Housemartins' London vs. The People: Which One Do You Like Better?

This thread is for the ten (or so) of us on this forum who like the Housemartins. I first heard of the Housemartins from the album The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death. I subsequently bought London 0 Hull 4 and was quite disappointed by it. To me, The People... is a far superior album.

However, I've read comments on various web sites and it seems that most people prefer London.... Is it the same here?

 

I have just the opposite reaction. I first learned of the Housemartins when Cleveland DJ Kid Leo of WMMS played the instrumental "Happy Hour" from London on a new song challenge. I don't remember what the other song was, but the listeners preferred it to The Housemartins. I was hooked on the Housemartins! I like People who Grinned very much, but London was just so different to what I was listening to at the time that it has really stuck with me.

 

This is an extremely tough choice as I love both and also the comp Now That's What I Call Quite Good. I was living in England when Happy Hour hit big, the claymation video is a riot. I bought the LP London 0 Hull 4 and all the singles; Sheep, Think For A Minute (different mix than on LP) and Flag Day. When The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death was released I couldn't buy it fast enough. Another brace of great singles with Me And The Farmer, Five Get Over Excited and to me their best song Build. Christmas number 1 with the excellent accapella single only Caravan Of Love.

I believe The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death to be the stronger album of the two. Just buy both and the comp Now That's What I Call Quite Good and have it all. You need the comp to gather singles and stray B sides anyway.

 

Happy Hour is not an instrumental, The Mighty Ship is, Happy Hour was their breakthrough hit and second single in the UK. First single was Flag Day.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I don't have the comp album. I have the two studio albums and the Live at the BBC (which has more a capella than I can stomach).

 

I prefer The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death as well, and would like to second the recommendation of Now That's What I Call Quite Good. There are still quite a few stray b-sides that have not made it to CD as well.

 

I prefer The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death on the basis of the title track alone. Unfortunately it's such a great song that I rarely get past it to the other material!

 

People is my favorite too!

 

I wound up buying all the 45s and a few 12 inch singles just because they put out so much material that didn't make it on to their two albums. If you add all of it up they probably had 4 LPs worth of material released.

 

As a huge fan at the time who bought all the vinyl when it came out I reckon that the following tracks still haven't been released yet on CD:

We Shall Not Be Moved (Caravan of Love EP b-side)
When I First Met Jesus (Caravan of Love EP b-side)
So Much in Love (Caravan of Love EP b-side)
Heaven Help Us All (Sermonette) (Caravan of Love EP b-side)

So Glad (Five Get Over Excited b-side)
Rebel Without The Airplay (Five Get Over Excited b-side)

He Will Find You Out (Me & The Farmer b-side)
I Bit My Lip (Me & The Farmer b-side)

The final two singles were released as CD singles but the b-sides haven't appeared on CD since. I have the first but not the second!

Build (CD Single)
Paris In Flares
Forwards And Backwards
The Light Is Always Green (Cheap Version)

There Is Always Something There To Remind Me (CD Single)
Get Up Off Our Knees (Live)
Five Get Over Excited (Live)
Johannesburg (Live)


Hope all this helps!

 

Some perspective from the time (it's difficult to judge so many years after).

The first album was huge in the UK, and the singles. They were a real breath of fresh air at the time. The charts were full of overproduced SAW rubbish and ***** like Duran Duran/Spandau Ballet, and there was a culture of greed and money. Here was a down to earth band with some really good catchy songs that were political without being preachy.

So I think people like the first album best as it has the hits that were the breakthrough. But I think the second album, without them trying to be Yes or anything, is much more musically accomplished and the songs better.

Both albums are excellent and should be in every home.

If you like these you should also check out fellow Go Discs act Billy Bragg's 2nd and 3rd albums, Brewing Up and (especially) Talking with the Taxman about Poetry. I used to have a C90 with Taxman on one side and the Housemartins on the other and it went very well.

 

Love all of it!

 

I think I enjoyed the second one more than the first, but certainly enjoyed both of them and remember getting the Caravan of Love 45 rpm from UK sometime around Christmas if I remember correctly. I think there was a coupon that I sent and then received the single?

At this point, I enjoy That's What I Call Quite Good! more than any other. I can listen to that album over and over again and never get bored. I recently decided to get all the UK 12 inch versions and was very happy with the different mixes, live versions, and b-sides.

 

Ditto!

I've got the vast majority of the singles/b-sides too, but I would love to see those missing items listed above by BKarloff on CD at some point!

 

Got to be the first one. It was almost perfect, with every single song being a piece of pop heaven. I think they let the lyrical bitterness get in the way of the second one and some of the melodies suffered. Not that the People stank, but I remember how amazed I was at hearing Happy Hour for the first time.
I sold most of my singles and 12" eventually. I didn't like of the songs, they really sounded like inferior b-sides to me.

 

Love them both, but The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death takes me back to October 87 everytime I hear it.
I hereby declare The Light Is Always Green their finest ever tune (timeless in music & words), with Build a close second. Five Get Over Excited & Me and The Farmer are their 2 finest uptempo tunes...and then there's that title track! Slightly better production than the first album too.

 

It's funny seeing so many replies from people in the US as I would have thought a band like this would not translate very well, both musically and lyrically.

 

I'll vote for "People" as my favorite of the two, but I sure like them both. My band covers 'Bow Down' once in awhile since we learned it for a radio station (WXXP) tribute show in 2007. That station played the heck out of 'Five Get Overexcited', 'Me and the Farmer' and 'The World's on Fire' when the album was new, and they played "London" tracks as well.

There is an unofficial CD called "Raise the Flag" that has a lot of the stray tracks on it that didn't make it into the "...Quite Good" lineup. I also have a few other live/demo sessions that in got via tape trades awhile back. Great stuff!

 

this thread just made me think.... fatboy slim has pretty much disappeared in the dj world as well....

 

I like The Beautiful South better. (NOT a threadcrap!) The Housemartins were so exciting back in the mid-80s, when I was in high school and just starting to learn and get interested in politics. So to hear Billy Bragg and the Housemartins and other politically-aware bands, during the Reagan years, was very influential to me. But I think The Beautiful South, dropping the aggressive political commentary in favor of deeply cynical songs about relationships, were a more solid band and durable concept overall.

Still, Housemartins had a ragged charm and bright-eyed exuberance that still makes me smile to this day.

Sentimental favorite is London 0 Hull 4 because it's the one I heard first, and its programmed more into my DNA at this point , but I'll admit that the stronger album overall - and the one I'd let someone borrow if they had never heard Housemartins before - is The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death.

Craig.

 

There's Deluxe Edition out of LONDON 0 HULL 4.

 

People is much better than London IMO

 

I heard 'The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death' first, and couldn't get enough of it, still love it to this day. Then again I love 'London 0 Hull 4' just as much.

Wish Universal would do a deluxe version of 'People' to compliment the deluxe 'London'.

 

Agree, there's definitely enough bonus material around and some of it hasn't hit CD yet.

 

Just put The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death in tonight for the first time in quite a while (early 90s?) and enjoyed it quite a bit. I definately want to pick up London 0 Hull 4, but I'm not sure if I should go for the Deluxe Edition. Can anybody comment on the sound and bonus tracks of that one? The original CD is available for a fraction of the price so I'd want to hear what others think (i.e. whether its worth it or not)