterly contemporary and timelessly appealing. It was funk for people who shopped at Next, soul music for the suburban masses, and it arrived just as Britain was desperately in need of something to smile about.

The band's breakthrough came with their debut single "Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)" in 1981, a track so perfectly crafted it practically bounced off radio speakers and into the nation's collective consciousness. Here was pop music stripped of pretension but not of sophistication, performed by young men who looked like they'd stepped out of a particularly stylish university prospectus. The song's success opened the floodgates, and suddenly Haircut 100 were everywhere – on Top of the Pops, in Smash Hits, and most importantly, in the hearts of a generation discovering that pop music could be both intelligent and utterly, shamelessly fun.

Their debut album "Pelican West," released in February 1982, was nothing short of a masterclass in sophisticated pop construction. Produced with crystalline clarity that made every handclap and horn stab sparkle like diamonds, the album spawned a string of hits including "Love Plus One," "Nobody's Fool," and "Fantastic Day." Each track was a perfectly formed gem, showcasing Heyward's gift for writing lyrics that were simultaneously romantic and witty, backed by arrangements that squeezed maximum joy from minimal means.

The album's success was staggering – it reached number two in the UK charts and went platinum, establishing Haircut 100 as one of the brightest lights in the new romantic firmament. They were the acceptable face of pop sophistication, the band your parents didn't mind you liking, yet cool enough to earn respect from the music press who were usually too cynical for such unabashed optimism.

But like many shooting stars, Haircut 100's brilliance was destined to be brief. Internal tensions, primarily between Heyward and the rest of the band over creative control and financial arrangements, came to a head in early 1982. In a move that shocked fans and industry alike, Heyward departed just as the band was reaching its commercial peak, leaving his bandmates to continue without their primary songwriter and most recognizable face.

The remaining members soldiered on, releasing "Paint and Paint" in 1984, but without Heyward's melodic magic, the spark had dimmed. Meanwhile, Heyward's solo career, while producing some gems, never quite recaptured the lightning-in-a-bottle perfection of those early Haircut 100 recordings.

The band's influence, however, has proven remarkably enduring. Their sophisticated approach to pop construction can be heard echoing through decades of British music, from Scritti Politti to Saint Etienne, from Everything But The Girl to contemporary indie-pop acts who still chase that elusive combination of intelligence and accessibility that Haircut 100 made look effortless.

Today, "Pelican West" stands as one of the great British pop albums, a 38-minute burst of pure sunshine that continues to sound as fresh and vital as the day it was recorded. In an era when pop music