10 Greatest Final Rock Albums Of The 1980s
6. The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death - The Housemartins
The Housemartins were a pollinator of a group, as their members would eventually be carried on the wind to found other acts elsewhere.
Singers Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway would go on to form The Beautiful South, who enjoyed chart success in the UK from the late-80s to the mid-00s. As for bassist Norman Cook, he would take the name Fatboy Slim and become one of the most popular dance musicians in the world.
Not bad for a couple of lads from Hull.
Whilst they were together, the Housemartins only recorded two albums, with their last hurrah being 1987's The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death. It's a great title for a record and it gets even more interesting when you realise that the "people" in question are the British Royal Family.
Full of the group's upbeat but context-heavy jangle pop, such as on the great song Me and the Farmer, The People Who etc. etc. appealed to the rapidly disenfranchised-feeling youth of Britain as the 90s came into view.
Had this lot stuck around a bit longer, they might have found themselves as one of the biggest stars of the emerging Britpop scene.