Born on 9 May: Paul Heaton (Housemartins), the musical chronicler of England's working classes

He was born in 1962 in Bromborough (Merseyside). He continues to cultivate his melodic uniqueness and refine his songwriting talent. Pure pop craftsmanship!

As a good citizen of Her Gracious Majesty, Paul Heaton shares at least two passions with the majority of his compatriots: football and downing a pint of warm beer at the local pub. In the first case, he supported Sheffield Wednesday while his two brothers preferred Sheffield United in the city where the three siblings spent their childhood. Conversations around the family table were therefore heated on match days! As for the second, Heaton even owned his own pub in Manchester for a while, the "King’s Arms" (which is far from being the only one with that name in the Kingdom).

He has also written a multitude of songs that describe the atmosphere of bars, a penchant for social alcohol consumption, as well as the domestic violence that too often accompanies it. For example, there is "Liar’s Bar", the obvious "Look What I Found In My Beer" (sic!), or "Old Red Eyes Is Back" with Beautiful South. It should be noted that Heaton knows his subject well since he himself has succumbed more than once to the afflictions of excessive drinking.

He formed Tools Down, his very first band, with his brother Adrian, but it was just a trial run. After having chained together odd jobs and spent several months hitchhiking around Europe, he settled in Hull where the Housemartins were born in the early 1980s. In just two albums, the band propelled a handful of cheerful refrains (but "fiercely political" as summed up by the bassist Norman Cook) to the top of the UK charts: "Happy Hour", "Think For A Minute" or "Caravan Of Love", for example. "London 0 – Hull 4", the title of the Housemartins' first album, is further evidence of Heaton's passion for football. In April 1988, as a parting gesture, the band released the single "There’s Always Something There To Remind Me". End of the first chapter...

In the next chapter, Heaton heads south (of England, of course) with Beautiful South. Heaton remains true to his writing style, even though he now shares the pen with guitarist Dave Rotheray. Between 1986 and 2006, the band recorded ten albums and, starting with "Miaow" (1994), Heaton welcomed Jacqui Abbott to join him as a singer. After the dissolution, he continued to work with her, notably on "What Have We Become?"

If you want to discover his very special universe, a compilation of 23 tracks was released in 2018. With a good dose of irony, it's titled "The Last King Of Pop". Another nice snub from this devil of a man!

(MH with Stéphane Soupart - Photo: © Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Paul Heaton with The Housemartins on stage at the Torhout festival (Belgium) on 5th July 1987