I often think that time plays tricks on the memory. Case in point: I was chatting to someone the other day who was at University the same time as me and he said "Everyone I was at University with had a copy of "The Queen is Dead" by The Smiths". And to be fair, this is not the first time that I have heard people implying that the campuses of the United Kingdom in the years 1984 to 1987 were awash with the sounds of Steven Morrissey esq, the guitar god, Johnny Marr and the other two whose names escape me.
The fact is though that whilst indeed one did trip over Smiths acolytes (I remember an encounter with an oddly attractive but frankly over zealous disciple who thrust a vinyl copy of Meat is Murder into my face so vigorously she almost gave me a nosebleed), the music taste of students in those days was far broader than just the afore-mentioned Mancunians. If you take my circle of friends as an example, I think it is fair to describe their taste as broad! Amongst the albums they owned I would include the following:
Songs from the Big Chair- Tears for Fears
Suzanne Vega- Suzanne Vega (Much loved by my many female students and therefore a must purchase by many male students trying to impress said female students)
Brothers in Arms- Dire Straits (There's been a Stalinist revision of history that has tried to make out that no one under the age of 25 brought this but that is a LIE!)
American Fool- John Cougar Mellencamp (And the gentleman in question was not from mid west America either)
Reckoning- REM
Rattlesnakes- Lloyd Cole plus Commotions
Zoolook- Jean Michel Jarre (Computer Scientist student, nuff said)
However if you were to force me to name one album which did remind me of my student years, it would the debut album from another band from the north of England "London 0 Hull 4" by the Housemartins.
Much has been written about the state of music during the mid 80s. There is a lazy history that says that initially you saw the domination of bands that had started out in the late 70s, Madness, The Jam, Specials, The Police, Adam and the Ants- all great. Then you saw the Synth domination and New Pop (Human League, Soft Cell, ABC, Haircut 100, Duran Duran, Culture Club). Then came the years 1984 to 1988 which were dominated by swathes of dross:
Middle of the Road "Coffee Table" acts- Sir Philip of Collins, Level 42, the afore-mentioned Dire Straits, Sade, Paul Young (Unspeakable), Tina Turner, Bryan Adams and so on and so forth.
Hair Metal: Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Poison
Dinosaurs that seemed to have risen from a primeval swamp: Genesis (It's bloody Phil Collins again), Queen, Marillion, ZZ Top, Billy Joel, Fleetwood Mac
Music that appeared to be written by five year olds for five year olds: Five Star, Howard Jones, Nik Kershaw, Bros, Wet Wet Wet (Rarely has a band been so aptly named), anything produced by Stock, Aitken and Waterman, all those bloody awful medley records (Enter stage left Jive Bunny with his Mastermixers in tow)
Makers of POWER BALLADS: (which is where some of the worst singles of the period and indeed of all time come into view) W.Houston esq, Chris De Burgh, Phyllis Nelson, Jennifer Rush, Berlin, Peter Cetera, Robin Beck, bloody T'Pau and so on forever
According to this history, the only thing that saved music in this dark, dark period and British music in particular, was the previously referred to Mancunian giants, the Smiths. Hence of course why you have people saying that all students of the period were walking around clasping "The Queen is Dead" to their collective bosoms (This statement in itself implies that students were magnificent arbiters of good taste, which I suggest is at best questionable- I refer you back to the previous reference to Zoolook).
Now this is not the place to discuss the merits or otherwise of the Smiths but it is definitely the place to say that this is a gross over simplification. For a start of course music is a matter of taste and for many people out there, the days that drove down the M3 in a battered 2CV listening to Level 42, the furry dice swinging from the dashboard were amongst the best of their lives. For another I know of an awful lot of people who would rather french kiss a skunk than spend any quality time listening to a Smiths record.
Furthermore, if you did want to move away from all the dinosaurs, plastic pop and tooth rotting LURVE songs in those years, there was an awful lot more going on than just the outpourings of a man with gladioli sticking out of his bum. In the mainstream you had acts such as Madonna, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Prince and Bruce Springsteen producing critically acclaimed work that had huge commercial success. You had the flowering of the New Country movement with Steve Earle, Nanci Griffith and Lyle Lovett, which some would argue paved the way for Americana. In the pop arena, you had fine work from A-ha, Erasure and, of course, the Pet Shop Boys. It wasn't my bag but in the rap arena, you had groundbreaking albums from Beastie Boys (The scamps), Run DMC and Public Enemy. And of course, as always, if you looked off the beaten track there were always great records to be found. Some of my favorite records of mine came from these years including "Boat to Bolivia" Martin Stephenson and the Daintees, "Walk on the Rooftops" Blue Nile, "Calenture" Triffids, "Welcome Home" Til Tuesday etc.
