Haywire
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| Haywire | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Origin | Charlottetown, PEI, Canada  |
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| Genre(s) | AOR/Hard rock | |
| Years active | 1982–1993, 2004-present | |
| Label(s) | Attic Records | |
| Members | ||
| Dave Rashed Paul MacAusland Marvin Birt Ronnie Switzer |
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- For other uses, see Haywire (disambiguation).
Haywire is a Canadian AOR/hard rock band originally from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
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The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. |
Haywire formed in Charlottetown, PEI in 1982 by Dave Rashed, Paul MacAusland, Marvin Birt and Ronnie Switzer. After recording a 5-song EP that sold well in the Maritimes, they were signed to a national record deal in early 1986. 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 biggest ever hit, the hard-driving "Dance Desire". Throughout the late 80's, 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, Skid Row, etc.), Q-Prime (management for Metallica, Shania Twain, Red Hot Chili Peppers etc) & Chrysalis Records (to name one prominent record company), they were unable to secure a US record deal; rumoured due to totally unrealistic demands from Attic.
The follow-up album, "Nuthouse", was recorded in Norway with Bjorn Nessjoe at the production helm; one of Europe's most sought-after producers at the time. Unsatisfied with the results, Haywire fired Nessjoe, remixed the album themselves and released it in 1990. It was guitar-driven, had a much harder edge and was considered to be the style of music the band wanted to pursue, rather than the pop pap their record label thought was necessary. Though it went gold (eventually hitting platinum sales), it didn't generate as much interest as their previous albums (and received the least amount of support from the record label). They produced one more album, 1992's Get Off, which was critically well-received, but still didn't fuel the support from the record company (financial and otherwise) that they needed. After contractual struggles, the group refused to re-sign with their label Attic, and was unable to secure a new contract Stateside. To fulfill their contractual obligations with Haywire, Attic released a greatest hits CD in 1993 entitled Wired - Best of without any input from the band. The band eventually broke up in the mid-1990's.
Continual radio play in Canada has brought the band together in recent years for smaller scale tours with other acts from the Eighties. The band has recently had their albums re-issued on CD through Unidisc Music Inc.. In November of 2006, Haywire were inducted into the Prince Edward Island Music Hall Of Fame.
[edit] Original members
- Paul MacAusland - Vocals
- Dave Rashed - Keyboards, backing vocals
- Marvin Birt - Guitars, backing vocals
- Ronnie Switzer - Bass
[edit] Additional members
- Sean Kilbride - Drums
- Adam Dowling - Drums
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Haywire - 1985
- Bad Boys - 1986
- Don't Just Stand There - 1987
- Nuthouse - 1990
- Get Off - 1992
- Wired - Best of - 1993
[edit] Singles
- "Bad Bad Boy" (1986) #40 CAN
- "Standin' in Line" (1986)
- "Shot in the Dark" (1986 - no video)
- "Dance Desire" (1987) #21 CAN
- "Black and Blue" (1987)
- "Fire" (1988)
- "Thinkin' About the Years" (1988 - no video) #38 CAN
- "Operator Central" (1989)
- "Short End of a Wishbone" (1990)
- "Taken the Pain" (1991 - no video)
- "Get Back" (1992)
- "Wanna Be the One" (1992)
- "Buzz" (1992 - no video)
