Song of the Day: ‘The Unloving Plum’ by Haircut 100

 

As promised, Haircut 100 today released their first new music in over 40 years. "The Unloving Plum," available on all platforms, is the debut single from the long-overdue proper follow-up to 1982's "Pelican West." Hardcore fans will remember that the boys had laid down 10 tracks for the sophomore effort in 1983 -- five with vocals ("Brookfield Girl," "Haley's Heart," "I Believe in Sunday," "Sunny Boy, Sunny Girl" and "Club Boy at Sea") and five without ("Cheek to Cheek," "Maytime Moments," "Steambus Junction," "Blue Hat" and "Coming Home") -- before Nick Heyward left the band after a mental breakdown, convinced he was no longer welcome in his own group. Of those, only "Club Boy at Sea." "Blue Hat" (now fleshed out with lyrics as "Blue Hat for a Blue Day") and "Coming Home" (now with lyrics as "When It Started to Begin" -- have materialized, all on Nick's "North of a Miracle" solo debut. (Another HC100 demo called "Moving England" wound up becoming "Whistle Down the Wind," also on the solo debut.) Will be curious to see if any of the other tracks resurface on the still-unnamed album planned for 2025.

   

 Until then, enjoy "The Unloving Plum," which captures the boys at their bubbly best.

P.S. Here's a look at the bootleg Greg and I produced of the lost album in 2004. Interesting that on the live version of "Coming Home" included here, it's being performed at a Haircut 100 gig (on Graham's birthday) and Nick says it hasn't been recorded yet -- "because it's not good enough" -- but that "it's off our next album ... better than the first one."