Haircut 100 was a New Wave band, formed in 1980 by Nick Heyward, whose most successful single was "Love Plus One." The original line up was Nick Heyward (guitar, vocals), Les Nemes (bass), Tim Jenkins (guitar) and Rob Stroud (drums). Jenkins left quite early on when the band was unsigned. He was later followed by Stroud who joined the punk band The Sex Gang Children, (a favourite of John Peel).

Haircut 100 appeared just as New Wave was peaking. They were quickly successful: their first single, 1981's "Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)" reached number four in the UK charts. Their next single, "Love Plus One", reached number three and broke the Top 40 in America. The following two singles "Fantastic Day" and "Nobody's Fool" each reached number nine in the UK.

Haircut 100 seemed poised for stardom, then Heyward left the band to pursue a solo career. Percussionist Marc Fox took Heyward's place as vocalist. In 1984 the band released the album Paint and Paint. They broke up soon after.

In 2004 all of the band's ex-members reunited for an episode of VH1's series Bands Reunited. The group has seriously discussed the idea of reuniting to record a new album, with Heyward quoted as saying "We're all older and have commitments, but wouldn't it be good to dedicate two weeks of our lives to creating a follow-up to Pelican West? It would have that magic because nobody as a player has gone off the boil."