# Pelican West

Pelican West is the debut studio album by the British new wave band Haircut One Hundred, released on 26 February 1982 by Arista Records. It peaked at No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 31 on the Billboard 200, and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
The album featured three hit singles: "Love Plus One", "Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)" and "Fantastic Day". It was reissued on CD in 1992, retitled as Pelican West Plus and including five bonus tracks.
Pelican West was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (2006).
Frontman Nick Heyward later said, "It was a team effort, and everyone had their roles. My job was like the Paul McCartney one in the Beatles' Get Back film. The rest of the guys looked to me for direction, and I had to push them to turn these glorified jam sessions into three-minute pop songs."

## Critical reception

Professional ratings :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Classic Pop | |
| Q | |
| Record Collector | |
| Record Mirror | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Smash Hits | 8+1⁄2/10 |
| Uncut | 8/10 |
| The Village Voice | C+ |
The album was well received by contemporary critics. Record Mirror gave it a full five star rating. Smash Hits' Dave Hepworth was impressed by "the winning vocals, the sturdy, flexible rhythm section, creamy saxophone, the poignant, exhilirating and thoroughly British songs. Haircuts know just how far they can spin out their compositions and never resort to empty mannerisms."
In the NME, Danny Baker wrote "..still be surprised by tremendous efforts like Pelican West. Haircut 100 have made the lightweight - there's no other kind - masterpiece of the decade."
Retrospectively, Record Collector dubbed it "a true 1980s classic".

## Track listing
### Original album

All tracks are written by Nick Heyward, except "Love's Got Me in Triangles" by Nick Heyward and Les Nemes. In the U.S., tracks one and two were in reverse sequence

### Double CD reissue (1998, 2016)
## Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.
Haircut One Hundred
* Nick Heyward – vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar
* Les Nemes – bass guitar
* Graham Jones – guitar
* Phil Smith – saxophone, brass arrangements
* Marc Fox – congas, percussion
* Blair Cunningham – drums
Additional musicians
* Herschel Holder – trumpet
* Dave Lord – trumpet
* Vince Sullivan – trombone
Production
* Bob Sargeant – production
* Mark Dearnley – engineering
* Dave Kemp – engineering
* David Shortt – art direction
* Gered Mankowitz – photography
* Peter Hill – sleeve art
* Karl Adams – management

## Charts

Singles
| Year | Song | Chart | Position |
| 1981 | "Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)" | UK Singles Chart | 4 |
| 1982 | "Love Plus One" | UK Singles Chart | 3 |
| 1982 | "Fantastic Day" | UK Singles Chart | 9 |
| 1982 | "Love Plus One" | US Billboard Hot 100 | 37 |
| 1981 | "Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)" | US Billboard Disco/Dance | 41 |
| 1982 | "Love Plus One" | US Billboard Disco/Dance | 8 |
| 1982 | "Ski Club of Great Britain" | US Billboard Disco/Dance | 21 |

## Certifications

| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
| United Kingdom (BPI) | Platinum | 300,000$^^$ |
| $^^$ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |||

## Cultural references

In the 1983 Central TV science fiction series Luna - first series episode two "The Clunkman Cometh" - the villainous Clunkman accepts a copy of the album as payment for alien pet Jazzmine - he reckons the album will be valuable although he himself dislikes "classical music".