Emerging as a peculiar one-hit act during the early 1980s, the Maisonettes drew attention less for their lone success than for their unusual blend of independent-label origins and an image that struck some indie purists as overly contrived. Their breakthrough single, "Heartache Avenue," reached the British charts in late 1982 and climbed as high as number seven. Much of the material they cut over the ensuing year or two stayed within mainstream pop/rock territory, marked by the era’s synthesizer-driven sound and a clear, though not dominant, debt to 1960s soul-pop—especially the Motown sound.
David Virr came across the track among a stack of unsolicited demos at his office; it had been laid down in Birmingham by vocalist Lol Mason, guitarist Mark Tibenham, and session drummer Nick Parry. Virr issued the recording on his own imprint, Ready, Steady, Go! To complete the lineup he added two teenage models, Denise Ward and Elaine Williams, as backing vocalists, even though entirely different session singers had performed on "Heartache Avenue." Ward and Williams proved unable to deliver the necessary harmonies for either live appearances or further studio work, yet they had already featured prominently in promotional photographs and television lip-sync segments. Two more proficient singers were brought in to replace them, but the public’s familiarity with the original pair had become entrenched, and the Maisonettes’ commercial momentum and overall trajectory suffered accordingly.
No further chart entries followed, though the group issued an album in 1983 along with several additional singles. Their brief story is encapsulated on the 2004 compilation Heartache Avenue: The Very Best of the Maisonettes, a nineteen-track collection that incorporates previously unreleased material.
