Michael Head has announced the launch of his official website. The site offers fans their first opportunity to buy T-shirts for Shack’s seminal album ‘Waterpistol’ along with a range of shirts for his current musical collective The Red Elastic Band, some of which are limited edition. More designs will be added for each of Head’s previous bands – The Pale Fountains, Shack and The Strands.
Updates and previews of new music will be delivered through short films, which the Liverpool based musician is making alongside an audio-visual project, the details of which are yet to be released. Check out Michael Head’s official website HERE.
Michael Head’s career began in 1980 when he formed The Pale Fountains as vocalist/guitarist and songwriter, alongside Chris McCaffery on bass, Thomas Whelan on drums and trumpeter Andy Diagram.
The Pale Fountains released their debut single ‘(There’s Always) Something On My Mind’ on Belgian label Les Disques du Crépuscule before signing with Virgin in October 1982 and releasing two albums, ’Pacific Street’ (1984) and ‘…From Across the Kitchen Table’ (1985). The band split up in 1987 with Mick Head going on to form Shack with his brother John and signing to Ghetto Recording Company.
Shack’s first album ‘Zilch’ was released in 1988. The follow-up, ‘Waterpistol’, was recorded in 1991 at London’s Star Street Studio and Chapel Studios, Lincolnshire. Shortly after the recording of Waterpistol was complete, the Star Street studio burnt down and most of the tapes were destroyed. The only remaining DAT of the album was left in producer Chris Allison’s hire car in Los Angeles. It was found weeks later, by which point Ghetto had folded so the record was without a distributor and eventually released in 1995.
Michael Head went on to form Michael Head & The Strands with his brother John, earning critical acclaim with ‘The Magical World of The Strands’ on its release in 1996.
Shack reformed in 1998 releasing ‘HMS Fable’ in 1999 and ’… Here’s Tom With the Weather’ in 2003. The band signed to Noel Gallagher’s ‘Sour Mash’ record label in May 2006 to release ‘On the Corner of Miles and Gil’, the title pays homage to Miles Davis and Gil Evans.
In October 2007 the band released compilation album ‘Time Machine’ with Head reforming the Pale Fountains in 2008 for two critically acclaimed live shows in Liverpool and London.
In 2012 Michael Head launched a new project Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band on his own label Violette Records. October 2017 saw the release of his first album in eleven years ‘Adiós Señor Pussycat’, which reached number one on the UK Independent chart and number twenty-four in the UK top forty.
The NME described Mick Head as “a lost genius and among the most gifted British songwriters of his generation”.
Are you related to the English composer, singer, musician Michael B Head (1900-1976)? There is a Wickopedia
page about him?. Here is a picture of him in Canada in 1947 when he was adjudicating at the Ottawa Music Festival.
My husband Robert C Head, (1939-2015) from London, Ontario, Canada was a well-known Music Educator and Band Director in Ontario and his Grandfather was JOHN HEAD, from England.
Violette Records is not Mick’s own label. It was set up by some very dedicated fans to help him launch an EP and subsequent LP. This new website marks the parting of the ways, no-one is quite sure why as Violette seemed to be doing a fantastic job.