However even in the mainstream itself, the Smiths weren't the only so called alternative act having a measure of success. Whilst Echo and The Bunnymen's "Ocean Rain" may not be the greatest album ever made (as the lead singer Ian "Mac" McCulloch in a typical act of immodesty claimed) the Bunnymen were a commercially strong alternative presence in those years as were the Cure, New Order and Depeche Mode (who mutated from a tinkly plonk synth combo to leather wearing gloom merchants). The albums "Rum, Sodomy and the Lash" and "If I should fall from Grace with God" by the Pogues revealed Shane Macgowan to be one of the decade's finest songwriters. Meanwhile China Crisis, Prefab Sprout and Scritti Politti continued to fly the flag for the New Pop.
Outselling all of these, though, was the self proclaimed fourth best band in Hull, the Housemartins, with their debut album "London 0 Hull 4". For those of us of a particular musical (and indeed political) disposition, the Housemartins were an absolute godsend. As readers of previous blogs will know, one of the formative bands of my youth were Madness. Apart from the fantastic records and superb videos, both wonderfully entertaining and full of character, I loved the fact that they were successful. This probably makes me the antithesis of an indie kid who as soon as "their" band becomes successful immediately deserts them. Me, as a teenager, I wanted people to like my bands. It validated my taste (These days I don't give a toss if people like what I like or not!) and also if they were successful it was less likely that they would split up. However, as time went on, Madness' records became more introverted and less successful (whether the two were interlinked is a matter of debate). When Uncle Sam became the first Madness record to fail to reach the Top 20, the writing was on the wall. We therefore needed a replacement and we needed one fast.
In addition, these were the middle years of Thatcher's reign of horror. Again this is not the place for an analysis of the politics of Britain in the 80s but my phraseology at the start of this paragraph should hopefully have given you a slight glimpse of my views of the insane old harpy. Suffice it is to say that events such as the Riots of 1981, mass unemployment, The Falklands War and the Miners Strike had politicised and divided Britain in a way not seen since. Included very firmly in the anti Thatcher camp was the music community. Whilst many acts were making shedloads of cash, it was a foolhardy soul who came out and proclaimed that they thought Maggie was Top of the Pops. The only two acts that leap to mind are Gary Numan, whose career went down the dumper shortly after, and Sir Philip of Collins, whose career was strangely bullet proof at this time.
However overly political acts who were also successful were few and far between at the start of 1986. There was the Style Council but to be honest Paul Weller had such a swathe of acolytes that he could pronounce that he has become a Buddhist and thought Nancy Reagan was sexy and people would still have bought his records. Most political acts at that time were struggling to make a breakthrough, The Redskins, The Faith Brothers and the Men They Couldn't Hang were making fine records and even getting the odd radio play but that was about it. Otherwise the most successful political act was this big nosed bloke from Barking. Armed initially only with an electric guitar, an amp and some John Peel exposure, Billy Bragg was, let's be honest, one of the most unlikely success stories of the mid 80s. His appearance on Top of the Tops with Between the Wars, coming as it did immediately after "Pie Jesu" by Sarah Brightman and Paul Miles Kingston was one of the most memorable of the decade. The fact was though that at the start of 1986, Bragg's fame was in excess of his commercial achievements. He stood out from the crowd because with his guitar and an amplifier and (ahem) rudimentary singing style, he was the very antithesis of the well (over) produced CD friendly fare and stadium swallowing acts that were dominating the market. A lot of people knew of Billy Bragg but only a small proportion of them had actually brought his records.
It was therefore down to the Housemartins to take political pop into the charts and to capture the hearts of all those Madness fans who had jumped ship when Madness released the self fulfilling prophesy "Yesterdays Men". They formed in 1983 as a busking duo consisting of Paul (who insisted throughout the life of the Housemartins as referring to himself as "P.d") Heaton and Stan Cullimore. After a few line up changes, they then added Norman Cook and Hugh Whittaker. As with many alternative bands of the time, their first steps on the ladder of success came via a session on the John Peel show. This in turn brought them to the attention of the afore-mentioned Sir Billiam Bragg and the Housemartins were duly signed to Go Discs, Billy's own label. Their first single "Flag Day" was released in November 1985 and reached a less than spectacular 124 in the charts. However given the fact that the subject matter was the futility of charitable endeavours to change a system that was permanently weighted in favour of the rich, it clearly wasn't radio friendly fare (Peel, ever the exception, not withstanding), particularly as 1985 was the year of Live Aid and charitable endeavours were very much the order of the day.
