The Housemartins

Updated on Jan 30, 2024

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Also known as The Fish City Five Labels Go! Discs, Elektra		Years active 1983–1988

Associated acts The Beautiful SouthFatboy SlimFreak Power Past members Paul HeatonStan CullimoreTed KeyJustin PatrickNorman CookHugh WhitakerDave Hemingway Origin Kingston upon Hull, United Kingdom (1983) Members Paul Heaton, Fatboy Slim, Stan Culli, Dave Hemingway, Hugh Whitaker, Ted Key, Chris Lang, Justin Patrick Genres Indie rock, Alternative rock, Jangle pop, Indie pop, College rock Albums London 0 Hull 4, The People Who Grinned T, Now That's What I Call Quite Good, Soup, Five Get Over Excited

The Housemartins were an English alternative rock band formed in Hull who were active in the 1980s. Many of the Housemartins' lyrics were a mixture of Marxist politics and Christianity, reflecting singer Paul Heaton's beliefs at the time (the back cover of London 0 Hull 4 contained the message, "Take Jesus – Take Marx – Take Hope"). The group's cover version of the Isley Brothers' "Caravan of Love" was a UK Number 1 single in December 1986.

The Housemartins The Housemartins Photos 6 of 16 Lastfm

The housemartins bow down

Formation

The Housemartins Paul Heaton on Hull A great working class city that deserves its UK

The band was formed in late 1983 by Paul Heaton (vocals) and Stan Cullimore (guitar), initially as a busking duo. Throughout his tenure with the band, Heaton billed himself as "P.d. Heaton".

The Housemartins httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaen88fThe

Heaton and Cullimore recorded a demo tape with Ingo Dewsnap of Les Zeiga Fleurs which brought them to the attention of Go! Discs. They then expanded by recruiting Ted Key (bass), former guitarist with The Gargoyles, and Justin Patrick [drummer on loan from Udomsuksa!] who was then replaced by Chris Lang. Their first live performance as a band was at Hull University in October 1984. The band's membership changed considerably over the years. Key left at the end of 1985 and was replaced by Norman Cook (the future Fatboy Slim). Drummer Chris Lang was replaced by Hugh Whitaker, former drummer with The Gargoyles, who in turn was replaced with Dave Hemingway.

The Housemartins The Housemartins Biography Albums Streaming Links AllMusic

The band often referred to themselves as "the fourth best band in Hull". The three bands that were "better" were Red Guitars, Everything but the Girl and The Gargoyles.

Break

The Housemartins In Conversation With Stan Cullimore The Housemartins Malcolm

In 1986, having recorded two John Peel sessions, the band broke through with the single "Happy Hour", which reached No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart. 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 television comedian Phill Jupitus, who toured with the band under his stage name of "Porky the Poet".

Caravan of Love

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". It was knocked off the top spot by Jackie Wilson's "Reet Petite" on 23 December, denying the Housemartins the coveted Christmas No. 1 single.

The a cappella style of "Caravan of Love" was not to the taste of all Housemartins' fans, although a cappella material had always been part of the band's repertoire. "Caravan of Love" was first performed by the band in their second Peel session in April 1986, prior to their initial chart success. At Peel's suggestion, the band then recorded another session (under the name The Fish City Five), consisting entirely of a cappella performances, and on at least one occasion (at The Tower nightclub in Hull, the same concert at which they were filmed as the Housemartins for the BBC programme, Rock Around the Clock), played support act for their own performance under this alternative name. The "Caravan of Love" single featured four a cappella gospel songs on the B-side.

Split

The band split in 1988, but the members have remained friends 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 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.

In December 2009, Cullimore 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 legendary The New Adelphi Club, on the stage where the band had signed their Go-Discs record contract, although it was not a Housemartins reunion. The trio performed the Housemartins hit "Me and the Farmer", and Cullimore and Heaton closed the show with a performance of "Caravan of Love".

London 0 Hull 4 re-release

London 0 Hull 4 was re-released on 22 June 2009, with a bonus disc featuring tracks released as additional content on 12-inch singles and demo tracks.

Musical style and lyrics

The band's early releases saw them described as jangle pop, which brought comparisons with bands such as The Smiths and Aztec Camera. David Quantick, writing for Spin, described them in 1986 as playing "traditional '60s-style guitar pop overlaid with soul vocals". Cook described the band as "religious, but not Christians", and the band's repertoire included Gospel songs.

Many of the band's lyrics have socialist themes, with Cook stating that "Paul realized that he hated writing about love...and that writing politically came easier to him", describing some of their songs as "angrily political".