(thing) by theboy Wed Jun 26 2002 at 12:10:38

Formed in 1986, The House of Love were pre-britpop britpop, shiny guitars and big choruses, and aching acoustic ballads. Critically acclaimed, but for the most part ignored by a record buying public that had taken The Smiths into the Top 10, but at the same time had taken Chris de Burgh to number 1.

The band were signed to Creation Records in 1987, after the label's owner, Alan McGee, was finally persuaded to watch a few gigs. The debut release was the single Shine On, and, in what was to become the story of the band, the reviews were good but the sales weren't. Follow-up single Real Animal shifted almost no units at all, despite receiving some good airplay.

The eponymous debut album arrived shortly after, and for a while The House of Love were pitched firmly as the next big thing, with success across Europe, and big-money offers from major labels. The band signed to Fontana, and were quickly ushered back into the recording studio to record a new single (presumably so the label could start making back some of the 400,000 pounds reputedly shelled out to sign the band). 'Never' duly appeared, and duly missed the singles charts.

The unhappy departure of guitarist Terry Bickers - the tour bus dropped him off at a train station, and he was gone for good - seemed a minor blip, when a new version of Shine On made the Top 40, and was followed by the well-received second album, usually referred to as "Fontana" (after the record label), or "The butterfly album(after the cover artwork). It sold well, as did the next single, the tenderly fragile acoustic "The Beatles and the Stones", charting lead singer Guy Chadwick's relationship with the bands, and his formative years ("The Beatles and the Stones / made it good to be alone").

The music press were keen. But somewhere along the line, articles about the music changed into articles about the band's hedonistic lifestyle. Drugs and money were both reputedly being burnt backstage, and the band started to slip from the limelight. A compilation of previously unreleased material appeared, but by 1992, when fourth album, "Babe Rainbow" was released, madchester had hit full swing, everyone wanted a piece of The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Blur et al. The album hit the usual glowing reviews but gained almost universal apathy, and barely dented the Top 40 before shuffling off to become one of pop's great lost albums. Despite the melancholic splendour of "The girl with the loneliest eyes", the anthemic "Feel", and the collapsing beauty of "Yer eyes", no-one cared any more.

A final studio album, "Audience with the mind" (recorded in a lightning-fast 12 days), followed, and sold about 4 copies. It was to be an anticlimactic end for a band that had once been touted as the new U2.

Guy Chadwick went on to form The Madonnas, a band that released precisely no albums or singles (although they did play live at least once, supporting The Cranberries in Manchester), before embarking on a solo career, with the release of "Lazy, soft and slow", a down-tempo collection of love-adorned ballads variously described as "sleep-inducingly samey" (Uncut, March 1998), or "Masterfully understated stuff from a much missed and quietly inspirational maverick" (MOJO, March 1998).

Band members:

Albums:

There's a scarcity of House of Love sources out there. However, facts (other than those I already knew) taken in the main from http://hem.passagen.se/nyholm/holindex.html. Subjectivity is of my own making. Chart details refer to UK charts.

I like it! 1 C!