The Housemartins

The Housemartins were an English indie rock group formed in Hull who were active in the 1980s<ref name="The Great Rock Discography">Template:Cite book</ref> and charted three top-ten albums and six top-twenty singles in the UK.<ref name=uk/> Many of their lyrics conveyed a mixture of socialist politics and Christianity, reflecting the beliefs of the band<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> (the back cover of their debut album, London 0 Hull 4, contained the message, "Take Jesus – Take Marx – Take Hope"). The group's a cappella cover version of "Caravan of Love" (originally by Isley-Jasper-Isley) was a UK number one single in December 1986.

After breaking up in 1988, Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway formed the Beautiful South, while bassist Norman Cook became an electronic dance music DJ and producer, founding the groups Beats International, Pizzaman, and Freak Power, before rebranding himself as Fatboy Slim.

Career

Formation

The band was formed in late 1983 by Paul Heaton (vocals, billed as "P.d. Heaton".) and Stan Cullimore (guitar), initially as a busking duo. The pair recorded a demo tape with Ingo Dewsnap and Sharon Green of Les Zeiga Fleurs which brought them to the attention of Go! Discs. The band often referred to themselves as "the fourth best band in Hull" - various candidates have been cited for the three better bands, including Red Guitars, Everything but the Girl, and the Gargoyles.<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/>

With the start of the UK miners' strike in 1984, Heaton felt the angrier political songwriting that resulted from this required a full band lineup.<ref name=heatongrad>Template:Cite AV media</ref> The band recruited the rhythm section from fellow Hull band The Gargoyles, initially recruiting guitarist Ted Key on bass, who then persuaded his bandmate Hugh Whitaker to join on drums.<ref name=mojo /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/><ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> The band's first live performance as a four-piece was at Hull University in October 1984.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

John Peel sessions, London 0 Hull 4 and "Caravan of Love"

Key left at the end of 1985, after recording the band's first John Peel session and the band's first single "Flag Day", saying he felt isolated in the writing process for the band's first album.<ref name=rc /> Heaton invited Norman Cook (later known as Fatboy Slim), who had been a member of Heaton's teenage band the Stomping Pond Frogs and had played on some early Housemartins demos, to replace Key.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=heatongrad />

In 1986, having recorded a second John Peel session, the band broke through with their third single "Happy Hour", which reached No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">Template:Cite book</ref> The single's success was helped by a claymation animated pop promo of a type that was in vogue at the time, featuring a cameo by comedian Phill Jupitus, who toured with the band under his stage name of "Porky the Poet". Their debut album, London 0 Hull 4, was released later in 1986 and contained their previous two singles as well as alternative versions of first single "Flag Day" and follow-up to Happy Hour, "Think for a Minute".

At the end of 1986 they had their only UK No. 1 single on 16 December with a cover version of Isley-Jasper-Isley's "Caravan of Love".<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/> The single was pipped to the Christmas number 1 by Jackie Wilson's "Reet Petite", which the band later attributed to the track being pulled from the BBC Radio 1 playlist following a sexual reference to the then prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, and her husband Denis, made by one of the band in a radio interview.<ref name=mojo>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=rc>Template:Cite news</ref>

"Caravan of Love" was first performed by the Housemartins in their second Peel session in April 1986, before their initial chart success.Template:Cn

The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death

Drummer Hugh Whitaker left in 1987 on amicable terms, and suggested his school friend Dave Hemingway as replacement.<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/><ref name="Beautiful South Fans Housemartins Page">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=heatongrad />

The Housemartins' second album The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death was released in September 1987, and included their two previous singles "Five Get Over Excited" and "Me and the Farmer". A third single from the album, "Build", was released in November, and a final Peel Session from the same month provided a recording used for their final single.

Breakup and post-breakup activities

Following the release of their last single "There Is Always Something There to Remind Me" in April 1988, the Housemartins announced that the band was splitting up. A farewell compilation album, Now That's What I Call Quite Good was released later that year.

The members of the band have remained in contact and have worked on each other's projects. Norman Cook has enjoyed significant success with Beats International and then as Fatboy Slim, while Heaton, Hemingway and roadie Sean Welch formed The Beautiful South. In August 2009, Mojo magazine arranged for The Housemartins' original members (Heaton, Cullimore, Cook and Whitaker) to get together for a photo-shoot and interview, for the first time in many years, but in the interview all the members maintained that the band would not re-form.<ref name=mojo />

Cullimore became a children's author,<ref name=mojo /> and in December 2009 co-wrote songs for (and appeared in) a pre-school music series called The Bopps, which first showed on Nick Jr. in the UK in April 2010. Cullimore and Whitaker joined Heaton on stage during a show by Heaton and Jacqui Abbott in 2014 at Hull's The New Adelphi Club, on the stage where the band had signed their Go-Discs record contract. The trio performed the Housemartins hit "Me and the Farmer", and Cullimore and Heaton closed the show with a performance of "Caravan of Love".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In June 2024, Heaton performed on the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival, and was joined by Cook on bass for a performance of "Happy Hour".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Musical style and lyrics

