The Housemartins

In the late 1980s Britain’s Hull-based quartet the Housemartins stood among the more successful indie guitar-pop outfits, their post-Smiths guitar jangle and understated modernization of the tuneful British beat tradition securing both critical respect and a wide domestic audience. Although they attracted little beyond a niche following in the United States, the band’s knack for concise, memorable melodies paired with biting sarcasm propelled them into the British Top Ten and kept their albums consistently well received. The group disbanded in 1988, just as broader mainstream success seemed imminent. Lead songwriter Paul Heaton promptly launched the Beautiful South the next year, and that new outfit built on the Housemartins’ momentum to become one of the United Kingdom’s more prominent acts of the early 1990s.

Heaton, handling vocals and guitar, assembled the Housemartins in 1984 alongside bassist Ted Key, guitarist Stan Cullimore and drummer Hugh Whitaker. From the start the band projected a distinctly English persona, combining a cynical wit, leftist political views and an unassuming, everyday look. They joined the Go! Discs roster in 1985; by year’s end Norman Cook had replaced Key on bass. Their third single, the 1986 summer release “Happy Hour,” became their first chart success, peaking at number three. Shortly afterward the debut album London 0 Hull 4 also reached the British Top Ten, and the a cappella track “Caravan of Love” finished the year as a number-one hit.

The commercial strides of 1986 earned the Housemartins the BPI trophy for Best Newcomers. Before work began on the follow-up, Hugh Whitaker departed and Dave Hemingway took over the drum chair. The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death appeared in 1987 and yielded the hit singles “Five Get Over Excited” and “Me and the Farmer.” Despite growing popularity at home, the band dissolved in the summer of 1988, insisting they had always planned a three-year lifespan. In truth, creative friction between Heaton and Cook had surfaced; the vocalist wished to pursue sophisticated jazz-pop while the bassist leaned toward dance music. Those divergent tastes soon surfaced in their post-Housemartins projects. Cook formed Beats International, which scored several early-1990s hits before he concentrated on production and remixing under the name Fatboy Slim. Heaton, retaining Hemingway on drums, founded the Beautiful South, which retained the Housemartins’ core sensibility while introducing richer melodies and arrangements. A collection of singles and rarities titled Now That’s What I Call Quite Good! closed out 1988. In 1993 original drummer Hugh Whitaker received a prison sentence for wounding with intent and for arson attacks on a former business associate.