Nick Heyward

Nick Heyward was born in Beckenham, Kent, on May 20th 1961. On leaving Kelsey Park School in 1977, he went to work as a commercial artist, but he had dreams of becoming a pop star. "I got into music because my girlfriend chucked me and because of Paul McCartney's beard when he sung in 'Let It Be'," Nick told Paul Gorman in Music Week in 1995. And soon, Heyward and his friends were ditching names such as Boat Party and Captain Pennyworth left, right and center and became Haircut 100. They played the pop game perfectly, tucking their Aran jumpers into their trousers, riding the post-new romantic funk wave, marrying Chic with the Monkees and opening their shows with a blistering cover of Low Rider by War. Haircut 100 burnt briefly and brightly - the ultimate group of pals who, within a year, had hit the big time. It finished as quickly as it began; the band parted ways and Nick's first solo album, North Of A Miracle, was released in September 1983. North Of A Miracle set out his stall;