Miracle cure
NICK HEYWARD “North Of A Miracle” (Arista L 38167). This album has been a long time coming to New Zealand, having been released in Britain in October. Heyward, the former lead singer for Haircut One Hundred, therefore is ahead of other soloists like Howard Jones and Nik Kershaw in the recent releases stakes.
However, to some extent “North Of A Miracle” shows some of the dangers of over-indulgence. Heyward himself admits that some of the songs were written with Haircut One Hundred in mind, but were completely changed after the acrimonious split between him and the remaining two members of the band more than a year ago. While his former colleagues resorted to legal tactics (and lost) Heyward turned to music, but if the constraints of a supposedly wind-up (leg-pull) band produced limitations, then the very lack of limits can also be debilitating as “North Of A Miracle” shows.
The best example is “The Day It Rained Forever,” featuring a 66-piece orchestra. It must be nice to be able to have the knowledge that such an action can be taken for a track, but then the crunch is whether it is necessary. Heyward’s vocals
do not stretch enough to take in such a task. The album takes in his three solo singles, “Whistle Down The Wind” (meant for Haircut One Hundred), “Take That Situation,” and the popular “Blue Nat For A Blue Day.” These three songs along with the startling tracks, “When It Started To Begin” and “On A Sunday,” make listening worthwhile. “North Of A Miracle” must be viewed in context as a reaction to the music business excesses of his previous band. Hence a song like “The Kick Of Love” features jazz virtuosos Bill Le Sage (piano) and lan Laws (guitar), but Heyward’s vocals, nor a starstudded cast deserve such a fate. Against that the final track, “Atlantic Monday,” shows what can be done, when it uses a soul backing chorus and a neat sax touch from Chris White. “North Of A Miracle” is not an easy album to enter. It is unusually quiet in places, so it is easy to step over the essence of what it contains — gems worked out from bitter experience. Hopefully, Heyward has got the split out of his system now and we can get a more stable work. -NEVIN ibpP.
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Press, 17 May 1984, Page 18
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390Miracle cure Press, 17 May 1984, Page 18
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