The Housemartins then embarked on their first national tour. It is one of my lasting regrets that I never saw the Housemartins live as apparently they were superb. The end of the act used to involve dismantling the drum kit and playing the separate parts as percussion instruments. These were the days when bands usually had to tour their backsides off around the toilet venues of the UK before coming to prominence and that was certainly the case here. The tour went down a treat and the next single "Sheep" reached the dizzy of number 54. It was at this time that the Housemartins developed a lovely (and at the time almost unique) line in self depreciating publicity with T Shirts and badges such as "The Housemartins are quite good" and "If liking them is wrong, I don't want to be right" as well as the previously mentioned "The 4th best band in Hull". Self depreciating it might be but it made them stand out from the masses. If you couldn't imagine Dire Straits, Genesis and U2 publishing such merchandise, then you couldn't see The Smiths or The Cure doing it either. You could have imagined Madness doing it though!
If their profile was rising, the question just remained, did they have the material in the armoury to break through into that Top 40? The answer was a massive, resounding "Oh Yes Indeed!" "Happy Hour" was released in June and, aided and abetted by one of the finest videos of the 80s (and, yes, there was a clear Madness influence) reached No 3, kept only from the Top Spot by the mighty forces of Wham and Madonna.
The album "London 0 Hull 4 followed rapidly after and again reached Number 3 in the charts (This time kept from the top by Madonna (Encore une fois) and the unavoidable Sir Phillip and Genesis) and it sold over 500,000 copies which was impressive.
Even more impressive was that London 0 Hull 4 was a superb album, full of character and great songs. I bought it the first day that it was released and played it to death over the summer. The first thing that struck me was The Housemartins brought into play a number of influences that an English Pop Band hadn't used for some time. Just as Madness (Them again) had utilised Music Hall influences, The Housemartins drew on Soul, Gospel and early Rock and Roll and in places Skiffle. Whilst no one would mistake them for the Temptations or the Beach Boys, a lot of their singing was very harmonious and drawn to the fore by a very clear and basic (in the best sense of the term ) production by John Williams (NOT he of Star Wars fame). Indeed in many of their concerts and on their B sides, The Housemartins sang Acapella. This was virtually unique amongst British bands and would yield their biggest hit (Not on the album) at the end of 1986, a cover version of the Isley Brothers "Caravan of Love".
Leading on from this, it struck me and still does, that these were simple and straightforward songs (And that's intended as compliment) in sharp contrast to a lot of the records doing the rounds then which were complex ( e.g. "Hounds of Love", Peter Gabriel's "So") or glossily produced (Too many to mention). In the best possible sense of the word "London 0 Hull 4" sounded innocent and sweet and reminded me from that perspective of the Undertones debut album. Both records are extremely easy to love (as opposed to admire, which is much easier to achieve).
The album kicks off with "Happy Hour". One pub debate amongst sad music fans like me is where on the album you put the Big Single. Some say you never start with it as then it's all downhill from there. Others say, kick off with it as you've then grabbed everyone's attention. In my mind, that argument depends on whether the Big Single is the Best Thing On The Album (Because you should definitely NEVER start with the Best Thing On The Album because then it really is downhill from there). As it happens here, as fine a single as "Happy Hour" is, it isn't in my view the best track. What it is though is a fine example of what was to become Paul (or pd) Heaton's trademark, a barbed lyric wrapped up in a sprightly tune. In fact I wonder how many people who have bopped along to "Happy Hour" at an 80s themed disco (Lord Help Us All) realise that it's actually an attack on the hypocrisy and sexism of young upwardly mobile business types (The mid 80s being the heyday of the Yuppie).
The lyrics become even more barbed on the next track, "Get Up Off Our Knees" which is where the politics really kick in. However before I go any further when I say "politics" the songs are not awash with anti Thatcher sloganeering (Although be in no doubt that the "Thatch" would have been in for a good kicking had she turned up chez Housemartins) but be in no doubt that this is a Socialist album (Note: For anyone aged under 25 who is confused by what the hell the S word means, google it or stick "Tony Benn" into a search engine). The following is from the original sleeve notes:
"A Christmas Message from the Housemartins: "For too long the ruling class have enjoyed an extended New Years Eve Party, whilst we can only watch, faces pressed up against the glass". The Housemartins say: "Don't try gate crashing a party full of bankers. Burn the house down"
Subtle it wasn't! Passionate and outspoken it certainly was! And as stated in 1986 The Housemartins were almost unique in taking blatant socialism into the charts. Of course one could debate until the cows came home how many of the 500,000 people who bought the album actually listened or understood the lyrics or indeed how many people were converted to the socialist cause because of it. But that's a debate for another day.
