The Housemartins was a British indie-pop/alternative rock band which formed… Read Full Bio ↴The Housemartins was a British indie-pop/alternative rock band which formed in 1983 in Kingston upon Hull, England. After breaking up in 1988, band members Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway formed The Beautiful South, while bassist Norman Cook found success as an electronic dance music DJ and music producer founding the groups Beats International, Pizzaman and Freak Power, before rebranding himself as Fatboy Slim.
At its formation the band consisted of Paul Heaton (vocals), Stan Cullimore (guitar), Ted Key (bass) and Chris Lang (drums). The band's membership changed frequently throughout its existence. Ted Key was replaced by Norman Cook (who later became internationally famous as big beat musician Fatboy Slim) and drummer Chris Lang was replaced by Hugh Whitaker, former drummer with The Gargoyles, who in turn was replaced with Dave Hemingway. The band split in 1988.
The band often referred to themselves as "the 4th best band in Hull," referring to Kingston upon Hull, the city in England where the band formed in 1983. (The three bands that were "better" were Red Guitars, Everything but the Girl, and The Gargoyles.)
In 1986, the band broke through with the single Happy Hour, which reached No. 3 in the UK charts helped by a claymation animated pop promo of a type that was in vogue at the time. At the end of the same year, they had a No. 1 single with a cover version of Isley Jasper Isley's Caravan of Love.
The band released three albums: London 0 Hull 4, The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death, and the greatest bits compilation Now That's What I Call Quite Good. A new collection, Best of the Housemartins, was released in 2004, and was available in a expanded edition with a DVD collecting their music video clips.
The Housemartins lyrics were an odd mixture of Marxist politics and born-again Christianity, reflecting Paul Heaton's beliefs at the time.
The band split in 1988, but the members have since remained friends and worked on each other's projects. Norman Cook has enjoyed significant success with both Beats International and then as Fatboy Slim, while Heaton, Hemingway and roadie Sean Welch formed The Beautiful South. Stan Cullimore has become an author of children's books. Despite repeated requests from fans, they have never reformed.
In 1993, former drummer Hugh Whitaker was convicted of assault after attacking his business partner James Hewitt with an axe. Whitaker was subsequently released from prison and now resides in Leeds, where he occasionally drums with local band Percy. Whitaker is also a member of The Malkies fronted by Alistair Hulett.
At its formation the band consisted of Paul Heaton (vocals), Stan Cullimore (guitar), Ted Key (bass) and Chris Lang (drums). The band's membership changed frequently throughout its existence. Ted Key was replaced by Norman Cook (who later became internationally famous as big beat musician Fatboy Slim) and drummer Chris Lang was replaced by Hugh Whitaker, former drummer with The Gargoyles, who in turn was replaced with Dave Hemingway. The band split in 1988.
The band often referred to themselves as "the 4th best band in Hull," referring to Kingston upon Hull, the city in England where the band formed in 1983. (The three bands that were "better" were Red Guitars, Everything but the Girl, and The Gargoyles.)
In 1986, the band broke through with the single Happy Hour, which reached No. 3 in the UK charts helped by a claymation animated pop promo of a type that was in vogue at the time. At the end of the same year, they had a No. 1 single with a cover version of Isley Jasper Isley's Caravan of Love.
The band released three albums: London 0 Hull 4, The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death, and the greatest bits compilation Now That's What I Call Quite Good. A new collection, Best of the Housemartins, was released in 2004, and was available in a expanded edition with a DVD collecting their music video clips.
The Housemartins lyrics were an odd mixture of Marxist politics and born-again Christianity, reflecting Paul Heaton's beliefs at the time.
The band split in 1988, but the members have since remained friends and worked on each other's projects. Norman Cook has enjoyed significant success with both Beats International and then as Fatboy Slim, while Heaton, Hemingway and roadie Sean Welch formed The Beautiful South. Stan Cullimore has become an author of children's books. Despite repeated requests from fans, they have never reformed.
In 1993, former drummer Hugh Whitaker was convicted of assault after attacking his business partner James Hewitt with an axe. Whitaker was subsequently released from prison and now resides in Leeds, where he occasionally drums with local band Percy. Whitaker is also a member of The Malkies fronted by Alistair Hulett.
More Genres
No Artists Found
More Artists
Load All
No Albums Found
More Albums
Load All
No Tracks Found
Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Search results not found
Song not found
Live At The Bbc
The Housemartins Lyrics
Build Build Housemartins Now That's What I Call Quite Good... Cla…
Caravan Of Love Are you ready, are you ready? Are you ready, are…
Drop Down Dead All-4-One Down To The Last Drop So you say he let you…
Five Get Over Excited Fun, fun, fun (Jeremy) Me, me, me (Fifi) Take, take, take (J…
Flag Day Too many Florence Nightingales Not enough Robin Hoods Too ma…
Happy Hour It's happy hour again I think I might be happy if…
Heaven Help Us All Heaven help the child who never had a home, Heaven help…
Johannesburg Please don't show your soul to me I think I'd see…
Me And The Farmer Me and the Farmer get on fine Through stormy weather and…
Over There Over There Housemartins The fence is long and high where…
People Get Ready All aboard, get on board All aboard, get on board There's a…
Shelter In times when you're troubled Seems more than you can afford…
So Glad So glad, So glad, So glad, So glad, He took…
Stand at Ease This country is protected from the red disease by men who…
The Light Is Alway Green We dig our models with the brains the size of…
The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death They smiled so much and waved their flags As she saluted…
The World's On Fire There's a couple sunbathing on a freshly mown lawn in…
We're Not Deep You can put it down to lack of patience You can…
We're Not Going Back Do you remember the good old days? An empty stomach and…