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The House of Love is 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.

History

The House of Love arrived on the British indie scene in the late 1980s with a psychedelic, textural rock sound. The band formed in Camberwell, England in 1986, the initial line-up comprising ex-Kingdoms singer/guitarist Guy Chadwick, Terry Bickers (formerly of Colenso Parade) - guitar, Andrea Heukamp (guitar, vocals), Chris Groothuizen (bass), and Pete Evans (drums). Signing to Creation Records, they released three singles before their untitled 1988 debut 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. Jo." A German compilation (also untitled) that collected their first two non-album singles (excluding "Christine," which had been featured on the debut album) and their b-sides also received favorable reviews.

The success of the band's debut album, hailed by many critics as one of the finest albums of the year, sent many record labels into a frenzy in trying to sign the band to a deal. The group eventually signed to Fontana Records in a whirl of publicity and money. Their first two singles for the label stalled just outside the Top 40, but a new version of their first single, "Shine On," saw them break into the top 20 in 1990. Second album House of Love (or, as it became known, the Butterfly album, or simply Fontana) reached the Top Ten. Followup single "Beatles and the Stones" also reached the top 40 on the singles charts.

Drugs created tension between Chadwick and Bickers, and Bickers left the band in 1989 to form Levitation, and was replaced by Simon Walker, who himself was replaced by Simon Mawby in 1992. Heukamp had left the band in 1987, but returned in 1990, mainly providing backing vocals.

Subsequent releases fared less well, and the emergence of the Ecstasy fuelled 'Second Summer of Love' Madchester sound (and hot on its heels, grunge) saw the band losing favour with both critics and fans. Another compilation, A Spy in the House of Love, consisting of older scrapped material and a sampling of the band's large backlog of b-sides, was released as a stopgap measure while the band recorded new music, but failed to match the sales of the group's Fontana debut. Two further releases, Babe Rainbow and Audience With the Mind sold respectably enough to make it into the Top 40 of the UK Albums Chart, but also did not succeed in recapturing previous successes. Ultimately, the band split in 1993, with Chadwick reappearing with a solo album (Lazy Soft and Slow) in 1998.

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 throughout the UK and Ireland, and release an album, Days Run Away, to some praise.

Original line-up

• Guy Chadwick (vocals, guitar)
• Terry Bickers (guitar)
• Andrea Heukamp (vocals, guitar)
• Pete Evans (drums)
• Christian Groothuizen (bass)

Discography

Albums

• The House of Love (singles collection) - 1987 - Creation/Rough Trade
• The House of Love - 1988 - Creation
• The House of Love - 1990 - Fontana
• A Spy in the House of Love - 1990 - Fontana
• Babe Rainbow - 1992 - Fontana
• Audience With the Mind - 1993 - 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

Singles

See also

• List of musicians with multiple self-titled albums

External links

• Fan's page
• Live Images

• Creation Records artists
• English musical groups
• Music from London
• Alternative musical groups
• 1980s music groups
• 1990s music groups
• 2000s music groups