The Housemartins; aka The Fish City Five
The Housemartins were an English “pop Indie” group formed in Hull who were active in the 1980s and charted three top ten albums and six top twenty singles in the UK. Many of their lyrics were a mixture of Socialist politics and Christianity, reflecting the beliefs of the band.
The band was formed in late 1983 by Paul David Heaton (born 9 May 1962) (vocals) and Ian Peter Cullimore (born 6 May 1962 (guitar), initially as a busking duo. Throughout his tenure with the band, Heaton billed himself as "P.d. Heaton".
Heaton and Cullimore recorded a demo tape called “Songs To Learn And Sing” with Ingo Dewsnap and Sharon Green of Les Zeiga Fleurs which brought them to the attention of Go!Discs. They then expanded by recruiting Ted Key (born Anthony Matthew Key, 1 July 1960, Hull) (bass), former guitarist with the Gargoyles and Chris Lang (born 1961) (Drums) who is now a British television writer, actor and producer. Their first live performance as a band was at Hull University in October 1984. The band's membership changed considerably over the years. Key left at the end of 1985 and was replaced by Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook; 31 July 1963) (the future Fatboy Slim). Drummer Chris Lang was replaced by Hugh Whitaker (born 18 May 1961) former drummer with the Gargoyles.
The band often referred to themselves as "the fourth best band in Hull", with the best three bands being, Red Guitars, Everything But The Girl and The Gargoyles
In 1986, having recorded two John Peel sessions, the band broke through with their third single "Happy Hour", which reached No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart. 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 television comedian Phill Jupitus, who toured with the band under his stage name of "Porky the Poet".
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". The a capella style of "Caravan of Love" was not to the taste of all Housemartins' fans, although a cappella material had always been part of the band's repertoire. "Caravan of Love" was first performed by the band in their second Peel Session in April 1986, prior to 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 at least one occasion (at The Tower nightclub in Hull, the same concert at which they were filmed as the Housemartins for the BBC programme, Rock Around the Clock), played support act for their own performance under this alternative name.
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". Whitaker left the band on amicable terms and even participated in the promotional video for the band's first single without him, "Five Get Over Excited", wherein he was kidnapped by his replacement, Dave Hemingway (born David Robert Hemingway, 20 September 1960) , and locked in a hessian sack. A third single from the album, "Build", was released in November; a Peel Session from the same month provided a recording used for their last single "There’s Always Something There To Remind Me" in 1988.
The band split in 1988, but the members have remained friends 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.
A farewell compilation album, Now That’s What I Call Quite Good was released later that year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9-_0RJYGl0 Happy Hour but sadly not the Official Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIWOhisqrP8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xxt8gRVLnw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGYofWnTueQ&t=79s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLOyF50wlBU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMPMiLddsuE
