Happy Hour (The Housemartins song)

"Happy Hour"
Single by The Housemartins
from the album London 0 Hull 4
B-side"The Mighty 'Ship"
Released1986
GenreIndie rock
Length2:20
LabelGo! Discs
Songwriter(s)Paul Heaton, Stan Cullimore
Producer(s)John Williams[citation needed]
The Housemartins singles chronology
"Sheep"
(1986) 		"Happy Hour"
(1986) 		"Think for a Minute"
(1986)
Official audio
"Happy Hour" on YouTube

"Happy Hour" is a 1986 single by British indie rock band The Housemartins.[1] It was the third single from the album London 0 Hull 4 and reached number three in the UK Singles Chart.[2][3] Vocalist Paul Heaton had been working on the lyrics for some time, with the song originally being called "French England".[4] It was completed on 22 January 1986, the same day "Me and the Farmer" was written.[5] Guitarist Stan Cullimore had a chord progression planned for the verses, but wanted to finish the song quickly in order to go and buy some cakes, so he reused the same chords for the chorus and a quick demo was recorded, the whole process taking less than ten minutes.[4] The lyrics are centred on the expectations of male office workers to participate in social conventions such as happy hour.

The band's first big hit, it stayed on the singles chart for 13 weeks, peaking in the week of 28 June 1986.[6] The song also enjoyed exposure on United States college radio.[7]

Rolling Stone noted that despite "irrepressibly giddy music hooks", the song's "sobering" lyrics "hammer away at the hypocrisy and sexism of young British business types on the move."[8] John Leland in Spin described as a 'pretty fun little single'.[9]

On their 1992 album Gordon, the Barenaked Ladies paid tribute to this song by breaking into it at the end of the song "Hello City".[10]

The video for the song, set in a pub, featured animated plasticine figures of the band members.[11] Comedian Phill Jupitus makes an appearance in the music video, reading a newspaper. It was filmed in The Star in St John's Wood.[4]

  1. ^ "The Housemartins Discography". Zdesign.com.au. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  2. ^ "The Housemartins news, music videos, pictures and albums - AOL Music". Winamp.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  3. ^ "The Housemartins – Discover music, videos, concerts, stats, & pictures at". Last.fm. 11 February 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  4. ^ a b c Simpson, Interviews by Dave (4 December 2018). "The Housemartins: how we made Happy Hour". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  5. ^ "Paul Heaton interview". The One Show. 12 March 2013. BBC One.
  6. ^ "The Housemartins - Happy Hour". Official Charts Company. 30 August 1986. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  7. ^ "WPSU Lists New Music Top 20". The Daily Collegian (Penn State). 1 October 1986. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  8. ^ Jim Farber (26 March 1987). "London 0 Hull 4 (review)". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 30 April 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  9. ^ Leland, John (December 1986). "Singles - review". SPIN. 2 (9): 47 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ Howard Rosenberg (25 April 2000). "Floyd's Wall a solid hit; Live album is, surprisingly, very good". The Hamilton Spectator. Archived from the original on 1 February 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2010. ("the Housemartins (whose wonderful minor hit Happy Hour is now best remembered as the coda to Barenaked Ladies' Hello City)")
  11. ^ Inglss, Ian, ed. (22 April 2016). Popular Music And Television In Britain. Routledge. p. 14. ISBN 978-0754668640.