The Housemartins were an English indie rock group formed in Hull who were active in the 1980s[2] and charted three top-ten albums and six top-twenty singles in the UK.[3] Many of their lyrics conveyed a mixture of socialist politics and Christianity, reflecting the beliefs of the band[4] (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.
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.[2]
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.[5] 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.[6][7][2][8] The band's first live performance as a four-piece was at Hull University in October 1984.[9]
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.[10] 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.[11][5]
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.[12] 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".[2] 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.[6][10]
"Caravan of Love" was first performed by the Housemartins in their second Peel session in April 1986, before 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 occasion 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.[citation needed]
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.
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.[6]
Cullimore became a children's author,[6] 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".[14]
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".[15]
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.[16][17]David Quantick, writing for Spin, described them in 1986 as playing "traditional '60s-style guitar pop overlaid with soul vocals".[18] Cook described the band as "religious, but not Christians", and the band's repertoire included gospel songs.[16][18]
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".[18][19]
Band members
Final lineup
Paul Heaton – vocals, harmonica, guitar, trombone (1983–1988)
^ abCooper, Kim; Smay, David (2004). Lost in the Grooves: Scram's Capricious Guide to the Music You Missed. Routledge. ISBN978-0415969987.
^Fletcher, Tony (2012). A Light that Never Goes Out: The Enduring Saga of The Smiths. William Heinemann Ltd. p. 548. ISBN978-0434022182.
^ abcQuantick, David (December 1986). "Blinded by Gospel". Spin. p. 16.
^Lamie, Maria (2003). Buckley, Peter (ed.). The Rough Guide to Rock – The Housemartins. Rough Guides. pp. 509–510. ISBN978-1843531050.
^ abKent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St. Ives, New South Wales: Australian Chart Book. p. 142. ISBN0-646-11917-6. N.B. the Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid 1983 and 19 June 1988.
^Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "The Housemartins". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 21 June 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
