Nick Heyward and Big Country, July 1982

A “pop carnival” in Sefton Park

Hello. I have some news.

I can now announce that my punk rock memoir, Atypical Girl, will be published by Polygon Books in autumn 2025.

It’s going to keep me busy so I’ll probably need to post here less often while I’m working on the book. The plan is to make this fortnightly from now on.

And now, back to the archive…

Nick Heyward and Big Country

I briefly wrote (under a pseudonym) for a new pop magazine called Number 1 (or No 1!, as it said on the masthead). It was edited by Mark Cooper who later became Head of Music at the BBC.

The magazine included interviews, song lyrics and a live review section called In The Flesh. This edition offered a disparate cast list that included Kim Wilde, Mary Jane Girls, Mike Oldfield and Killing Joke. Not to mention Liverpool groups Echo & the Bunnymen and the Lotus Eaters.

It’s nice to see a mention here of the late Janice Long, who started her career as a DJ on Radio Merseyside before joining Radio 1. She is still much missed.

The gigs were on 2nd/3rd July and were broadcast on 23rd/25th August.

The photo on my About page was taken backstage at the event. I was living near Sefton Park in Liverpool’s trendy Lark Lane area at the time and it took about five minutes to walk home after the gigs.

Nick Heyward and Big Country

Number One, July 16, 1983

There was a carnival spirit in Liverpool when the BBC filmed Nick Heyward and Big Country for a Riverside special during a two day open-air concert. The atmosphere was magical until those inevitable few troublemakers spoilt the event for everyone else... Mathew Street packed his picnic and spent the weekend in Sefton Park.

A pop carnival is like a rock festival, but different. If it's pop it's got to be more fun, and have more style.

Liverpool, then, would hardly seem the obvious place for such an event, but in fact it's the perfect choice. Sefton Park is an ideal setting for live music, with a magnificent Victorian bandstand set on an island, grassy banks to give the audience the best possible view, and a lake for cooling off the over-enthusiastic.

It's already used for the annual Lark In The Park festivals of all-local music which take place over the August bank holiday. This weekend the organisers have joined forces with the BBC - who are filming for a Riverside special to be shown in the autumn - to bring an extra two days of free entertainment.

Local talent is well represented, with two up-and-coming Merseyside groups as support. Cook Da Books' punchy sounds complement Big Country on the Saturday night, and there's The Icicle Works' romantic power, before Nick Heyward on Sunday.

In addition, Saturday gave us Craig Charles, one of the most talented of the new breed of poets working alongside pop culture. Craig's abrasive, incisive poems like 'In The City' reminded everyone of the harsher realities of their home - but kept them entertained as well.

When Big Country arrive on stage, the mood is one of pure celebration.

Their music goes down well in the intimate atmosphere of a club or theatre, but outdoors is more of a challenge. The park provides its own romantic glamour as the sunlight fades, and the group do the rest.

Because it's a free festival there are people of all ages and tastes here as well as fans, and there's something in Big Country's music to please most people. They open with a rousing version of 'Fields Of Fire' and keep up the excitement to the end.

Some of the songs from the forthcoming LP, like the melancholy 'The Storm', have a very traditional feel. But even the atmospheric instrumental passages are fast-moving.

At the edge of the crowd, people can be seen dancing round the trees. The guitars ring across the lake, singing in the cool night air, and inspire thoughts of hills and open spaces. It's just right for the occasion.

Nick Heyward attracts a different kind of audience, and generates a different atmosphere too.

By Sunday afternoon temperatures are soaring and so are emotions. There were even fans screaming at the soundcheck.

In the face of such devotion, The Icicle Works' set in the evening earned an extraordinarily enthusiastic response for a support group. Currently touring the country with their new single 'Birds Fly', they're gathering a devoted following themselves.

There's another surprise later: Nick Heyward doesn't act like a teen idol any more.

His new group, an eight-piece of veteran musicians, seem to signal his intention to be taken seriously.

Their experience and professionalism certainly show. The brass section in particular is a wonder to hear, blasting out on songs like 'Coming Home' or the old Wilson Pickett number 'Don't Fight it'.

But surrounding yourself with serious musicians doesn't automatically make you one of them, and surrounding yourself with experience can just make you look young. Nick Heyward's always seemed young, of course, and that's part of his appeal, but he's thrown away the boyish charm of the Haircut 100 days without replacing it with anything else.

This band simply aren't as much fun.

And they're not having much fun themselves tonight. Where there's love (and the girls are screaming even before the first sight of Nick), there's going to be hate as well - and there are elements in the crowd who don't care about the spirit of the occasion, and haven't come for the music.

The band finish their set abruptly and Janice Long announces that they can't play any more because Nick's hand has been injured by one of the bottles being thrown at the stage.

It's a sad ending to what was almost a wonderful summer weekend.

Watch the TV show

Some people have put the TV shows on YouTube. Obviously, the copyright belongs to the BBC so I can’t condone this. Enjoy while you can.

Nick Heyward

Big Country

More on Nick Heyward

Here’s my review of Nick Heyward a year earlier when he was still in Haircut 100.