Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band, originally from
Charlottetown
Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...
,
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...
, Canada.
History
Haywire was formed in Charlottetown in 1981 by Paul MacAusland (vocals), Marvin Birt (guitar/vocals), David Rashed (keys/vocals), Ronnie Switzer (bass/vocals) and Scott Roberts (drums). Ron "Bumble" LeBlanc replaced Roberts in 1984, playing with the band through their demo, EP, and three cuts on their debut Attic release before leaving to continue his education. Mac Cole filled the drum seat briefly until Sean Kilbride (a long-time friend of the band) rounded out the line-up.
In 1984, they won the " Q104 Homegrown" (Volume 1) contest; the first prize was the chance to record a single, but the band took the opportunity to invest additional money of their own and record a five-song EP, ''Haywire'' (1985), which eventually sold over 5,000 copies in the Maritimes. In 1985, they won the Labatt's "Battle of the Bands" competition, and used the $10,000 first prize to record more material. In 1986, the group signed a recording contract with Canadian independent label
Attic Records
Attic Records was a Canadian independent record label,
Their first album, '' Bad Boys'' (1986), went platinum in Canada, while the title track became a
Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
hit. The following year, they released '' Don't Just Stand There'' (1987), which also went platinum, and contained their highest charting hit, the hard-driving, "Dance Desire". A promised third video was not forthcoming from the label, so Haywire financed the video for "Fire" themselves. Throughout the late 1980s, Haywire toured with other popular Canadian rockers such as
Helix
A helix () is a shape like a corkscrew or spiral staircase. It is a type of smooth space curve with tangent lines at a constant angle to a fixed axis. Helices are important in biology, as the DNA molecule is formed as two intertwined helices, ...
,
Honeymoon Suite
Honeymoon Suite is a Canadian rock band formed in 1981 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The band's name was a nod to the fact that Niagara Falls is the unofficial honeymoon capital of the world.
History 1981–1985
The band was originally formed ...
and
Kim Mitchell
Joseph Kim Mitchell (born July 10, 1952) is a Canadian rock musician. He was the lead singer and guitarist for the band Max Webster before going on to a solo career. His 1984 single, " Go for Soda", was his only charted song on the US ''Billbo ...
. They also represented Canada in the World Popular Song Festival in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, where "Dance Desire" won the award for best song. Despite their success in Canada, and interest from managers Doc McGee (
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...
,
Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1981. The group was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil. Mötley Crüe has sold over 100 million albums ...
,
Skid Row
A skid row or skid road is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or fo ...
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1976 in Sheffield. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitar, backing vocals), a ...
,
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
,
Queensrÿche
Queensrÿche is an American heavy metal band. It formed in 1982 in Bellevue, Washington, out of the local band the Mob. The band has released 16 studio albums, one EP, and several DVDs, and continues to tour and record. The original lineup ...
) and label interest from Chrysalis Records, they were unable to secure a U.S.
recording contract
A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...
due to limitations related to their contract with Attic Records.
The follow-up album, '' Nuthouse'' (1990), was recorded in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
with producer Bjorn Nessjo. Unsatisfied with the final mix of the album, Haywire flew back to Canada and remixed it themselves; the final result was a harder edged, guitar-driven record. The videos for the first two singles, "Short End of a Wishbone" and "Operator Central", were the most expensive Canadian music videos produced that year. Although it hit platinum sales, the album represented a major change in musical direction, and as a result alienated some of the younger fans of the band's first two records. While it did garner significant AOR radio airplay and was well-received, the record company was unenthusiastic about the new direction and following, and as a result Attic halted promotion of the album without a promised third video.
The band produced one more album, '' Get Off'' (1992), which was critically well-received, but again did not receive adequate support from the record company. Haywire produced the album's first two videos ("Get Back" and "Wanna Be The One") for the price of one, with the label promising a third for the single "Buzz" (their second-highest charting single, at No. 13) which ultimately was not produced. After prolonged contractual struggles, the group refused to re-sign with Attic; to fulfill Haywire's contractual obligations, Attic released a greatest hits CD in 1993 (entitled ''Wired: The Best of Haywire'') without the band's input.
The band had their albums re-issued in the United States on CD through
Unidisc Music
Unidisc Music is a Canadian independent record label. The label is known for releasing rare music, that was made between the mid-1960s and late 1980s. Genres include rock, electronic, funk, soul, hip hop, jazz, reggae, Latin, disco and a cappel ...
.
In November 2006, Haywire were awarded the Music Prince Edward Island Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2011, Haywire were presented with the Dr. Helen Creighton 'Lifetime Achievement Award' from the
East Coast Music Association
The East Coast Music Association is a non-profit association that hosts an annual awards ceremony based in Atlantic Canada for music appreciation on the East Coast of Canada. Its mission is to develop, advance and celebrate East Coast Canadian mus ...
(ECMA)
Haywire continues to work on new album material with an album release in 2021.
Original members
* Paul MacAusland - Vocals, percussion
* Dave Rashed - Keyboards, piano, guitars, backing vocals
* Marvin Birt - Guitars, backing vocals
* Ronnie Switzer - Bass, backing vocals
* Sean Kilbride - Drums, percussion
* "Bad Bad Boy" (1986) No. 21 CAN
* "Standin' in Line" (1986) No. 71 CAN
* "Shot in the Dark" (1986 - no video) No. 96 CAN
* "Dance Desire" (1987) No. 10 CAN
* "Black and Blue" (1987) No. 37 CAN
* "Thinkin' About the Years" (1988 - no video) No. 35 CAN
* "Fire" (1988)
* "Operator Central" (1989)
* "Short End of a Wishbone" (1990) No. 56 CAN
* "Taken the Pain" (1991 - no video)
* "Get Back" (1992) No. 46 CAN
* "Wanna Be the One" (1992)
* "Buzz" (1992 - no video) No. 13 CAN