Coming back to "Get Up Off Our Knees", this is the Housemartins coming out fighting and demanding that people stop fulminating against the injustices perpetrated by the ruling class and do something about it, in the most direct manner imaginable "Don't shoot someone tomorrow that you can shoot today". Again it is wrapped up in a great tune, driven by a great piano (played by Pete Wingfield, producer of "Searching for the young soul rebels" by Dexys). It's my favourite track on the album and given it's strength one wonders why it wasn't a single..............until you realise that it was highly unlikely that Gary Davies (plus his Bit in the Middle) or any of the other buffoons at daytime Radio 1 were unlikely to A list a record advocating shooting the rich!!
Almost all the other songs are similarly politically driven: Anxious speaks of the ambivalence of the rich and the powerful to the plight of the poor ("And they're raising all their eyebrows to the raising of the pound whilst they raze another city to the ground"), "Sitting on the Fence" hits out at wooly liberals who won't get actively uninvolved in political issues, "Sheep" unsurprisingly is about how easily people are led ("They've never questioned anything, they've never disagreed", "Over There" is about the life the rich live which is unobtainable to the vast majority without their resources", "We're not deep" is about how people look down on the unemployed (Unemployment at the time was over 3 million) and "Freedom" was a vigorous attack on the Right Wing press ("From the Front Page to the Interviews, it's sink the Reds and Lift the Blues. They pretend it's differing points of view but it's only different shades of Blue").
Of course, to those who have not heard the album, this may all sound like been preached at for 40 minutes. However for one thing, the lyrics are political but they're also well written, they're partisan but also thought provoking. Moreover, they are accompanied by fine and robust tunes so you're being entertained whilst being told something.
Of course it should be said that it is not a perfect album. "Sitting on a Fence" sounds tired and slightly laboured musically whilst the instrumental "Reverends Revenge" is unnecessary and if they were going to include an instrumental, they should have opted for "The Mighty Ship" which was a B side and included on the CD as a bonus track.
"Think for a Minute" was released as a single in a stripped down (and more effective) format but is still a solid song, calling on people to stop and realise how society has changed and not for the better. The last of the slower songs is, to my mind, the most remarkable song on the album "Lean on Me". Not the Bill Withers song, but for years I thought it was a cover version! However it was written by Heaton and Wingfield. It's a beautiful Gospel style song driven by a great piano and featuring a terrific vocal from Heaton. Of course in these days it is almost de rigeur for pop and rock bands to be influenced by a cornucopia of musical styles. Back in the mid 80s influences away from older pop and rock tended to be restricted to soul and reggae. The idea of a group of white lads singing a song influenced by Gospel was almost unheard of!
Listening to the album again now, it still strikes me as remarkable that it was as successful as it was, Not because it wasn't a great record because it was but because both musically and lyrically it was out of kilter with what else was popular at the time. Of course what happened next is well documented. The Housemartins made a follow up album "The People who grinned themselves to death" which although it had some good songs on, sounded tired overall. They then went their separate ways. Paul Heaton (no longer pd) went on to become one of the most successful songwriters of the 90s with The Beautiful South (and as at the time of writing his latest album, which sees him reunited with ex Beautiful South chanteuse, Jacqueline Abbott, is poised to go Top 5), Norman Cook became Dance behemoth Fatboy Slim, Stan Cullimore became a successful children's author and Hugh Whittaker went to prison for six years in the 90s for assaulting a business partner with an axe (According to Wikipedia, he's now in a band called "Pocketful o'nowt!).
One final sobering thought on the album. I still play it a lot. partly because it reminds me of my University years, which were good times. Partly because, conversely, it still sounds great today. Musically it hasn't aged, largely I think because it's influences (Soul, skiffle, Gospel, early rock and roll, acapella) were not from the 80s but an earlier time and have acted as a preservative!. What is scary though is, given the fact that it's lyrics addressed contemporary concerns (The impact of Thatcherism on society and so forth), it is marked that many of the songs (addressing subjects such as bankers greed, inequality between rich and poor, injustice, apathy) sound like they could have been written anytime since 2008. It's a just a shame that we don't have bands these days in the charts articulating such concerns like the Housemartins did.
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