I liked Nick Heyward before I ever knew I liked Nick Heyward.
In the hazy, lazy days known as the early ’80s, I was just as enthralled by MTV as everyone else, but I hadn’t yet begun my descent into music obsession, so I was basically just watching videos, enjoying the songs, and moving on. Because of this, I didn’t really know who was in what band…aside, of course, from the matinée names like Boy George, George Michael, and so on. Time passed, however, and the more I dove into my studies of alternative music (I have many a tattered edition of “The Trouser Press Record Guide” on my bookshelves), the more I learned about these various groups, and as the various bands broke up and found their frontmen going solo, I began to follow their careers as well…including, as you may have guessed, the former lead singer of Haircut 100.
My first introduction to Nick Heyward’s solo work was 1988’s easily-dismissed I Love You Avenue, and I’m clearly not the only one who felt that description was apt, given that I purchased my copy from a cutout bin, but just because it’s a slight album doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. It’s definitely a very, very ’80s-sounding album, but there are at least a pair of songs which continue to hold up for me: “You’re My World” and “Tell Me Why.” (Possibly not coincidentally, these tracks were both mixed by John Hudson, who also worked with a-ha and The Dream Academy.) As you may have guessed, I Love You Avenue was not a tremendous commercial hit, and Heyward proceeded to vanish for a few years, but when he reemerged in 1992, it was with an album which would – gasp! – earn him a bonafied hit!
Yes, not only did From Monday To Sunday offer up the instantly memorable “Kite,” it also proved to be the strongest album of Heyward’s solo career to date, finding him shedding himself of almost all of his keyboards and getting back to basics…or, more specifically, back to The Beatles. Better yet, the critical and commercial success of the album in the U.S. meant that Heyward going to get the chance to expand on this new sound on his next record…which he did.
Too bad you had to pay ridiculous import prices to hear it.
Inexplicably, Epic – Heyward’s label at the time – took a pass on releasing his 1994 album, Tangled, in America. This is not hyperbole; I really have absolutely no explanation for why they chose not to put it out over here. The guy was in an optimal position to build on the success of From Monday to Sunday, and he was completely denied that opportunity, which is – to be frank – fucked up. Did someone think that he’d already defied the odds once by having a hit with a breezy pop song in the middle of grunge, and that there was no way he could repeat it? If so, they clearly never actually listened to Tangled. It would be an overstatement to suggest that Nick really rocked out with his cock out or anything, but to hear his opening salvo, “Kill Another Day,” was to be aware that he’d toughened up his act at least a little bit.
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