Norman Quentin Cook, also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist for the Hull-based indie rock band the Housemartins, who achieved a UK number-one single with their a cappella cover of "Caravan of Love". After the Housemartins split, Cook formed the electronic band Beats International in Brighton, who produced the number-one single "Dub Be Good to Me". He then played in Freak Power, Pizzaman, and the Mighty Dub Katz with moderate success.
Paul David Heaton is an English singer-songwriter. He was the frontman of the Housemartins, who had success with the singles "Happy Hour" and the UK number one "Caravan of Love" in 1986 before disbanding in 1988. He then formed the Beautiful South, whose debut single and album were released in 1989 to commercial success. They had a series of hits throughout the 1990s, including the number-one single "A Little Time". They disbanded in 2007. He subsequently pursued a solo career, which produced three albums, and in 2014 he released What Have We Become?, a collaboration with former Beautiful South vocalist Jacqui Abbott. He recorded three more albums with her: Wisdom, Laughter and Lines in 2015, Crooked Calypso in 2017, and Manchester Calling in 2020.
The Housemartins were an English indie rock 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 group's a cappella cover version of "Caravan of Love" was a UK Number 1 single in December 1986.
London 0 Hull 4 is the debut album by The Housemartins, released in June 1986. It contains the singles "Flag Day", "Sheep", "Happy Hour" and "Think for a Minute".
The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death is the second and final studio album by The Housemartins. It was released in 1987, and produced three singles - "Five Get Over Excited", "Me and the Farmer" (#15) and "Build". The title song is about the British Royal Family, which found them gaining controversy in the tabloid papers similar to that of other bands such as the Sex Pistols, The Smiths and The Stone Roses.
The Ruts are an English reggae-influenced punk rock band, notable for the 1979 UK Top 10 hit single "Babylon's Burning", and an earlier single "In a Rut", which was not a hit but was highly regarded and regularly played by BBC Radio 1 disc jockey John Peel. The band's newfound success was cut short by the death of lead singer Malcolm Owen from a heroin overdose in 1980. Despite this the band continued under a different musical style as Ruts D.C. until 1983 when they disbanded, the band later reformed in 2007.
Christopher Howard Jasper is an American singer, composer, and producer. Jasper is a former member of the Isley Brothers and Isley-Jasper-Isley and is responsible for writing and producing the majority of the Isley Brothers music (1973–1983) and Isley-Jasper-Isley music (1984–1987). He is also a successful solo musician and record producer, recording over 14 of his own solo albums, including 4 urban contemporary gospel albums, all written, produced and performed, both vocally and instrumentally, by Jasper. He also produces artists for his New York City-based record label, Gold City Records. Jasper's keyboard and Moog synthesizer work was a primary ingredient of the Isley Brothers' sound of the 1970s and 1980s when the Isley Brothers were a self-contained band.
Isley-Jasper-Isley was a splinter group of the Isley Brothers formed in 1984 by brother-in-law Chris Jasper (keyboards), Ernie Isley, and Marvin Isley (bass), due to creative differences that arose among the group.
Dave Hemingway is an English musician and songwriter, and was a vocalist for the Hull-based band The Beautiful South until they disbanded in 2007. Previously he had been a member of The Housemartins.
Hugh Whitaker is an English musician and the former drummer for the British indie rock band The Housemartins. He replaced original drummer Chris Lang and drummed for the band's first album, London 0 Hull 4, and its attendant single releases. He left the band before the recording of their second album, The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death. 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, and locked in a hessian sack.
Red Guitars were an English indie rock band active from 1982 to 1986. Based in Hull, Red Guitars' first single "Good Technology" was a minor hit, selling 60,000 copies. Their singles "Marimba Jive" and "Be With Me" both reached number one on the UK Indie Chart.
"Caravan of Love" is a 1985 R&B hit originally recorded by Isley-Jasper-Isley, the second half of The Isley Brothers' 3 + 3 lineup of the 1970s.
"Build" is a song released in November 1987 as the third single from the album The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death by British band The Housemartins. It follows the softer template of the group's later material and reached no. 15 in the UK Singles Chart.
Soup is an album released in November 2007 by The Housemartins and The Beautiful South on Mercury Records. It is in effect a greatest hits album for both of the bands, the first seven tracks bracketed together as "The Housemartins Condensed" and the remaining fifteen as "The Cream of The Beautiful South". All twenty-two songs were released as singles by the bands, and the track listing runs in chronological order by year of song release from 1985's "Flag Day" to 2003's "Just A Few Things That I Ain't". An associated DVD of the bands' music videos was also released.
Live at the BBC is a compilation album of live tracks recorded for the BBC between 1985 and 1987 by The Housemartins. While most of the tracks included are session versions recorded for various BBC radio shows, the disc also features a number of cuts from the band's performances in Nottingham and at the 1986 Glastonbury Festival, as broadcast on the BBC.
"Me and the Farmer" is a single by British Indie rock band The Housemartins from the album The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death. It reached #15 in the UK singles chart the week of 12 September 1987. The song had been written some 18 months previously, on 22 January 1986.
Five Get Over Excited is a song by The Housemartins released as a single from their album The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death.
"Sheep" is the second single released by British indie rock band the Housemartins. It appeared on the album London 0 Hull 4.
Happy Hour: The Collection was a 2011 compilation album by English indie rock band The Housemartins.
John Owen Williams is an English A&R executive, record producer, photographer, manager, recording artist, and songwriter. In a career that has spanned over 35 years at major record labels, he has guided, A&R'd, mentored, and produced many artist careers including The Housemartins and The Proclaimers, as well as producing and signing Alison Moyet, Simple Minds, The Waterboys, Robert Plant, The Blue Nile, Status Quo, Cathy Dennis, Petula Clark, Ocean Colour Scene, J. J. Cale, Blancmange, Shriekback, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Jethro Tull, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Debbie Harry and Luciana.
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