The Housemartins
London 0 Hull 4

THE REVIEW

All great teams, inevitably, end up suffering resounding defeats by much less renowned formations ("Clamoroso al Cibali!"). It happened even in London in the now distant 1986 pop music league: London 0 - Hull 4. For those with poor memory or simply too young, such a clear outcome, especially away, might seem exaggerated, surely the result of fortuitous and unrepeatable circumstances; however, the four goals scored by the formidable rookie Hull against the arrogant Anglo-Saxon Capital were all deserved and the result of a lively and spectacular game. The architects of this unexpected and memorable feat were the Housemartins, a pop band composed of four very young members, Paul Heaton, Norman Cook, Stan Cullimore, and Hugh Whitaker, the latter replaced on drums after just a year by Dave Hemingway.

The tactical strategy that allowed these youth to achieve the unexpected victory can be quickly stated: a pop vein as "light" as it is intelligent, that was rooted in the best Anglo-Saxon tradition, with copious Soul and R&B influences (not coincidentally their biggest commercial success was an a cappella track, "Caravan of Love"), lyrics perhaps a bit naive, but appearing sincere, ironic, often also "engaged", suggesting an adherence to internationalist, humanitarian, and pacifist socialism. No album can comprehensively represent the tenor of a decade, let alone such complicated and multifaceted years as the '80s, but it is undeniable that this debut album by the Housemartins managed to capture a way of being for a significant part of the youth of that era; young people who no longer believed in revolutions, disillusioned indeed, but not cynical; rather, strongly critical of the social and political reality of that period marked by Thatcherite liberalism, Reaganite hedonism, and amoral yuppism, reacting not by proposing utopian alternatives but by advocating for greater solidarity, social justice, and a committed effort for these values.

Musically, a certain techno-pop, which was trending at the time, is indirectly targeted with the choice of relying on few classical instruments and old style vocal harmonies. A critical revisitation of the Anglo-American pop tradition, very similar in aims to groups like Style Council or Working Week, but with more immediate, rhythmic, and homogeneous results. It is practically impossible to remain still while listening to such fragrant, rhythmic, sunny pop/beat songs as "Sitting On A Fence", "Happy Hour" or "Sheep". Also not easy to guess is that the guy singing and playing the piano in "Flag Day" or the "very black" "Lean On Me" is a pale face from deep English province and not a Baptist pastor from a Harlem church. However, despite these brilliant results, the career of our heroes was very short, unfortunately.

Apparently, they had set out, at the time of forming the band, to become famous within three years and, having reached the not easily achieved goal, they consistently decided to break up in '88, after releasing this brilliant debut album, a second almost equally valid work, "The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death," and a final anthology double album titled "Now That's What I Call Quite Good," including, besides singles, B-sides and BBC sessions. All the band members continued with varying fortunes their artistic career in new groups or pursuing solo careers; we briefly mention only the Beautiful South of "golden voice" Heaton and Hemingway, who reached the peaks of the English charts in the '90s, and the unthinkable transformation of Norman Cook into that minor dance genius known as FatBoy Slim; yet perhaps none of them managed to reach again the levels of this London 0 - Hull 4, an album I consider one of the best pop debuts ever, and not just among the infamous Eighties.