The Housemartins were an English indie rock group formed in Hull in 1983. They released two studio albums, London 0 Hull 4 (1986) and The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death (1987), and the compilation album Now That's What I Call Quite Good (1988), all of which went top-ten in the UK. The band also achieved six UK top-twenty singles, including an a cappella cover version of "Caravan of Love" (originally by Isley-Jasper-Isley) which reached number one in the UK in December 1986. Many of their lyrics conveyed a mixture of socialist politics and Christianity, reflecting the beliefs of the band (the back cover of London 0 Hull 4 contained the message, "Take Jesus – Take Marx – Take Hope").
The original members were singer Paul Heaton, guitarist Stan Cullimore, drummer Hugh Whitaker, and bassist Ted Key, with Norman Cook replacing Key in 1985 and Dave Hemingway replacing Whitaker in 1987. After breaking up in 1988, Heaton and Hemingway formed the Beautiful South, Cullimore became an author of children's books and Cook became an electronic dance music DJ and producer, founding the groups Beats International, Pizzaman, and Freak Power, before rebranding himself as Fatboy Slim.
