Haywire

Haywire

Haywire. Hard rock band, formed in Charlottetown in 1982 by singer Paul MacAusland, guitarist Marvin Birt, keyboard player David Rashad, and bassist Ron Switzer. Sean Kilbride was the last in a succession of drummers. A self-produced EP, Haywire, issued in 1985, capitalized on the band's Maritime popularity, and was followed by three albums 1986-90 for Attic: Bad Boys (LAT-1220), Don't Just Stand There (LAT-1239) and Nuthouse (ACD-1283), the second exceeding 150,000 in Canadian sales. Haywire had national hits with 'Bad, Bad Boys' (1986), 'Dance Desire' and 'Black and Blue' (1987), and 'Thinkin' About the Years' (1988), before its move from melodic, hard-rock to the brasher, metal-influenced style of Nuthouse (eg, 'Short End of a Wishbone' and 'Operator Central') diminished its mainstream popularity. Haywire has toured nationally with Kim Mitchell and Helix, and on its own, and in 1987 appeared at the World Song Fest in Tokyo where it won an award for 'Dance Desire'.