The Housemartins

The Housemartins
From left: Dave Hemingway, Paul Heaton, Norman Cook, Stan Cullimore
Background information
Also known as	The Fish City Five
Origin	Hull, England
Genres	Indie rock, alternative rock, jangle pop, indie pop, college rock
Years active	1983–1988
Labels	Go! Discs, Elektra
Associated acts	The Beautiful South Fatboy Slim Freak Power
Past members	Paul Heaton Stan Cullimore Ted Key Justin Patrick Norman Cook Hugh Whitaker Dave Hemingway

The Housemartins were an English alternative rock band formed in Hull who were active in the 1980s. Many of the Housemartins' lyrics were a mixture of Marxist politics and Christianity, reflecting singer Paul Heaton's beliefs at the time (the back cover of London 0 Hull 4 contained the message, "Take Jesus – Take Marx – Take Hope"). The group's cover version of the Isley Brothers' "Caravan of Love" was a UK Number 1 single in December 1986.

The band was formed in late 1983 by Paul Heaton (vocals) and Stan Cullimore (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 with Ingo Dewsnap of Les Zeiga Fleurs which brought them to the attention of Go! Discs. They then expanded by recruiting Ted Key (bass), former guitarist with The Gargoyles, and Justin Patrick [drummer on loan from Udomsuksa!] who was then replaced by Chris Lang. 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 Cook (the future Fatboy Slim). Drummer Chris Lang was replaced by Hugh Whitaker, former drummer with The Gargoyles, who in turn was replaced with Dave Hemingway.

The band often referred to themselves as "the fourth best band in Hull". The three bands that were "better" were Red Guitars, Everything but the Girl and The Gargoyles.

In 1986, having recorded two John Peel sessions, the band broke through with the 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".