The House of Love
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see House of Love.
| The House of Love | ||
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 Cover of the eponymous LP from 1988, feat l-r, Terry Bickers and Guy Chadwick
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| Background information | ||
| Origin |  Camberwell, England |
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| Genre(s) | Alternative rock | |
| Years active | 1986–1993 | |
| Label(s) | Creation Fontana Spectrum Strange Fruit Art & Industry |
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| Members | ||
| Guy Chadwick (1986-93 & 2002 - ) Terry Bickers (1986-89 & 2002 -) Pete Evans (1986-93 &2003 - ) Matt Jury (2003 -) |
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| Former members | ||
| Chris Groothuizen (1986-93) ([bass) Andrea Heukamp (1986-88 & 1991) (vocals, guitar) Simon Mawby (1992) (Guitar) Simon Walker (1989-92) (Guitar) |
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The House of Love were a British rock band of the late 1980s and early 1990s. They started officially playing again in 2005 and released a new album "Days Run Away".
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[edit] History
From the same genus as Echo and the Bunnymen, My Bloody Valentine and the Jesus and Mary Chain, The House of Love arrived on the scene in the late 1980s with a psychedelic, textural rock sound. Songwriter Guy Chadwick provided personal, romantic musings of the folk era over lush layers of 80's studio bliss, enhanced by Terry Bickers' guitar-playing.
The band formed in Camberwell, England in 1986, and released a series of singles leading into their untitled 1988 album (none of the LP releases had titles until 1991). Their high watermark was arguably the single "Destroy the Heart", backed with the songs "Blind" and "Mr. Joe".
They signed to the label Fontana in a whirl of publicity and money. However their first singles for the album failed to go top 40 and work on their new album went badly and cost a considerable amount to produce. They did have some chart success in 1990 with their second album 'House of Love' (or, as it became known, the 'Butterfly' album) going into the top ten. Its lead single 'Shine On' is the song perhaps most associated with them, along with the single 'The Beatles and the Stones'.
Bickers left the band in 1989, and was replaced by Simon Walker, who himself was replaced by Simon Mawby in 1992. Heukamp left the band in 1987.
Drugs created tension between Chadwick and Bickers and the emergence of the Ecstasy-fuelled 'Second Summer of Love' Madchester sound (and hot on its heels, grunge) conspired to effectively kill the band in 1991. With Bickers gone and the UK tripping balls at the Hacienda, the band's album Babe Rainbow sank that year without a trace. Audience With the Mind, their final release in 1993, barely made it onto the shelves.
Considering the previous animosity between Chadwick and Bickers, there was some surprise when in 2005 the two reformed The House of Love. They went on to tour the UK and Ireland and release an album "Days Run Away" to some praise.
[edit] Original lineup
- Guy Chadwick (vocals, guitar)
- Terry Bickers (guitar)*
- Andrea Heukamp (vocals, guitar) +
- Pete Evans (drums)
- Christian Groothuizen (bass)
[edit] Albums
- The House of Love (Singles) - 1987 - Creation
- The House of Love - 1988 - Creation
- The House of Love - 1990 - Fontana
- Spy in The House of Love - 1990 - Fontana
- Babe Rainbow - 1992 - Fontana
- Audience with the Mind - 1994 - Fontana/Mercury
- Best of The House of Love - 1998 - Fontana/Mercury/Chronicles
- The John Peel Sessions 88-89 - 2000 - Strange Fruit
- 1986-88 The Creation Recordings - 2001 - PLR
- The Fontana Years - 2004 - Spectrum
- Days Run Away - 2005 - Art & Industry
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album |
| US Modern Rock | |||
| 1988 | "Christine" | #8 | The House of Love [1988] |
| 1990 | "I Don't Know Why I Love You" | #2 | The House of Love [1990] |
| 1991 | "Marble" | #5 | A Spy in the House of Love [1991] |
| 1992 | "You Don't Understand | #8 | Babe Rainbow [1992] |
