Music Box: Haircut 100

Love minus one

I hear that five years after their triumphant reunion on VH1's "Bands Reunited," Haircut 100 played together again this past December at Cadogan Hall in London. (Were any of you there? Would love to hear details! Have brief pre-concert interview below.) Hardly anything makes me happier than to hear "Love Plus One" or "Fantastic Day" from the band's 1982 debut. And Nick Heyward's solo career has certainly had no shortage of pop gems ("Whistle Down the Wind," "Over the Weekend," "Traffic in Fleet Street" and "Kite," to name a few). But even after all these years, my friend Greg and I still have a huge amount of affection for H100's one post-Nick album, "Paint and Paint." Percussionist-turned-singer Marc Fox all but called the album rubbish on the VH1 reunion special, saying he was out of his league and just tried to write and sing the songs "the way he thought Nick would have." But in my mind, "Too Up, Two Down," "So Tired," "40-40 Home" and "Prime Time" rival anything on "Pelican West" or Nick's solo albums. (And what about those gorgeous singles sleeves?) Having only gotten my vinyl transferred to digital files in the last few years, it's certainly been in heaviest rotation around my house. Is this because I am making up for 20 lost years or because it's my favorite album? If you've heard it then you know the answer is immaterial. But if you don't want to give me the benefit of the doubt, you can download the album for the next seven days HERE.

A reunion show at Cadogan Hall on Dec. 18, 2009, that at the time was billed as a "one off" thing.