Haywire (band)

History

Haywire formed in Charlottetown in 1981 by David Rashed, Paul MacAusland, Marvin Birt, Scott Roberts and Ronnie Switzer. In 1984 they won the Q104 Homegrown Vol. 1 contest; the first prize was the chance to record a single, but they took the opportunity to invest their own money and record a 5-song EP, which eventually sold over 5000 copies in the Maritimes. In 1985 they won the Labatt's Battle of the Bands, and used the $10,000 first prize to record more material. While the band member lineup had been largely unaltered from the start, drummer Sean Kilbride was the fourth drummer in the group's short history. Ron "Bumble" LeBlanc had replaced the original Haywire drummer Scott Roberts in 1984. He remained with the band through their demo stages, EP, and can be heard playing on two cuts of the band's first record with Attic. LeBlanc was replaced by Mac Cole when he decided to move on from the group and pursue a formal education. Cole only played two months with the band, when Haywire's long-time friend Kilbride became available for the job. In the summer of 1986 the group signed up Kilbride and successfully pursued a record contract with Attic.

Their first full-length album, Bad Boys, went platinum in Canada, while the title track became a Top 40 hit. The following year, they released Don't Just Stand There, 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. Although this showed great initiative and conviction by the group, this inexplicably did not please Attic. Throughout the late 1980s, Haywire toured with other popular Canadian rockers such as Helix, Honeymoon Suite and Kim Mitchell. They also represented Canada in the World Popular Song Festival in Japan, where "Dance Desire" won the award for best song. Despite their success in Canada, and interest Stateside from Doc McGee (Management for Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe and Skid Row); Q-Prime; and Chrysalis Records, they were unable to secure a US recording contract due to unrealistic demands from their record company.

The follow-up album, Nuthouse, was recorded in Norway with Bjorn Nessjo at the production helm; one of Europe's most sought-after producers at the time. Unsatisfied with the final mix of the album, Haywire flew back to Canada and remixed it themselves. The final result was guitar-driven, had a much harder edge and was the direction the band had always wanted to pursue, rather than the soft-rock/pop-rock pap their record label thought was necessary. The videos for the first two singles, "Short End of a Wishbone" & "Operator Central" were the most expensive Canadian videos produced that year. Although it hit platinum sales it was a major change in musical direction and as a result, alienated some of the younger fans they attracted with their first two offerings...while it did garner major AOR radioplay and was well-received, the record company wasn't willing to nurture & develop the new direction and following, and as a result Attic shelved the album without a third video as promised - again. They produced one more album, 1992's Get Off, which was critically well-received, but still did not fuel the support from the record company (financial and otherwise) that they needed. Haywire compromised, and had the first two videos made for the price of one with the label promising a third for the single "Buzz". Once again, Attic did not deliver. This was quite short-sighted as the single reached No. 13 without video support (their highest chart ranking, second only to "Dance Desire"). After contractual struggles, the group refused to re-sign with their label Attic. To fulfill their contractual obligations with Haywire, Attic released a greatest hits CD in 1993 entitled Wired: Best of without the band's input.

The band has had their albums re-issued on CD through Unidisc Music. 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 (ECMA)

In 2015, Haywire continues to work on a new album and plan to release 2016.

Original members

Albums

EP

Compilations

Singles