2… Read Full Bio ↴1. A British indie pop and "urban folk" band fronted by Darren Hayman.
2. electronic downtempo artist Lee Jones who released an album called Residue,
3. An experimental side project of Swedish indie, electronic, hip hop artist Lechy
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1. Hefner were a British indie pop and "urban folk" band fronted by Darren Hayman. They were active from about 1996 until 2002; since then they have played together only once, for a tribute to the DJ John Peel, who was a strong supporter of theirs.
Hefner began as a live band in 1995. In 1996 Darren Hayman recorded a tape for Sticky Records (named The Devotion Chamber) on which all instruments were played by Darren himself. His friend from art school, Antony Harding, assisted, providing backing vocals.
The band's first release was in April of 1997 when the 7" single "A Better Friend" was released by Boogle Wonderland. The single featured Antony on drums and John Morrison (from Rhatigan) on bass. Shortly after the release, the record label Too Pure offered a record deal to Darren, who extended the offer to Antony and John.
After a few more singles, Hefner recorded their debut album Breaking God's Heart. A lo fidelity album primarily recorded in one take, Hayman has declared that this album is the one he is least interested in listening to, due to its unrealized potential.
The Fidelity Wars would be their next record (with the recent addition of multi-instrumentalist Jack Hayter playing on some tracks, who would later join the band properly); a darker collection of songs. In the official website of the band Darren has explained that all of the songs gravitate around the concept of breaking up.
Hefner had, at this point, recorded a large number of singles and EPs. Boxing Hefner collected some of those tracks that had not appeared on the previous albums, often as new recordings. The compilation also included some unreleased material. The band stated that this album was released primarily to mark Jack's actual joining.
We Love the City marked a change in direction for the band. In contrast with previous records, which had older songs, all of the compositions on We Love the City were made for this record, which had better production value and more varied instrumentation.
Dead Media, released in 2001, continued the interest that Hefner had shown in exploring new ways. Dead Media is certainly different from previous records in the sense of its electronic weight, an interest that led Darren to eventually create The French.
After the band's final gig at the ICA in London on 10 December 2001 and the release of an EP called The Hefner Brain the following March, the band went on a seemingly permanent hiatus, save for one reformation for the "Keeping It Peel" tribute show, marking the death of one of their biggest supporters, Radio 1 DJ John Peel. In 2005 a t-shirt was released that read "Hefner, Britain’s Largest Small Band (1997-2002)", and in an interview Darren Hayman said "no, no reunion planned".
In 2005, after a legal dispute between Darren Hayman and Too Pure, the rights to all the band's Too Pure recordings have reverted to Darren. As a result, he has released The Best of Hefner 1996-2002 (on Fortune & Glory) and Catfight (Cargo), a 2 CD collection of 43 unreleased songs, both in 2006. The full recording of Hefner's special live Peel Session performance from 23rd August 2000 in the eight piece We Love the City formation (amelia fletcher and a horn section - part of which appeared as a limited bonus disc with some copies of the CD of We Love the City) has been released under the title of Maida Vale in November 2006. All of the band's albums have also been reissued with bonus tracks.
In 2008 Darren and Jack got together and played Hefner songs on a limited number of venues around Europe. This project is not planned to continue further after September 2008 though.
Darren Hayman tours and releases music as a solo artist - sometimes as Darren Hayman and the Secondary Modern, but he has been involved in several solo projects: The French, the Stereo Morphonium and Hayman, Watkins, Trout and Lee.
Antony Harding's solo project is known as Ant
Jack Hayter releases solo stuff as well.
www.hefnet.com
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2. The other is Lee Jones who released an album called Residue, a number of 12"s and remixes on Inertia Records.
Residue sold 85,000 albums independently through Inertia Records. Lee Jones, in response, took the project on the road around Europe, playing throughout Holland, Germany, Italy and France. Also appearing on national TV in both Germany and Holland. The album was voted number 3 in the BBC Radio 1 urban albums poll.
Then all went quiet. He worked on Josee's solo album, Lost Souls Dancing, and moved to Berlin.
At this time in order to satisfy demand Inertia released a compilation of his best remixes called "Reworks" featuring his versions of tunes by Lamb, 4 Hero, Omar faruk Takbilek and others and took time off to produce some other artists.
In 2003 Inertia hooked Hefner up with Frazey Ford, lead singer of The Be Good Tanyas, a fantastic rootsy, folky band from Vancouver. The resulting material was magical but due to recording commitments to EMI the project had to be stalled until the Be Good Tanyas album was finally released. As of the end of 2006 the project has been revitalised with the partnership working together again. An album is due at the end of 2007.
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3. Dr. Hefner, the Prince of Holmiapolis
The Day That Thatcher Dies
Hefner Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Even though we know it's not right,
We will dance and sing all night.
I was blind in 1979, by '82 I had clues,
By 1986 I was mad as hell.
The teachers at school, they took us for fools,
They never taught us what to do,
But Christ we were strong, we knew all along,
And the punk rock kids, and the techno kids,
No, it's not their fault.
And the hip hop boys and heavy metal girls,
No, it's not their fault.
It was love, but Tories don't know what that means,
She was Michelle Cox from the lower stream,
She wore high-heeled shoes while the rest wore flat soles.
And the playground taught her how to be cruel,
I talked politics and she called me a fool,
She wrapped her ankle chain round my left wing heart.
Ding dong, the witch is dead, which old witch?
The wicked witch.
Ding dong, the wicked witch is dead.