The band's early releases saw them described as jangle pop, which brought comparisons with bands such as The Smirks, The Smiths and Aztec Camera.<ref name="Cooper">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Fletcher">Template:Cite book</ref> David Quantick, writing for Spin, described them in 1986 as playing "traditional '60s-style guitar pop overlaid with soul vocals".<ref name="Quantick">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Cook described the band as "religious, but not Christians", and the band's repertoire included gospel songs.<ref name="Cooper" /><ref name="Quantick" />

Many of the band's lyrics have socialist themes, with Cook stating that "Paul realised that he hated writing about love...and that writing politically came easier to him", describing some of their songs as "angrily political".<ref name="Quantick" /><ref name="Lamie">Template:Cite book</ref>

Band members

Final lineup

• Paul Heaton – vocals, harmonica, guitar, trombone (1983–1988)
• Stan Cullimore – guitar, vocals (1983–1988)
• Norman Cook – bass, vocals (1985–1988)
• Dave Hemingway – drums, vocals (1987–1988)

Former members

• Ted Key – bass, vocals (1984–1985)
• Hugh Whitaker – drums, vocals (1985–1987)

Timeline

<timeline> ImageSize = width:750 height:auto barincrement:18 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:100 top:10 right:60 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1983 till:01/05/1988 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1983 ScaleMajor = increment:1 start:1983 Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4

Colors =

id:vocal1    value:red           legend:Vocals
id:vocal2    value:pink          legend:Backing_vocals
id:guitar     value:green         legend:Guitar
id:bass       value:blue          legend:Bass
id:drums      value:orange        legend:Drums
id:bars       value:gray(0.95)
id:studio     value:black         legend:Studio_album

BackgroundColors = bars:bars

LineData =

at:01/06/1986 color:black layer:back
at:01/09/1987 color:black layer:back

BarData =

bar:Paul    text:"Paul Heaton"
bar:Stan          text:"Stan Cullimore"
bar:Ted          text:"Ted Key"
bar:Norman    text:"Norman Cook"
bar:Hugh   text:"Hugh Whitaker"
bar:Dave    text:"Dave Hemingway"

PlotData =

width:11
bar:Paul    from:start till:end  color:vocal1
bar:Stan    from:start till:end  color:guitar
bar:Stan    from:start till:end  color:vocal2 width:3
bar:Ted    from:01/10/1984 till:01/12/1985  color:bass
bar:Ted    from:01/10/1984 till:01/12/1985  color:vocal2 width:3
bar:Norman    from:01/12/1985 till:end  color:bass
bar:Norman    from:01/12/1985 till:end  color:vocal2 width:3
bar:Hugh    from:01/10/1984 till:01/01/1987  color:drums
bar:Hugh    from:01/10/1984 till:01/01/1987  color:vocal2 width:3
bar:Dave    from:01/01/1987 till:end  color:drums
bar:Dave    from:01/01/1987 till:end  color:vocal2 width:3
</timeline>

Discography

Albums

Year	Album details	Peak chart positions						Certifications
		UK <ref name=uk>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	AUS <ref name=aus/>	NZL	SWE	NOR		US <ref name="stephenthomaserlewine">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1986	London 0 Hull 4 Released: October 1986 Label: Go! Discs	3	35	21	3	9	124	BPI: Platinum<ref name=bpi>Template:Cite certification</ref>
1987	The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death Released: September 1987 Label: Go! Discs	9	56	34	25	—	177	BPI: Gold<ref name=bpi/>
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Compilation albums

Year	Title	UK <ref name=uk/>	Certifications	Record label
1986	The Housemartins Christmas Box Set	84
1988	Now That's What I Call Quite Good	8	BPI: Gold<ref name=bpi/>	Go! Discs
2004	The Best of the Housemartins	29	BPI: Silver<ref name=bpi/>	Go! Discs/Mercury
2006	Live at the BBC	―		Universal
2007	Soup	15	BPI: 2× Platinum<ref name=bpi/>	Mercury
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Singles

Year	Title	Peak chart positions									Certifications	Album
		UK <ref name=uk/>	NZL <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	NLD <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	BEL <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	SWI <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>			AUT <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	SWE <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	NOR <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	AUS <ref name=aus>Template:Cite book N.B. the Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid 1983 and 19 June 1988.</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1985	"Flag Day"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		London 0 Hull 4
1986	"Sheep"	56	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	97
	"Happy Hour"	3	38	25	23	—	—	—	—	—	BPI: Gold<ref name=bpi/>
	"Think for a Minute"	18	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"Caravan of Love"	1	2	3	5	2	7	1	2	24	BPI: Gold<ref name=bpi/>	Non-album single
1987	"Five Get Over Excited"	11	—	96	—	—	—	—	—	—		The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death
	"Me and the Farmer"	15	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"Build"	15	41	65	27	—	—	—	—	—
1988	"There Is Always Something There to Remind Me"	35	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		Now That's What I Call Quite Good
2003	"Change the World" (as Dino Lenny vs The Housemartins)	51	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		Non-album single
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Videography

(does not include "live" appearances on TV programmes)

• "Sheep"
• "Happy Hour"
• "Think for a Minute"
• "Caravan of Love"
• "Five Get Over Excited"
• "Me and the Farmer"
• "Build"
• "There Is Always Something There to Remind Me"
• "We're Not Deep"

Biography

• Template:Cite book

External links

• Template:YouTube