The Housemartins were an English indie pop band that was active in the 1980s. Many of the Housemartins' lyrics were a mixture of Marxist politics and Christianity, reflecting singer Paul Heaton's beliefs at the time (the back cover of London 0 Hull 4 contained the message, "Take Jesus - Take Marx - Take Hope").
Career
Forming
The band was formed in 1983 by Paul Heaton (vocals) and Stan Cullimore (guitar) who initially performed as a busking duo. They recorded a demo tape with Ingo Dewsnap of Les Zeiga Fleurs, which brought them to the attention of Go Discs. They then expanded by recruiting Ted Key (bass), former guitarist with The Gargoyles, and Dodger (drummer on loan from 3-Action!) who was then replaced by Chris Lang. The band's membership changed considerably over the years. Ted Key left at the end of 1985 and was replaced by Norman Cook
Original Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housemartins