The lyrics to the song "The Day That Thatcher Dies" by Hefner seem to express a feeling of vindictive schadenfreude towards former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The chorus, "We will laugh the day that Thatcher dies, even though we know it's not right, we will dance and sing all night," conveys a sense of celebration that Thatcher's reign has ended. Additionally, the lyrics suggest that the singer and his peers were initially politically naive but eventually became disillusioned with Thatcherism. The line, "the teachers at school, they took us for fools, they never taught us what to do," suggests a lack of guidance or education on how to engage politically, but also a sense of agency as the singer and his peers "taught ourselves the right from wrong."
Furthermore, the song insists that the various subcultures of punk rock, techno, hip hop, and heavy metal are not to blame for their political apathy or ignorance. Rather, the song fingers Thatcherism as the culprit for corrupting the morals of the nation, particularly as the singer recalls a girl from the working-class "lower stream" named Michelle Cox who internalized Thatcherism's ethos of social Darwinism and mistreated the singer for his political convictions. The phrase "Ding dong, the witch is dead, which old witch? The wicked witch" references the song from "The Wizard of Oz" and suggests that Thatcher's demise is something to be celebrated in the same way that the death of the Wicked Witch of the West was. The song appears to be a reflection on how Thatcher's premiership shaped a generation and a call to action to oppose harmful political ideologies.
Line by Line Meaning
We will laugh the day that Thatcher dies,
We will find joy and pleasure when Margaret Thatcher dies
Even though we know it's not right,
Even though celebrating someone's death is not morally right
We will dance and sing all night.
We will enthusiastically celebrate and be happy all night
I was blind in 1979, by '82 I had clues,
I was unaware of the political situation in 1979, but by 1982, I began to understand it
By 1986 I was mad as hell.
By 1986, I was extremely angry at the political situation
The teachers at school, they took us for fools,
The teachers at school didn't teach us adequately
They never taught us what to do,
They didn't give us guidance on how to make a difference
But Christ we were strong, we knew all along,
Despite not having guidance, we were strong and knew what was right
We taught ourselves the right from wrong.
We learned how to distinguish right from wrong ourselves
And the punk rock kids, and the techno kids,
The fans of punk rock and techno music
No, it's not their fault.
They are not to blame
And the hip hop boys and heavy metal girls,
Fans of hip-hop and heavy metal music
No, it's not their fault.
They are not responsible
It was love, but Tories don't know what that means,
The Conservative Party doesn't understand love
She was Michelle Cox from the lower stream,
The singer is referring to a girl he knew with this name
She wore high-heeled shoes while the rest wore flat soles.
Michelle dressed differently from others at school
And the playground taught her how to be cruel,
Her experiences in the playground taught her to be mean
I talked politics and she called me a fool,
She insulted the singer when he discussed politics
She wrapped her ankle chain round my left wing heart.
She influenced his political beliefs
Ding dong, the witch is dead, which old witch?
The song makes reference to the death of the wicked witch in The Wizard of Oz
The wicked witch.
Margaret Thatcher, the artist's perceived wicked witch
Ding dong, the wicked witch is dead.
The artist celebrates Margaret Thatcher's death
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: DARREN HAYMAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@jake4-4-27
We will laugh the day that Thatcher dies,
Even though we know it's not right,
We will dance and sing all night.
I was blind in 1979, by '82 I had clues,
By 1986 I was mad as hell.
The teachers at school, they took us for fools,
They never taught us what to do,
But Christ we were strong, we knew all along,
We taught ourselves the right from wrong.
And the punk rock kids, and the techno kids,
No, it's not their fault.
And the hip hop boys and heavy metal girls,
No, it's not their fault.
It was love, but Tories don't know what that means,
She was Michelle Cox from the lower stream,
She wore high-heeled shoes while the rest wore flat soles.
And the playground taught her how to be cruel,
I talked politics and she called me a fool,
She wrapped her ankle chain round my left wing heart.
Ding dong, the witch is dead, which old witch?
The wicked witch.
Ding dong, the wicked witch is dead.
Source: LyricFind
@seang3019
"We taught ourselves right from wrong" - classic line!
@paulhadfield7909
i cant stop playing this vid, ive bought the mp 3 as well, and will buy this album as well
@harold5337
Thatcher is dead, but unfortunately Thatcherism isn't.
@endcaps1917
Unfortunately thatcher wasn't the only one
In the end thatcher was just the brit version of Reagan as a murican i deeply apologize on the behalf of the American people for sending our bull over there
@T800System
"It was love, but the Tories don't know what that means"
@bobl.1044
Oh they do have love... It only extends as far as their wealth.
@igors5827
Socialist tears lol
@hellsbunniestv584
Ding dong, the witch is dead... :D
@endcaps1917
@Igor S seeth brit
Go eat some of your blandest slop
@jake4-4-27
We will laugh the day that Thatcher dies,
Even though we know it's not right,
We will dance and sing all night.
I was blind in 1979, by '82 I had clues,
By 1986 I was mad as hell.
The teachers at school, they took us for fools,
They never taught us what to do,
But Christ we were strong, we knew all along,
We taught ourselves the right from wrong.
And the punk rock kids, and the techno kids,
No, it's not their fault.
And the hip hop boys and heavy metal girls,
No, it's not their fault.
It was love, but Tories don't know what that means,
She was Michelle Cox from the lower stream,
She wore high-heeled shoes while the rest wore flat soles.
And the playground taught her how to be cruel,
I talked politics and she called me a fool,
She wrapped her ankle chain round my left wing heart.
Ding dong, the witch is dead, which old witch?
The wicked witch.
Ding dong, the wicked witch is dead.
Source: LyricFind