Haysi Fantayzee were a British New Wave band of the early 1980s. Allmusic journalist, Andy Kellman, notes "Haysi Fantayzee was a quirky pop group, known most for its colourful thrift shop image and successful debut single, "John Wayne Is Big Leggy".[1]
Formation
Formed in 1981 and fronted by white dreadlocked singers Jeremy Healy (also known as Jeremiah) and Kate Garner, and with Garner's boyfriend songwriter/producer/manager Paul Caplin in the background.[1] During this period Garner and Healy used the surname "Fantayzee". The band released four singles in 1982 and 1983: "John Wayne is Big Leggy", "Holy Joe", "Shiny Shiny", and "Sister Friction", and an album, Battle Hymns For Children Singing. The band never broke through to the same kind of success in the United States, although they did enjoy some popularity there. Originally Caplin and Garner had intended to make music with just Garner performing, but then they met Healy (who at nineteen, was a few years younger than Garner) and decided to pair them up. The band used their artsy look as a selling point, making a crude video performance and using that instead of a demo tape to sell the band to record companies. Their attention-grabbing outfits were often designed by Garner. The two singers looked like distorted mirror images of each other, with similar hair and make-up. Their glamorous ragamuffin style was frequently compared[by whom?] to Boy George's look. In a 1983 interview with David Maples on the Los Angeles-based TV show "MV3", Jeremy Healy accused the singer known as Boy George (George O'Dowd) of stealing his infamous look.
Success
The band's catchy music often had darkly humorous, subversive lyrics. "John Wayne is Big Leggy" is about John Wayne and his racist views (or at least the views he was portrayed as having in films), though having sex with "his squaw", and refusing to remove his bullet belt. The B-side of the single, "The Sabres of Paradise" was taken from the album. "Shiny, Shiny" is an upbeat dance tune about the apocalypse; the B-side "Shiny Shiny Bon Temps" is a somewhat faster and almost impromptu-sounding version of the song. "Holy Joe" talks of good versus evil; (the B-side, "OK Big Daddy", was the album track, "More Money" played backwards, and the fourth single, "Sister Friction" appears to be about masturbation (B-side, "Here Comes the Beast", taken from the album). Extended versions of all four songs were released as 12" singles, as were 7" picture discs. A limited number the of 7" single of "Sister Friction" included a large double-sided poster. When "Sister Friction" was released, the group appeared to attempting a slightly new image, using completely different style lettering on the single, which was made to look as if sprayed from a paint can, and somewhat different clothes, covered in silver and gold designs and lettering.[citation needed]
Battle Hymns for Children Singing was released at the same time as "Shiny Shiny". The cover photo of the album was variation of the cover of "Shiny Shiny", with cartoon Healy and Garner dancing around the photos of the "real" ones on the front cover, and Caplin on the back. A limited number had a photo book included, which contained many black and white and colour photos of the group, some fairly sexually explicit. The album on cassette included an extra song called "In The Mix". On his website, Healy claims to have made up the album's title on the spot when some journalists asked him what the record would be called. Battle Hymns For Children Singing has been released on CD in two forms: the first is the original album, with some of the 12" extended versions of the singles, and their B-Sides (the extended version of "Shiny Shiny" (called "Shiny Shiny Dance") was quite different from the version originally released on 12" single, despite having the same name). The second, called The Best of Haysi Fantayzee, Battle Hymns For Children Singing included an extra track called "Jimmy Jive" (ie. not the album track "Jimmy Jive Jive"). "In The Mix", the extra track on the original cassette was not included on either CD release. "In The Mix" is occasionally seen as a one-sided 12" single in record collecting magazines and websites. This release is rare and expensive to buy.
After Haysi Fantayzee
Garner appeared alongside Bananarama in the music video for "Who's That Girl" by the Eurythmics. In early 1984, an article in Smash Hits magazine by Marilyn, stated he was having an affair with Garner, and wanted a baby with her to celebrate their love. Garner had a brief solo career after the break-up of Haysi Fantayzee, and then focused on a career in photography in Los Angeles, California.
Healy released the single "When Malindy Sings" in 1984, and later became a DJ and album mixer for other artists, including his former schoolfriend, Boy George.[2] He recorded on George's More Protein record label under the name E-Zee Possee.
Caplin now runs Caplin Systems,[3] an internet software company.
Discography
1982
- 7" single - "John Wayne is Big Leggy" / "Sabres of Paradise" (Regard - RG100) - #11 UK
- 7" single - "John Wayne is Big Leggy" / "Sabres of Paradise" (Regard - RGP100)PICTURE DISC
- 12" single - "John Wayne is Big Leggy" [Groovy Long Version] / [Single Version] /"Sabres of Paradise" (Regard - RGT100)
- 7" single - "Holy Joe" / "Okay Daddy" (Regard - RG104) - #51 UK
- 7" single - "Holy Joe" / "Okay Daddy" (Regard - RGP104)PICTURE DISC
- 12" single - "Holy Joe" [Remix]/ [Single Version] / "Okay Daddy" (Regard - RGT104)
1983
- 7" single - "Shiny Shiny" / "Shiny Shiny [Bon Temps]" (Regard - RG106) - #16 UK
- 7" single - "Shiny Shiny" / "Shiny Shiny [Bon Temps]" (Regard - RGP106) PICTURE DISC
- 12" single - "Shiny Shiny" [Dance Mix] / [Single Version] / "Shiny Shiny [Bon Temps]" (Regard - RGT106) [Note: The version released in the USA is a different remix than the UK mix]
- 7" single - "Sister Friction" / "Here Comes The Beast" (Regard - RG108) - #62 UK [Also available in poster sleeve package]
- Shaped 10" single - "Sister Friction" / "Here Comes The Beast" (Regard - RG108)PICTURE DISC, Die-cut to the shape of the pictures.
- 12" Single - "Sister Friction Remix" / "Jimmy Jive" / "Here Comes The Beast" (Regard - RGT108)[Note: "Jimmy Jive" is an instrumental dub remix of the album track "Jimmy Jive Jive"]
- 12" single - "Chizoola" [Single Version] / "Here Comes The Beast" [Single Version] (Regard RGC200) [Italian only release, no picture sleeve]
- 12" single - "In The Mix" [Album Sampler Megamix; single sided] (RGT 99) [Promo only release, no picture sleeve]
- LP - Battle Hymns For Children Singing (Regard - RGLP6000) #53 UK
- "Shiny Shiny" / "I Lost My Dodi" / "More Money" / "Jimmy Jive Jive" / "Sabres Of Paradise" / "Shoofly Love" / "Make Me A Sinner" / "Chizoola" / "John Wayne is Big Leggy" / "Here Comes The Beast"
- (Also available on cassette with the bonus track "In The Mix".)
- (Also available on CD [released in 2000 on the Razor & Tie label] with multiple bonus tracks)
- (Re-released on CD in 2007 on the Cherry Pop label with different bonus tracks)
[4]
See also
References
External links
