Haysi Fantayzee formed in 1981 and fronted by white dreadlocked singers Jeremy Healy (also known as Jeremiah) and Kate Garner, and with Garner's boyfriend songwriter/producer/manager Paul Caplin in the background, the band had several UK hits in 1982 and 1983 such as the singles "John Wayne is Big Leggy", "Shiny Shiny", and "Sister Friction".
Haysi Fantayzee never broke through to the same kind of success in the United States, although they did enjoy some popularity there. Originally Caplin and Garner had intended to make music with just Garner performing, but then they met Healy (who at nineteen, was a few years younger than Garner) and decided to pair them up.
The band used their artsy look as a selling point, making a crude video performance and using that instead of a demo tape to sell the band to record companies. Their attention-grabbing outfits were often designed by Garner.
The two singers looked like distorted mirror images of each other, with similar hair and make-up. Their glamorous ragamuffin style was frequently compared to Boy George's look.
The band's catchy music often had darkly humorous, subversive lyrics. "Shiny, Shiny" is an upbeat dance tune about the apocalypse, while "John Wayne is Big Leggy" is about John Wayne refusing to remove his holster when he has sex with a Native American woman.
The band often garnered musical comparisons to such other New Wave pop acts as Bow Wow Wow, Bananarama, and Adam and the Ants. Garner appeared alongside Bananarama in the music video for "Who's That Girl" by the Eurythmics.
The duo released only one studio album: 1983's Battle Hymns for Children Singing on RCA Records. On his website, Healy claims to have made up the album's title on the spot when some journalists asked him what the record would be called.
Garner had a brief solo career after the break-up of Haysi Fantayzee, and then focused on a career in photography in Los Angeles, California.
Jeremy Healy became a DJ and album mixer for other artists, including his former schoolfriend, Boy George. |
