At this time I lived in West Hampstead with Kate and Paul, in a flat he owned. One night I wrote the lyrics for a silly song called ‘John Wayne is Big Leggy’. I woke up everyone in the flat and announced I’d written our first hit record. We made our demos, shopped them around, and somehow, with our deranged songs and strange looks, we landed our first record deal on my twentieth birthday. I went out and bought the biggest TV set I could find and convinced Paul to buy a ’59 Oldsmobile coupe!”
All was set for Healy & co to have a lucrative career in pop. ‘John Wayne…’ hit Number One in the UK charts, further hits followed with “Shiny Shiny” and “Sister Friction”. Riding the wave of success, he travelled extensively and thus ended up one Saturday night at New York’s Danceteria club. He was immediately struck by the breakdancers, the body poppers, the anything-goes atmosphere and, above all, the carefree attitude of the hip-hop and electro pioneers. Inspired anew, he returned to the UK, sold his guitar, bought a pair of decks and started a club called Circus.
John wayne is big leggy (1982)
shiny shiny (1983)
sister friction (1983)