Nick Heyward, frontman of 1980s band Haircut 100, has released a memoir titled Fantastic Days that details the full story behind the group's sudden break-up, including his father's theft of royalties, his mental health struggles, and a secret daughter he only met in 2021.
At the start of the 1980s, bands like Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, and Culture Club dominated charts worldwide. For a brief period in 1982, Haircut 100 were equally huge. Fronted by Heyward, the south London band's hits Love Plus One, Fantastic Day, and Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl) from their platinum-selling debut album Pelican West made them stars, with the BBC offering them their own sitcom. They were also successful in the US, with their colourful image and funky style making them both pin-ups and respected musicians.
The Band's Collapse and Family Betrayal
Within a year, the six-piece had imploded. Heyward, now 65, says he felt it was the right time to share his story. He told the Express: "Now that I'm 65, it felt the right time to get it all out there. Although my wife Sara had to really force me into putting it all down properly too."
In October 1982, under pressure to record a follow-up to Pelican West, Heyward had written new songs he wasn't happy with. He had also fired percussionist Marc Fox for undermining his bandmates. The band lacked a proper manager, having parted with their first manager after rows about money, and ended up with a consortium of four managers, including Heyward's father, pub landlord Ken. Heyward said: "None of them should have been managing us. But they each manoeuvred it so that none of them could be removed. I recently came across Dad's 'masterplan' for the band. It was literally written on the back of a cigarette packet."
Two years later, Heyward's new manager discovered that Ken had been routinely stealing the fortune his son should have earned from Haircut 100's success. Ken finally admitted his guilt after Heyward's mother Anna died from emphysema in 2003, having denied the theft for years. Ken also died from emphysema in 2008.
Heyward reflected: "Emotionally, in many ways Dad was a child. Mum was so devoted to Dad that she enabled him to be like he was. I don't think Dad could help himself, to an extent. When he finally owned up, I was able to have the relationship with him it should have always been. But I should say that Dad was always a brilliant granddad to my kids. He was so naughty and inappropriate, but he was able to have the fun with my kids he didn't allow himself with me and Pete."
A Secret Daughter and a Life-Changing Moment
During Haircut 100's success, Heyward was seen as a clean-cut pin-up, but he had already become a father at 15, having a child with his girlfriend Elaine in 1977. Elaine's father forbade contact and vowed the child would be put up for adoption. Heyward has never seen Elaine since. He kept the daughter secret from the public but told his children, Ollie and Kate. It was Kate who discovered the daughter's identity, Tracey, on a genealogy website during lockdown in 2021. Father and daughter met near Tracey's home in the Lake District.
Heyward admitted: "I don't know how I'm going to get through reading it out loud. I'm welling up just thinking about Tracey now. Turning 65 was a big part of writing my book, but I don't think I'd have been ready to write it if I didn't have the resolution of knowing what happened to that baby."
Before becoming a singer, Heyward considered fashion, and he noted coincidences with Tracey: "Tracey worked in fashion. She even went to the fashion college, St Martin's, that I'd wanted to attend. There are so many remarkable coincidences in mine and Tracey's lives. When Tracey and her husband went house hunting, they looked at a house I'd once lived in."
Panic Attacks and Reunion
At the height of their success, Heyward suffered panic attacks and was treated by an infamous music industry medic known as "Dr Fixit", who prescribed unlabelled pills. After taking the pills with alcohol, Heyward's body shut down and he spent six weeks in a mental health clinic. The band resented his hospitalisation and replaced him with Marc Fox, the percussionist they had just fired.
Heyward said: "I've never spoken properly to Graham or Les about it. But everyone knows mental health was viewed very differently in 1982 than it is now. I'm pleased there's less of a 'Just get on with it' attitude in the music industry now. And if only we'd had a proper manager looking after us, Haircut 100 would have lasted a lot longer than we did."
On April 30, 1998, after being dropped from his solo contract and living alone, Heyward collapsed with back pains. Instead of a panic attack, he felt a moment of total calm. He said: "In an instant, all the anger and resentment I'd felt, it was totally gone. And it's never returned from that day since."
Heyward reunited with Haircut 100 in 2023 for a one-off London concert, and they stayed together to release a second album, Boxing The Compass, this year. His live UK acoustic tour runs November 14 to December 3, and the compilation The Essential Nick Heyward is released on November 27.
