The Housemartins

The Housemartins were a British indie rock band that was active in the 1980s. Often sarcastic and defiantly anti-establishment, they were fronted by Paul Heaton, who later formed The Beautiful South with Dave Hemmingway. Other band members included Ted Key, who was eventually replaced by Norman Cook (the future Fatboy Slim), on bass, Chris Lang, who was eventually replaced by Hugh Whitaker, on drums, and Stan Cullimore on guitar. The band often referred to themselves as "the 4th best band from Hull," Hull being the small city in England where most of the members originated from (and where the band formed in 1983). (The three bands that were "better" were Red Guitars, Everything But The Girl, and The Gargoyles.)

The band had a British number one single with a cover version of Isley Jasper Isley's "Caravan of Love" and released three albums: London 0 Hull 4 (with the hit single Happy Hour), The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death, and the greatest hits Now That's What I Call Quite Good.

The Housemartin's lyrics were an odd mixture of Marxist politics and born-again Christianity - refelcting Paul Heaton's beliefs at the time.

Discography

• London 0 Hull 4 (1986)
• The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death (1987)
• Now That's What I Call Quite Good (1988)

External link

• Fan site