80s icon returns to city to showcase new album

BY STEVE HENDRY stephen.hendry@reachplc.com Glasgow, was renowned for living a life of rock ’n’ roll excess. But he was turning over a new leaf when he worked with Nick.

He said: “Alan was going through a health kick and he was eating a lot of oranges at the time. To me, he is Mr Orange Blossom. He used to come down to the studio with loads of oranges and say, ‘That’s genius’ about everything, which is always good to hear.

“He was a really positive guy and wanting me to come on Creation? Wow. I had grown up with Creation, I was a big Teenage Fanclub fan and it was like getting a stamp of approval from the ‘Indie God’. I have such fond memories of that period. It was an honour.”

The critically acclaimed Woodland Echoes is a return to the limelight for Nick, 57.

He formed Haircut One Hundred with school friends Graham Jones and Les Nemes and after expanding to a six-piece, they signed with Arista Records in 1981 and became stars overnight.

They had four UK Top 10 singles between 1981 and 1982 – Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl), Love Plus One, Nobody’s Fool and Fantastic Day. heir debut album Pelican West, released in 1982, reached No2 in the charts and went platinum. Nick was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award.

By January 1983, however, the band were falling apart and Nick went solo.

He said: “We were overcome. It was always a free-for-all with Haircut One Hundred. Everybody piled on the bus. We had people on the bus and we didn’t know who they were.

“We had a manager at the beginning and he proved unscrupulous. We were then rudderless, a big band without a manager. Then, the record company were managing us, then the lawyers were managing us, then the lawyers’ lawyers.

“It was just a big mess and we were kind of cut adrift. Stresses started to show, people in the band not wanting other people in it. I lost control as leader and then that really was it. It’s like a football team without a manager. They fall apart.”

The band fell into oblivion but Nick enjoyed a successful solo career with hits including Whistle Down The Wind, Take That Situation and Blue Hat For a Blue Day.

His glory days at the top of the charts are long behind him but he’s happy operating under his own steam.

Woodland