Haysi Fantayzee

Haysi Fantayzee were a British New Wave band of the early 1980s.

Career

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, the band had several UK hits in 1982 and 1983 such as the singles "John Wayne is Big Leggy", "Shiny Shiny", and "Sister Friction". 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 comparedwho to Boy George's look.

The band's catchy music often had darkly humorous, subversive lyrics. "Shiny, Shiny" is an upbeat dance tune about the apocalypse, while "John Wayne is Big Leggy" is about John Wayne refusing to remove his holster when he has sex with a Native American woman.

The band often garnered musical comparisonswho to such other New Wave pop acts as Bow Wow Wow, Bananarama, and Adam and the Ants. Garner appeared alongside Bananarama in the music video for "Who's That Girl" by the Eurythmics. The duo released only one studio album: 1983's "Battle Hymns for Children Singing" on RCA Records. 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.

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.

Jeremy Healy became a DJ and album mixer for other artists, including his former schoolfriend, Boy George [http://www.trustthedj.com/JeremyHealy] .

Caplin now runs [http://www.caplin.com Caplin Systems] , an internet software company.

Discography

1982
* 7" single - "John Wayne is Big Leggy" (REGARD - RG100) #11 UK"John Wayne is Big Leggy" / "Sabres of Paradise"
* 7" single - "Holy Joe" (REGARD - RG104) #51 UK"Holy Joe" / "Okay Daddy"

1983
* 7" single - "Shiny Shiny" (REGARD - RG106) #16 UK"Shiny Shiny" / "Shiny Shiny [Bon Temps] "
* 7" single - "Sister Friction" (REGARD - RG108) #62 UK"Sister Friction" / "Here Comes The Beast"
* 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"

See also

*List of performers on Top of the Pops
*List of New Wave bands and artists

External links

* [http://www.deadoralive.net/haysifantayzee/articles/pf.html Haysi Recollections] Unofficial Site
* Haysi Fantayzee at [http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=haysi_fantayzee Trouser Press]
* [http://www.paramountcomedy.com/comedy/watn/article.aspx?id=28 Where are they all now?]